The Government of Kosovo is discussing allowing the import of vehicles older than ten years.

Its officials told REL that "in the context of tax policy analysis, they are addressing such an option."

But, they have not provided details on what is the reason for the possible change of the Law on Vehicles.

Article 44 of this law, which was adopted in 2017, states that "road vehicles imported into Kosovo, can not be older than 10 years."

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.

The overthrow of this law is now opposed by experts in the field of traffic and environment.

Muhamed Krasniqi, director of Tempulli College in Pristina, who is also familiar with traffic issues, says that Kosovo, if it encourages the import of old vehicles, will become "Europe's mobile landfill".

"This would help some European Union countries to clear their roads of old vehicles and, at the same time, would contribute to the further pollution of Kosovo's new roads," Krasniqi told Radio. Free Europe.

Several European countries, including Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, London, have taken various measures to restrict old vehicles.

Some have even pledged to ban diesel vehicles from circulating in city centers by 2025.

Krasniqi says that it is good for Kosovo to start taking measures to create infrastructure for green transport, namely for electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles are powered by one or more electric motors, which use only the energy stored in batteries.

According to data from the Ministry of Interior in Pristina, dating from last December, a total of 395,840 vehicles are registered in Kosovo.

Of these, only 74 are 100 percent electric, which means they have zero pollution to the environment.

The largest number of vehicles are those that use fuel oil - exactly, 329,403.

Impact on health

Concerns about the impact that pollutants emitted by old vehicles and diesel engines have on human health have increased in recent years.

The World Health Organization estimates that millions of deaths each year are related to human exposure to outdoor air pollution.

Kosovo, in the measurements of various organizations, is often ranked among the countries with the most polluted air in the world.

In addition to power plants that burn coal for electricity production, air pollution in Kosovo is also affected by vehicle emissions, say environmental experts.

"[Import of cars older than ten years], aga the environmental aspect, will aggravate the situation, concretely it will pollute the air much more than we currently have", says for Radio Free Europe Zeqir Veselaj, expert on environment and professor at the University of Prishtina.

In 2018, less than a year after the entry into force of the Law on Prohibition of Import of Old Vehicles over 10 years, some members of the Assembly of Kosovo have proposed changes and additions to this law.

Their rationale at the time was to enable even citizens with more difficult economic conditions to buy cars - since the older the car, the cheaper it was.

Regarding this proposal, the European Union Office in Kosovo reacted, saying that changing the law would be contrary to EU norms.

According to Veselaj, the idea that allowing the import of cars older than 10 years will help citizens buy cars, will have high costs for the environment if it materializes.

"Every engine, the older it is in use, the weaker the fuel combustion efficiency.

"Poorer fuel combustion means greater pollutant emissions into the ambient air we are inhaling," says Veselaj.

Kosovo Customs informs REL that citizens continue to buy more used cars than new ones.

According to their data, covering the period January - April 2022, the number of used cars imported to Kosovo is 7,056, while the number of new cars is 931.

The executive director of the Kosovo Security Bureau, Sami Mazreku, says that the technical condition of vehicles is very important for traffic safety.

According to him, legal changes "are the competence of the deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo."