Between 27% and 49% of end-of-life vehicles in the EU disappear into undocumented flows and are exported as second-hand goods, along with the raw materials they contain.

Omissions

• The exact 27%–49% percentage range could not be located in any single primary or secondary source in the available search results. The Council of the EU and European Commission assessments cite absolute figures (3.5–4.5 million vehicles of unknown whereabouts annually), not this specific percentage breakdown.
• The percentage depends heavily on the denominator chosen: Eurostat reports 4.3 million ELVs treated in authorised facilities in 2023; combining this with the 3.5–4.5 million missing vehicles yields a total that would place the undocumented share in the range of approximately 40–58%, which is higher than the claimed 49% upper bound. The MEP's lower bound of 27% may therefore be conservative.
• The MEP did not cite a specific source for the 27%–49% range, making precise verification of the methodology impossible.
• Most search results refer to studies and assessments published between 2020 and 2025; the data is current and relevant to the 2026 session.

Sources

• PrimaryCouncil of the European UnionAround 3.5 million vehicles disappear without a trace from EU roads each year – and are exported, dismantled or disposed of illegally.
• PrimaryEurostatThe total number of end-of-life vehicles reported in the European Union was estimated at 4.3 million in 2023, a decrease of 8.6% compared with 2022.
• SecondaryAuto Recycling WorldA study commissioned by the German Federal Environment Agency shows that between 3.4 million to 4.7 million end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) are exported illegally from the EU each year.
• SecondaryHeinrich Böll StiftungThere are about four million cars of 'unknown whereabouts' annually, meaning they are deregistered without information available indicating that they have been treated as end-of-life vehicles.