Belgian federal officials to drive electric from July 1st (update)

The Belgian federal authorities will only buy or lease electric service vehicles from July 2024. The Council of Ministers approved a plan by Minister of Civil Service Petra De Sutter (Groen) in March last year, which is now in effect. One consequence of the measure is that by 2030, most service vehicles within the federal government will drive sustainably.

The obligation applies to all government departments and the cars of the federal ministers, state secretaries, and their cabinets. A new federal government will be formed after the general elections on June 9th this year.

In 2023, the federal government’s fleet had 920 vehicles. This does not include cars belonging to the police or defense. They are mainly service cars used for specific missions, such as customs or social inspection. There are also some staff cars, although these are exceptions and are limited to management positions. Out of 65,000 civil servants, only 170 drove such a car.

The decision is part of the ambition to make Belgium climate-neutral by 2050. Europe has decided that only sustainable cars will be sold within seven years. To make it all happen step by step, the new federal service cars will already become sustainable from mid-2024. Officials drive a service car for about eight years on average.

Flanders is also making the switch

The following official cars of Flemish ministers will also all be electric. Retiring Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon (N-VA) said so in parliament at the end of January. At that time, only two Flemish ministers drove fully electric: Benjamin Dalle and Bart Somers.

The rest of their colleagues drove plug-in hybrids, but they will switch when their current leasing contracts expire. A new Flemish government is also being formed after the June elections.

The Flemish Government will only purchase or lease fully electric passenger cars starting in 2025. Two years later, vans will follow. This is stated in the Mobility Action Plan 2.0, which the Flemish government approved.

The Walloon Public Service has a fleet of around 3,000 vehicles. It is unclear how many of these are electric or when they should become electric.