The Chamber of Deputies approved the Infrastructure decreeby introducing an amendment that refers to a year the stop to the circulation of Euro 5 diesel cars. The new deadline for entry into force therefore becomes October 1, 2026, instead of autumn 2025 initially expected.
The measure, composed of Ben 36 articles And which also includes the decision regarding Diesel Euro 5, now passes to the Senate exam and must be converted into law by 20 July.
According to the government, it is a choice of “common sense”, volute especially from Minister Matteo Salvini To give more time to the regions interested in taking alternative measures to improve air quality.
Diesel block Euro 5 postponed to 2026: what provides for the decree approved in the Chamber
Northern Italy, also in 2025, continues to exceed European and international limits for PM10 and PM2.5, in particular in the winter months. Therefore, the ban on the circulation for Euro 5 diesel is a measure created to combat pollution and which should have started from October 1, 2025. It concerns only four northern regions (Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna) and only in the urban areas of the municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
In this context they are involved Only the largest cities larger cities (for example Milan, Turin, Bologna, Verona, Padua) and no longer the centers of the upper ones to 30,000 inhabitants as had been previously expected.
The block will be active from Monday to Fridayfrom 8:30 to 18:30, and can be completely avoided if the Region activates equivalent compensatory measures to reduce smog. If, for example, new anti -partive filters or enhanced public transport filters are installed, the prohibition of fact will not start in the areas concerned. With the infrastructure decree, however, the block will begin next year.
What changes for those who drive a diesel car: who is excluded from the blockade
The novelty concerns exclusively i Diesel vehicles for class 5 Euro 5 (Rightly enroll in 2011 and 2015). There will be no additional limits for Euro 6 diesel cars, which remain the most recent and clean vehicles. Therefore, new prohibitions will therefore not be imposed on diesel 6 and will be able to circulate serenely.
In Italy, about 4 million Euro 5 cars are still circulating, according to Aci (late 2024), especially concentrated in the North. The estimates speak of billions of euros of economic impact for the replacement of these vehicles.
Divided associations and politics
The postponement has split public opinion, politicians and operators. Many transporters and motorists had already expressed in recent months with sit-in in front of the ministries, reporting economic difficulties and asking for concrete support plans.
In Rome, for example, on February 17, hundreds of truck drivers had paraded along the streets of the center denouncing the crisis of the sector and the risk of layoffs.
Confartigianato And CNA They said that without targeted incentives the prohibitions risk hitting small businesses, artisans and self -employed workers. Legambiente and Greenpeace, on the contrary, accuse the government of a “step back” in the fight against pollution and warn that the risks for public health are thus increasing.
On a political level, Matteo Salvinileader of the League, spoke of great satisfaction for the postponement, calling him a measure of common sense, while Elly Schlein And other opposition leaders have criticized hasty and not very far -sighted management, asking for more ambitious and structural interventions against smog.
