Bologna, September 11, 2026 – The Emilia-Romagna Region, after consultation with the other Regions of the Po Valley basin, has decided to suspend the structural ban on the circulation of Euro 5 diesel vehicles. As provided by national law, the Regional Council has prepared a package of alternative and compensatory measures to ensure a reduction in pollutant emissions even greater than that achievable with the ban, starting October 1, on Euro 5 diesel vehicles.
The alternative measures provided
These are the measures provided: postponement to November 1 of the activation of civil heating systems in the plain areas and strengthening, during emergency phases for air quality, of restrictions on the use of domestic biomass systems, also extending by one hour – from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. – the application time of restrictions on private vehicle circulation. At the same time, the Regional Council allocates 10 million euros to incentivize the replacement of the most polluting heating systems with heat pumps, also combined with photovoltaic systems, with a provision that has already been submitted for approval to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. The measures, as mentioned, are expressly provided for by the current national legislation, adopted by the Region, which imposes restrictions on the circulation of about 90,000 Euro 5 diesel vehicles in the nine municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants: Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, Forlì, and Rimini.
Priolo: “Greater pollution reduction without burdening families and businesses”
This morning the regional councilor for Environment and Mobility, Irene Priolo, shared them with the 207 municipalities affected by the Air Quality Plan during a meeting convened by the Region. “We have chosen to fully use all the tools that the law provides us to implement compensatory measures that guarantee a greater reduction in pollutant emissions and thus avoid a restriction that would have had a concrete impact on the daily lives of thousands of people, families and the most vulnerable groups of the population, and on the activities of businesses, already heavily burdened by rising energy costs – state the President of the Region, Michele de Pascale, and the regional councilor for Environment and Mobility, Irene Priolo –. We do this without stepping back from the goal of improving air quality: the solution identified combines environmental protection and social sustainability.”
Civil heating: start of the heating season postponed by 15 days
“The Po Valley basin continues to have a particularly complex situation in terms of air quality and, as provided in our Regional Plan, we know that interventions are needed on all major emission sources – continue de Pascale and Priolo –. For this reason, we are also intervening on civil heating, postponing the start of the heating season by 15 days in the affected areas and strengthening, during the most critical phases, restrictions on the most polluting biomass systems. On these issues, we are also working in consultation with the Po Valley Basin regions, because air quality knows no administrative boundaries and requires policies as coordinated as possible among territories sharing the same challenges. We will continue to work to ensure that environmental objectives are achieved with measures capable of producing concrete results for the health of citizens and, at the same time, sustainable for our communities.”
Region working for months to identify alternatives
The Region had been working for several months to identify, as required by national legislation, effective and measurable compensatory solutions capable of ensuring the objectives of air quality improvement, while protecting the health of citizens with the least possible impact on families and economic activities. To this end, at the end of July, the Legislative Assembly, on the proposal of the Regional Council, approved a specific regulation.
Three compensatory measures to achieve an equal reduction in emissions
Three compensatory measures identified by the Region to achieve a reduction in emissions equivalent to or greater than that provided by the structural limitation of Euro 5 diesels, two of which will have a wider territorial scope: they will concern the municipalities in the East Plain, West Plain, and Bologna agglomeration areas.
Heating activation postponed to November 1
The first concerns civil heating. Starting from the next heating season, the activation of systems will be postponed to November 1. For municipalities in climate zone E, where the start is currently scheduled for October 15, the heating period will therefore be reduced by fifteen days; for Forlì and Forlimpopoli, belonging to climate zone D, the start is already scheduled for November 1.
Biomass-fueled systems
The measure also concerns biomass-fueled systems, without prejudice to the exclusions provided by legislation for facilities such as hospitals, care facilities, and schools. In case of proven needs, linked for example to particular weather conditions, mayors may still modify by ordinance the annual operating periods and the daily activation duration of heating systems, and establish reductions in the maximum allowed ambient temperature in urban centers or individual buildings.
Extended application hours of private vehicle circulation restrictions
The other two measures intervene during emergency phases for air quality. The application hours of emergency restrictions on private vehicle circulation for environmental reasons provided by Pair 2030 will be extended in municipalities with populations over 30,000 inhabitants, in the Bologna agglomeration municipalities, and in voluntary participating municipalities, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (instead of from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.).
Ban on biomass heating systems that are not 5-star class
Last measure: the use of biomass-fueled civil heating systems that do not reach at least the 5-star emission class will be prohibited. The restriction will therefore also include 4-star systems.
A new 10 million euro project to replace the most polluting systems
Alongside regulatory measures, the Region is also focusing on incentives for the replacement of the most polluting heating systems. The Regional Council has in fact acknowledged the application to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security for the project “Call for the replacement of polluting heating systems for civil heating with heat pumps, also combined with photovoltaic panels, including balcony installations,” aimed at residents in the municipalities of the Emilia-Romagna plain areas, with a planned allocation of 10 million euros. The project, submitted to the ministry, is currently awaiting approval. Only after funding approval will the Region proceed with a subsequent act to approve the call. The measure is part of the interventions already carried out by the Region to reduce emissions from civil heating. Since 2021, Emilia-Romagna Region has disbursed about 40.6 million euros for the replacement of polluting biomass generators with 5-star systems or heat pumps.
Evangelisti (FdI): “Emilia-Romagna Council yields to the realism of Brothers of Italy”
“The regional council’s backtrack on the structural ban of Euro 5 diesels is not a spontaneous choice, but a spectacular surrender to reality and the pressure of our opposition. It is the victory of pragmatism over the locked ideology of the left. Just a few days ago, with an urgent question, we had cornered the Executive denouncing an eco-madness that would have sidelined thousands of workers,” said Marta Evangelisti, Leader of Brothers of Italy in Emilia-Romagna Region.
“Today the Region is forced to accept our theses: clear proof that the action of Brothers of Italy dismantles the ambiguity of the left and concretely defends citizens – she continues –. They only woke up from their dogmatism in front of our denunciations and the virtuous model of the Northern center-right-led Regions, such as Piedmont and Veneto. We have prevented the ecological transition from becoming yet another hidden tax on the backs of 90,000 vehicle owners in Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, Forlì, and Rimini; we are talking about citizens who often do not have the resources to buy an electric or new car.
Now we will closely monitor the majority to ensure that the 10 million euros expected from the Ministry for heat pumps and photovoltaics are immediately budgeted.”
Avs: “We cannot backtrack on the air we breathe”
“We understand the social concern related to the stop on Euro 5s. We know that for many people changing cars today is a difficult expense and that tens of thousands of citizens are involved. But precisely for this reason, the response must be to support those in difficulty, not to backtrack on environmental goals.” This is the position of the council group Alliance Greens Left-Civic Coalitions-Possible of the Emilia-Romagna Legislative Assembly on the derogation to the stop of Euro 5 circulation from October 1.
“The compensatory measures proposed by the Council can be positive and must be implemented – declares the leader Simona Larghetti – I think of the postponed heating shutdown, the reduction of speed limits on highways, and incentives to support citizens and businesses in the transition. But these are measures we should adopt anyway, not as an alternative to the stop on Euro 5s, whose circulation ban was announced long ago with many possibilities for specific exemptions with the use of biofuels and limited use to be certified with move-in. Reopening the circulation of Euro 5s generally is a contradiction to our Pair.”
