Turning point for millions of motorists from 1 October 2026: those who drive a Euro 5 diesel vehicle in the large municipalities of Northern Italy will have to deal with new traffic restrictions. At the moment, there is no certain data on the number of vehicles affected by this provision: according to the latest data released by the ACI, analyzing only cars, in 2025 the Euro 5 class represented 16% of the total Italian car fleet.
The measure, in reality, should have come into force on 1 October 2025, but had been postponed with an amendment to Law 105/2025 with the aim of providing motorists more time to identify alternatives: the blockade, among other things, was also limited to cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (compared to the initial 30,000). Be careful because in case of violation of the ban, the fine could range from 168 to 679 euros, with suspension of the license from 15 to 30 days in the event of a repeat offense (two infringements in the same two-year period).
Why the blockade had been postponed and where it was triggered
The measure was initially scheduled for October 1, 2025but an amendment to the Infrastructure Decree postponed its entry into force by twelve months. The postponement has also redesigned the range of municipalities involved: the ban now applies primarily in urban areas with more than 100,000 inhabitantsthreshold raised compared to the 30,000 originally expected.
Consequently, in the four regions of the Padano Basin, the municipalities with certain obligations will be:
- Milan, Bergamo, Brescia and Monza in Lombardy;
- Turin and Novara in Piedmont;
- Venice, Padua, Verona and Vicenza in Veneto;
- Bologna, Parma, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Ravenna, Rimini, Ferrara, Forlì and Piacenza for Emilia-Romagna.
The Regions, however, may decide to extend the restrictions to smaller municipalities as well. The modalities of the block vary from region to region and may undergo changes before coming into force: in Lombardy, for example, the ban will apply all year round, while in Piedmont and in Emilia-Romagna from Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 6.30pm. For the Veneto, finally, it applies weekday restrictions from 8.30am to 6.30pm but only from 1 October to 30 April.
The measure was adopted by the Government with the aim of improving air quality: the Po Valley, in fact, is among the most polluted areas in Europe for concentrations of fine particles (PM10) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Italy has received several sentences from the European Court of Justice for systematically exceeding the limits.
How to know if your car is affected
At this point, how can you understand if your vehicle falls into the blocked category? Generally speaking, a Euro 5 diesel vehicle is among those registered between September 2011 and August 2015but the year alone is not enough to be certain, given that some cars registered in that period may have a different homologation. The most certain and reliable method, therefore, is to check the registration card: in European A4 format booklets, the environmental class is found under the heading V.9 of box 2.
Alternatively, you can easily consult the Motorist Portal of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, by accessing the “Environmental Class Verification” section: just enter the license plate and type of vehicle to obtain the official classification, free of charge and without registration.
Anyone who has a Euro 5 diesel but cannot change cars can evaluate the system MoVe-In (Monitoring of Polluting Vehicles), active in some regions: it is a black box that replaces the time block with an annual kilometer limit (in Lombardy set at 10,000 km, for example).
