February 14, 2020
Low-Emission Zones (LEZ) are dividing opinion in Belgium. Their results are not as impressive as many had hoped. The Flemish socialist party sp.a calls them asocial, causing a row with its green coalition partner in Ghent. Are LEZs effective or not? The Antwerp measurements give a mixed picture. After a year, the Flemish Environment Agency […]
February 13, 2020
A motion by the opposition party, Vlaams Belang, to introduce a ‘standstill’ in the area of low-emission zones (LEZ) did not obtain a majority in the Flemish Parliament on Wednesday. However, the doubts about the sense/nonsense of the LEZ also seem to be growing among parties. For example, sp.a also wants the LEZ not to […]
February 13, 2020
The Flemish Minister for the Budget, Mathias Diependaele (N-VA), starts an investigation about the improper use of the tax advantages attributed to pick-up vehicles. The sales of pick-ups have tripled in the past ten years. This success is mostly due to the fiscal advantages. When somebody registers a vehicle as a ‘light truck’, he/she pays […]
February 13, 2020
Of the almost 30 000 speed pedelecs registered in Belgium, 40% are leased bicycles. This is apparent from figures collected by CD&V MP, Jef Van den Bergh. In Wallonia, the super-fast e-bikes with pedal assistance up to 45 km/hour have a harder time to breakthrough. All in all, Belgium has 29 725 speed pedelecs, and […]
February 13, 2020
Nissan counter-attacks: last Wednesday, it has started a new procedure before a Japanese civil court and asks 10 billion yen (€83,4 million) compensation payments from its former CEO, Carlos Ghosn. The latter has fled Japan at the end of last year and has started lawsuits against his former employers. Nissan explains that the procedure is […]
February 12, 2020
The Belgian government is currently discussing the idea of analyzing motorists’ driving behavior to detect accident-prone zones or areas where the speed limit should be lowered. Victor Rouard, a lawyer specialized in privacy, believes such a project could only work if the data are fully anonymous. Speed if often put forward as the major cause […]
February 12, 2020
Both riders and passengers of light mopeds in The Netherlands will be forced to wear a helmet. The Dutch Minister of Infrastructure, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (D66), states this in a draft bill. This means that only cyclists and drivers of so-called special mopeds are still exempt from the helmet requirement. Examples of special mopeds are […]
February 12, 2020
The liberal MR party has filed a new motion proposition to the Brussels Parliament calling the Region to inform and assist their citizens impacted by the Low-Emission Zone (LEZ). MR deputy, Anne-Charlotte d’Ursel, asks for the introduction of an EV and CNG car bonus. But Alain Maron (Ecolo), Environmental Minister, is completely opposed. After failing […]
February 11, 2020
According to economist Philippe Defeyt, chief of the Sustainable Development Institute (IDD), at the current rate, Belgium will fail to reach its -35% CO2 reduction objective for 2030 even if all cars become hybrid and electric. The economist calls for drastic measures in the form of a global speed reduction and intelligent kilometer tax. Belgium […]
February 11, 2020
On Monday, the Antwerp Labour Court ruled in favor of the trade unions in a lawsuit against Flemish public transport company De Lijn. The latter had plans to change the company structure so that instead of six local works councils in the five provinces and the head office, one overarching works council and three committees […]
February 10, 2020
Belgium’s rail manager, Infrabel, is setting up the dismantling of Brussels’ 26A freight rail line for the summer of 2021. However, that unused line connects the Brussels port to the site of Schaerbeek Formation where the European fruit and vegetable center will soon be set up. With the related upcoming freight transport, the rail deletion […]
February 10, 2020
Car owners must expressly agree to the use of virtually all data from their vehicles. Otherwise, a manufacturer, insurance, or navigation company may not store and use the data. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) states this. The European watchdog wants to curb the data hunger of the car industry. Privacy It is widely known […]
February 07, 2020
The Flemish government no longer wants to admit polluting mopeds and scooters to the low-emission zones (LEZ) of, for example, Ghent and Antwerp. But the problem is that it doesn’t know how to realize this, as there is no inventory of the environmental performance of these vehicles. In recent years, moped owners have been forced […]
February 06, 2020
Thirteen accidents occur every day in Belgium, in which people are injured because someone did not respect the priority rules. In 2018, 49 people lost their lives due to this. Although the number of accidents fell from 7.883 in 2009 to 4.661 in 2018, those accidents also caused more than six thousand injuries. That’s huge. […]
February 06, 2020
