Prague - Czech lawmakers overturned Wednesday President's veto on the bill on crisis stimulus package, which includes a car scrapping scheme. The bill was approved by 101 deputies out of 200.
Under the scrappage scheme, as originally proposed by Social Democrats (ČSSD), Czech motorists who would trade in at least a 10-year old car would receive a subsidy of CZK 30,000 discount (roughly 1,200 eur).
When vetoing the bill in July, President Klaus argued it was discriminatory.
"Only few car industry firms would benefit from the scheme at the expense of other sectors and companies that do not have such a strong lobbying background," Klaus said at that time.
Mixed message
There are mixed messages coming from the car industries in the countries that have implemented the scrappage incentive schemes. Some say it helped to boost the sales but others warn that the schemes can overheat the market and as soon as they end, car sales can plummet again.
While Czech economic analysts have warned against implementing the car scrapping plan, local car makers, including the Association of Automotive Industries are largely in favor of the scheme.
The car scrapping scheme has been applied at least in thirteen countries around the world. Meanwhile it had expired in Germany, Austria, the USA and Slovakia.
It is not clear when the Czech bill will come into effect.
