Diesel Euro 5, Salvini: 'Important result' on the postponement of the block

Salvini: "Important result"

For Salvini, this is "an important result that meets the concrete needs of families, workers and the production system, avoiding a generalized blockade which would have had significant consequences on mobility and economic activities" continues the MIT. In Italy there are approximately 3.5 million cars and 0.6 million commercial vehicles powered by Euro 5 diesel, while over 1.2 million cars and 200 thousand commercial vehicles are operational in the Padano Basin.

The ban on Euro 5 diesel vehicles

The ban on Euro 5 diesel vehicles was decided by the Council of Ministers with a law decree on 7 September 2023 and would have started on 1 October 2025, in municipalities with over 30 thousand inhabitants. Three years ago the government intervened to avoid the stop decided by the Piedmont region in Turin and in 75 other municipalities from 15 September 2023, following an infringement procedure by the European Commission against Italy and the Region, for failure to reduce PM10 fine particles. The 2023 government decree had therefore postponed the blockade in Piedmont by 2 years, to 1 October 2025, but had also extended it to the other Po Valley regions, committing them to update their air quality plans.

Postponement to 2025

In July 2025, however, with an amendment to the Infrastructure Decree supported by Minister Matteo Salvini, the Council of Ministers postponed the ban on Euro 5 diesel in the four Northern regions to October 1, 2026, and only in municipalities with over 100 thousand inhabitants. Furthermore, it had given the Regions the possibility of avoiding the blockade by adopting anti-pollution measures.

The measures in the Northern regions

In June this year, Piedmont postponed the Euro 5 block by one year to 1 October 2027 thanks to a package of compensatory measures: 14 million euros to incentivize HVO biofuels on public transport and diesel cars, another 14.4 million incentives for the maintenance of older heating systems and for biomass. In September, Veneto and Emilia Romagna also decided to postpone it to the same date. While Veneto has provided for the setting of a ceiling on the heating temperatures of offices and shops, the possibility of facilitating smart working for some categories of public employees, concessions for local public transport and new eco-incentives. Emilia Romagna has foreseen the postponement of the switching on of heating systems in lowland areas until November 1st, the extension from 8am to 7pm of the restrictions on the circulation of private vehicles on the days of the red sticker for smog, limits on the use of biomass heating, a ten million project to encourage the replacement of heating systems with heat pumps and photovoltaic systems.