Brussels Finance and Budget Minister Sven Gatz (Open Vld) wants part of the funding for the construction of Metro 3 to come from SmartMove, the Brussels road pricing scheme. This is stated in a note on budgetary projections until 2030 that he has put on the government table.

Both the new metro line and the mileage charge are causing quite a bit of controversy. Still, the Brussels Region’s debt burden is also at risk of rising to 17 billion euros, or 286% of revenue, by 2028 if the policy remains unchanged, which means he will have to cut his coat according to his cloth.

€250 million from SmartMove

Minister Gatz wants to keep that debt ratio below the 205% mark. Otherwise, Brussels would have to borrow more expensively, and at the same time, Metro 3 can still be financed.

According to the latest estimates, 4,7 billion euros is needed to finish the metro – from Albert to the North Station and later to Bordet: 486 million in 2025, 586 in 2026, and more than a billion in 2029 and 2030.

Among other things, Gatz wants those works to be funded for 250 million euros by SmartMove, the smart mileage charge that the Brussels Region intends to introduce, paid for mainly by commuters.

Although the latter is primarily wishful thinking: the Walloon and Flemish regions are putting the brakes on it, and most French-speaking parties in Brussels are not staunch supporters.

“I remain a strong supporter of this, especially to get Brussels congestion-free,” says Gatz in the weekly BRUZZ. “Legally and technically, SmartMove can be introduced quickly. The discussion is mainly political.”

More money from Beliris

Another part of financing Metro 3 must come from the reserves of Beliris, the federal building authority for Brussels, for projects not (yet) realized, accounting for 492 million euros. Beliris’ contribution to Metro 3 should also increase by 50 million. “This can be done either by increasing the Beliris envelope or by an upfront withdrawal of 50 million euros from the Beliris envelope,” says Gatz.

The minister thus continues to pull firmly on the sting of the idea that the Brussels Region cannot bear the financing of Metro 3 alone. According to him, the 50/50 deal for the financing should remain: half paid by the region and half by the federal government. “After all, Metro 3 is also a service for the entire Brussels metropolitan region,” Gatz says.

Another part of the funding must come from budgetary savings – 311 million in 2025 to 711 million in 2030, on a budget of 6,5 billion euros.

Njet from PS

Coalition partner PS, meanwhile, has already made it clear that for the party, road pricing is not an option for financing the metro because “it would also hit the people of Brussels who have no other choice but to use a car”, even if road pricing were to replace road tax.

Minister-President Rudi Vervoort, also PS, does not want to comment on the note that Gatz handed over to the government for the time being. Gatz’s note will be discussed at the Council of Ministers at the end of this month.

Accelerated procedure for dismantling of South Palace

As for the construction of Metro 3, the minister is also studying the option of starting a private-public partnership. For this, Paris, Dublin, and Liège (for the construction of its tram) are being looked at, BRUZZ and La Libre Belgique write, where a private investor will take on the risks of building the metro. In exchange, Paris can pay off debts over 30 years.

Something like this is possible through a Design, Build, Finance, and Maintain construction (DBFM), where the private partner bears the construction and availability risks. The EU then allows the investments to be kept off-budget.

Meanwhile, the Brussels government has also approved the accelerated procedure for partially granting the permit to dismantle the South Palace. Construction of a 120-meter tunnel under the building has been on hold for several months due to technical stability problems.

The stretch is part of the 900-meter-long underground structure to connect the future Toots Tielemans metro station under Stalingrad Avenue with the existing pre-metro infrastructure.

Several groups and associations have already called for the signing of a petition since, according to them, it would be purely a political rather than a technical solution.