Romania is the final destination for Europe’s old and polluting cars

The 2Celsius Association reports that in Romania, the average age of vehicles is 16.5 years, making it the second-oldest vehicle fleet in the European Union.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of old, polluting used cars are registered in the country, in the absence of taxes or effective deterrents, according to association representatives. They claim that the ratio of imported used cars to newly purchased ones is 3 to 1, and nearly half of the vehicles registered in 2024 did not meet emission standards stricter than Euro 4.

According to the cited source, Romania is at the receiving end of an internal flow of used vehicles traveling from Western European countries toward Central and Eastern Europe. Emissions are not externalized globally but are instead relocated within the European Single Market, with the resulting public health and environmental costs borne by Romanian citizens.

“Romania has the legislative tools to take action within the single market. A non-d...