The government wants to change the Rabla program to encourage the purchase of cars made in Romania. “We will have to discuss whether we are still buying very expensive cars with the Rabla voucher or not, just as it is true, I cannot help but mention two car manufacturers in Romania who are also very large employers and contribute significantly to the gross profit . Romania’s domestic product,” said Environment Minister Mircea Fecet.

The environment minister, Liberal Mircea Fecet, told the cabinet on Thursday that he had discussed with both Prime Minister Marcel Çolaku and AFM officials about modifying the Rabla program.

• “We are going to agree on a number of principles that will be transferred to the new program. One of the principles could be the maximum value of the car that can be purchased with such vouchers, regardless of whether we are talking about Rabla Plus, that is, electric and hybrid cars, or whether we are talking about Rabla Classic.
• This is a legitimate debate, which has also been in the past, and we have such a threshold – for example, for Rabla Plus, it is a threshold of €75,000.
• From this point of view, we will have to discuss whether we still buy very expensive cars with the Rabla voucher or not, just as it is true, I cannot but mention two car manufacturers in Romania who are also very large employers and make a significant contribution in the gross domestic product of Romania.
• I think that when we discuss these programs that are financed from the national budget and not from other sources, we also have to take into account these national interests, namely how we manage to direct as much of this money as possible to Romanian producers. “, said Mircea Fecet on Thursday.

Feshe: It seems unnatural to me that for an electric car for 75 thousand euros you should also receive a voucher

The minister also explained why he believes that the maximum value of an electric car purchased with Rabla Plus should be revised.

• “I think the selling price of electric cars has also come down in recent years, so I think it has to be correlated with this maximum ceiling, because it seems unnatural to me that in a situation where you’re going to buy a very expensive electric car, say €75,000, while the vast majority of electric cars cost much less to also benefit from the Rabla PLus voucher.” – said Minister Mircea Fechet.

Feshe: Under no circumstances will we ban or discriminate against importers from other countries

The Minister of the Environment emphasized that the currently analyzed decisions to stimulate the purchase of cars produced in Romania will not mean discrimination against importers from other countries.

• “I would be happy if as many of these budgets as possible went to Romanian producers. We will agree on a specific program structure with the hope that this will happen. We will in no way ban or discriminate against importers from other countries, because that would violate some of the EU’s fundamental principles, such as the free movement of goods,” Feshe said.

He also referred to the provisions of the law on green public procurement, as well as to other EU programs in which the principle of subsidiarity has priority in public procurement.

• “If we discuss the EU Farm to Fork strategy, the principle of proximity is the main principle in this strategy.
• In other words, the EU itself says that food bought in schools, for example, should be bought from farms or producers as close as possible to the point of supply, because it is inappropriate, neither from an environmental point of view nor for other reasons, to walk . around the country for hundreds of kilometers with food or other goods, because their transportation also has a significant impact on the environment, which we want to mitigate.” said the minister.

The Minister of Ecology also announced that “in the near future I will go to specific measures agreed upon by the Government, which we can discuss in great detail.”

• Read more about the rabla program: On September 1, the second registration session under the Rabla Classic and Rabla Plus programs for individuals, legal entities and municipalities begins.