Analysts of the Institute for European Politics and Reforms ascertained that the Moldovans will pay the heaviest fines in Europe. The experts analyzed the changes made to the recently adopted legislation by which a conventional unit is raised to 1% of the average salary in the economy. Under these changes, the conventional unit used to set the fine is increased from 20 to 50.5 lei, IPN reports.
The experts established that even if the authorities’ approach as regards the indexation to inflation is correct, a very important aspect that was overlooked is the ratio of the fines to the population’s incomes. “Following the changes passed by Parliament in the first reading, when the conventional unit is raised, the fine will also rise in relation to the average salary in the economy. Thus, Moldova will become a leader at the European level as regards the size of traffic fines. The fine for exceeding the legal speed by 21 km/h will be equal to 30% of the average salary in the economy. Compared with the European average, we will pay five times more for traffic fines,” said economist Eugen Giletski.
The Institute’s experts consider it is opportune to separate the types of conventional units for offenses and contraventions or to increase the number of units applied for particular offenses. “So as not to put pressure of over 250% on the people when the economy is contracting, the level of conventional units must be equal to 0.5% of the average salary in the economy, which is 25.25 lei. This is a rise of 25% on last year and this rise will cover a part of the costs caused by inflation,” said analysis author Adrian Ermurachi.
When carrying out the analysis, the experts compared the size of fines for exceeding the legal speed by 21km/h and the average official salary in 21 European countries. The average in the 21 states shows that the people in these countries pay 5.2% of the monthly salary for exceeding the legal speed by 21 km/h. The highest level is in Romania – 15.6% of the average salary, while the lowest level is in Austria – 1.5%. Now that the conventional unit in Moldova is 20 lei, the fine for speeding is 600 lei, which is 12.1% of the average salary in the economy.