Approximately half of Belgians would change their online buying behavior if 5 euros had to be paid to return orders. This is the conclusion of a study commissioned by the Federal Minister of Economy and Consumers, Nathalie Muylle (CD&V). “We think climate awareness is important, but returns are massive.” Established habit Returning parcels free of […]
February 06, 2020
Once again, there’s some commotion about the car sales figures in Belgium in 2019. Officially, 550.003 car sales were registered, a very good result, and second-best year ever. But 6% (34.952 cars) was deregistered a few months after registration and sold elsewhere. The practice is common knowledge in Belgium. Importer federation Febiac, which is delivering […]
February 05, 2020
Britain is going to ban – ‘subject to consultation’ – the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars, even hybrids by 2035. That’s five years earlier than initially planned and it can be even sooner, if feasible. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK has a responsibility to compensate for the historic CO2 emissions of […]
February 04, 2020
According to a study by Swiss business bank UBS, a price war on plug-in hybrids (PHEV) is a serious risk in 2020, as car manufacturers will struggle to comply by the end of 2020 with the EU’s stricter CO2 emission rules. The bank’s analyst warns that carmakers “will likely need to push PHEVs to their […]
February 03, 2020
Flemish newspaper De Morgen interviewed Frans Timmermans, ‘Mister climate’ of the European Commission, about the European Green Deal. Timmermans does not see the Green Deal as a fixed plan, but rather as a guideline with the ultimate goal of climate neutrality by 2050. For Timmermans, the Green Deal combines three major challenges in Europe: the […]
February 03, 2020
A team of administrative staff has just been set up in Brussels to check whether the rules on free-floating devices such as e-steps, scooters, and bicycles are being properly complied with. With this measure, Brussels wants to reduce the nuisance caused by these means of transport on footpaths. This team is neither the result of […]
February 03, 2020
At the beginning of the year, the city of Ghent introduced a low-emission zone, but still tolerated offenders the first month. As of February 1st, drivers with old, polluting (diesel) cars will be fined. During the transition period, an average of 584 offenders got caught. More than 95% of Belgian drivers were in accordance with […]
January 31, 2020
Since Brexit was voted in 2016, the British car industry shrank 25%. Last year total car production was 1,3 million units, far away from the 2 million that were predicted only four years ago. Of course, the crisis in the British car industry is not due to Brexit alone. The has also been the diesel […]
January 30, 2020
For the second, consecutive time Tesla has registered a benefit in the last quarter of 2019. The net benefit turned out to be 105 million euros, and the equity rose with 1 billion dollars. Tesla now has approximately 6,3 billion dollars available. A few weeks ago, the estimated market value surpassed 100 billion dollars. The […]
January 30, 2020
Mobility Club VAB advises Belgian cities and municipalities not to introduce new low-emission zones (LEZ), for the time being. There are still too many uncertainties, they say. Measurements taken by the Flemish Environment Agency show that the impact on air quality is not convincing, especially when it comes to nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Consequently, according to […]
January 30, 2020
In January, Tesla sold 36 Model 3 cars in the Netherlands. Last December, they were 12.117 units. Reason for this incredible gap? The tax incentives changed. Lower fiscal advantages have an immediate and important impact on electric sales. Last year, the Tesla Model 3 was the best-seller in the Netherlands; in total, 30.029 units were […]
January 30, 2020
The Belgian Federal Public Service Justice sent out traffic fines digitally for the first time on Wednesday. Immediately the number of fines was 5.000. This is done via the eBox, the digital letterbox of the government. In time, the paper fine may disappear. Transitional phase Some 830.000 Belgians today are already using the eBox. Only […]
January 29, 2020
According to Flemish Environment Minister, Zuhal Demir (N-VA), Flanders is keeping its promises regarding the number of electric vehicles and charging points by the end of the year. The installing companies, on the other hand, sound the alarm bell. Five years ago, the previous Flemish government launched a plan of action called ‘Clean Power for […]
January 28, 2020
Last year, the city of Antwerp caught 20.774 Belgian drivers for entering the low-emission zone with an unauthorized vehicle. The number of infringers more than halved compared to the 42.455 the year before. In 2019, only 0,25% of all Belgian cars were offenders. Whether the number of foreign infringers has reduced is not clear. Fewer […]
January 27, 2020
