| THE CAR REGISTRATION FEE: THE HASSLE GOES ON 12/03/2008 |
| (2008-03-12) |
| Last updated: 2008-03-13 15:34 EET |
The car registration fee, introduced by Liberal Calin Popescu Tariceanu's Cabinet, continues to divide politicians. The charge is levied on both vehicles produced domestically, and imported ones, mostly second-hand cars, and the rate is proportional to the vehicle age. The measure was presented by officials as a hindrance to massive imports of European wrecks. But Brussels found the charge discriminating, which forced the Government to bring it in line with European legislation.
The Opposition, which had already stood up against the charge, continue to growl, and the Democratic Liberal Party even tabled a simple motion to discard it. The motion passed in the Chamber of Deputies, but to no avail. The Government stood firm, and only accepted to reduce it, rename it and redefine its destination: protection of the environment. On Tuesday, the shadow leader of the Democratic Liberals, President Traian Basescu, whom the Constitution requires to be unbiased, asked Prime Minister Tariceanu, in a letter, to discard the charge and give back the money to the people who’ve already paid this fee.
Moreover, the President accused the Head of Government of disregarding the Romanians with such a measure. The Prime Minister’s response was that the Head of State was after cheap votes, and argued that the charge targeted a number of key issues for Romanians: road safety, encouraging investment and preventing the country from becoming a scrap-yard. Most analysts regarded the initial version of the fee as nonsense. Drafted by former Environment Minister Sulfina Barbu, a member of the Democratic Party in the ruling coalition alongside the Liberals, the bill was endorsed by Parliament and promulgated by the Head of State.
Today, most MPs tear it down, starting with the Democratic Liberals (a party formed after the Liberal dissidence merged with the Democratic Party) and the President. Observers of the Romanian political arena also note that in 1997 another car fee was introduced by the then Transport Minister, today's President, Traian Basescu. That charge was intended for repairing the road infrastructure. At the time, carriers' protests went unanswered; the charge stayed, under a different name. The Tariceanu charge will be once again modified, according to Minister of Economy and Finances Varujan Vosganian:
“The formula we are proposing, and which will be presented to the Romanians next week, is in line with the European legislation, and will be applicable in Romania as of July 1.”
And the money thus collected, the Minister says, will exclusively go into environment protection.
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2025-04-03
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