PM Tariceanu insists: Romania must not become Europe's junkyard

The car tax, recently redefined as car pollution tax, is in Romania’s best interest, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said on Wednesday, at the very beginning of the Governmental session. The reaction comes one day after president Basescu asked Tariceanu through an open letter to drop the car tax and refund the money to those who paid it.

Prime Minister Tariceanu also rejected the presidential accusations saying that the car tax introduction came against the Accession Treaty Romania signed when it joined the European Union. „We would have been notified by the European Commission or a decision would have been adopted in the European Court of Justice in case the tax broke the Accession Treaty”.

Tariceanu emphasized that the new calculation formula will take into account all observations and will answer to major demands: fighting pollution, maintaining jobs in the industry, traffic safety, cutting the illegal traffic of second-hand cars.