EU approves Romanian EV charging infrastructure subsidy plan

12 February 2020 Tim Urquhart

(Excerpt)

The European Union has approved a plan by the Romanian government to allocate EUR53 million (USD58 million) of funding to establish electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the country, reports Reuters. According to the report, the programme will install a national charging infrastructure network in an attempt to increase sales of EVs in Romania. In a statement, the European Commission said, "The measure will encourage a significant uptake of low-emissions vehicles, thus making a major contribution towards the reduction of CO2 and pollutant emissions, in line with the EU's climate and environmental objectives and the goals set by the European Green Deal."

Significance: The approval shows that the Romanian government's plan to subsidise a new national EV charging network does not breach EU state aid rules. Installing public charging infrastructure is essential for relatively small European economies such as Romania to develop a market for EVs. However, given the low average transaction cost of new vehicles in the country and the fact that national automaker Dacia has yet to offer a full EV, it also seems uncertain that investment in the charging network will move the dial that much in terms of EV sales in Romania over the short to medium term. The installation programme of EV charging infrastructure in Romania will run from 2020 to 2025.