The tax suspension will be enforced as of December 1, 2008.
 
"The tax will be suspended as of December 1, for all new Euro 4 cars, with  less than 2,000 cmc engines," the country’s Prime Minister Calin Popescu  Tariceanu said.
 
Tariceanu said earlier Wednesday the decision to suspend the car tax for Euro  4 new cars will be discussed in Wednesday’s Government meeting and the Cabinet  will send a notification to the European Commission, in which it will explain  the decision mainly by supporting the local jobs.
 
“It is not a problem of protecting the automotive industry. The main problem  is to support the jobs. I consider that protecting the employment is a  Government responsibility,” Tariceanu said.
 
Eliminating the pollution tax for the acquisition of new cars is a great  support for the Romanian auto market, but such a measure might contradict the  European Commission regulations, Ernest Popovici, president of the local  Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association, or APIA, said Monday.
 
The prime minister reminded that he discussed in the Wednesday morning the  matter with Romania’s president Traian Basescu.
 
“During the meeting, the two officials shared the same concern regarding the  fact that import of second-hand cars affected local car sales,” a statement of  the government showed on Wednesday.
 
In Romania, the number of new second-hand cars imported in January-September  period rose 104.8% on the year to 205,086 units, while new car registrations  fell 2.4% in the same period.