German insurers want new cars in the EU to be fitted with an alcolock as standard. In Germany, there were 13.500 accidents involving alcohol in 2018. Such a European directive is easier than legislation per country, according to the insurers. New traffic law In the case of an alcolock, the driver must blow into a […]
January 24, 2020
On Thursday European Union published the ranking of the Member States for renewable energy. Especially the traditional industrial countries in the core of Europe – the Benelux, France, Germany, the UK, but also Poland – are failing well. A serious leap is still needed there to achieve the EU’s 2020 targets: a 20% share of […]
January 24, 2020
Brussels Minister for Employment and Digital Transition, Bernard Clerfayt (DéFi), pleads in favor of the development of a 5G test zone in the Belgian capital city. In addition to preparing Brussels for the future, including self-driving mobility, this test aims at studying the impact of 5G waves exposure. The development of the fifth generation of […]
January 24, 2020
This week, we already mentioned Mitsubishi and Daimler concerning possible diesel emission fraud. Today, we can add Jeep, Suzuki, and Volvo to the list. Dieselgate is not gone yet. The Dutch road traffic service, RDW, responsible for vehicle registration, has already noted in 2017 that there was possibly something wrong with the emission treatment of […]
January 24, 2020
The speed reduction from 120 km/hour to 100 km/hour on the Brussels ring-road will be introduced before the end of 2020. That is what the Minister of Mobility and Public Works, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), announced in the Flemish Parliament on Thursday. Air quality The speed reduction is one of the 350 measures of the […]
January 23, 2020
On Thursday, the Belgian Constitutional Court has destroyed the ‘cash for car’ law the demissionary government installed in 2018 to convince people to trade in their company car in exchange for a fiscally advantageous net fee of up to 700 euros per month. But the benefits will stay valid until a new law is ratified, […]
January 23, 2020
ACEA, the association of 16 European car manufacturers, predicts that the European car market will recede by 2,0% in 2020. This will be the first time in seven years. “We stand before a shrinking market,” says newly appointed ACEA president, Mike Manley, also the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobile. In 2019, the market still progressed […]
January 23, 2020
The consequences of ‘dieselgate’ are still looming everywhere. Especially the German car manufacturers are suffering from it. Daimler foresees a further 1,5 billion euros of additional costs, Volkswagen has been condemned to a 135-million-euro fine in Canada. On Wednesday, we were talking about Mitsubishi under investigation by German justice; now the bad news is returning […]
January 22, 2020
German justice has carried out a series of searches in different locations for suspected diesel fraud. The cars concerned were produced by the Mitsubishi group. Ten different locations were searched, among them company offices of Mitsubishi. The prosecutor’s office has declared that “there are presumptions that cars (of Mitsubishi) are equipped with a fraud software […]
January 22, 2020
Brussels Mobility has launched a pilot project with Parisian start-up Vianova to gather and analyze the data from free-floating scooters, bicycles, and mopeds operating in the Region. It helps to enforce the drop-off zones thanks to GPS data. It also shows that Brussels City and Ixelles are the most used areas, counting 60% of all […]
January 21, 2020
Autonomous shuttles and robot taxis are supposed to replace the car and other transport with a safer and more intelligent form of mobility. However, while their development has been going on for a few years, questions about usage, economic models, public acceptability, and real-world safety remain. For years, humans have been dreaming of tomorrow’s mobility. […]
January 21, 2020
European Commissioner Johannes Hahn estimates that the European ‘Green Deal’ will cost at least 1.000 billion euros. He now has to convince the European finance ministers of the ‘Sustainable Europe Investment Plan’. That plan is the investment structure of the ‘Green Deal’ that was proposed in December. To achieve its main goal, a climate-neutral Europe […]
January 17, 2020
On Thursday, municipalities, police zones, mobility operators, and citizens’ associations gathered for the Brussels Mobility’s Road Safety summit. The authority wishes to put road safety as a number one priority and reduce the death toll to zero by 2030. The Region will find a solution for accident-prone areas by tackling speed, pedestrian crossings, two-wheelers, the […]
January 17, 2020
Relatives of the dramatic Stint accident in Oss, in September 2018, have asked whether the vehicle can be rebaptized when it will hit the road again. Edwin Renzen, the builder of the Stint, has complied with this request, and the new ‘bolderkar’, as the Dutch call the vehicle, will be named ‘Buszy’. Since the accident, […]
January 16, 2020
It’s motor show time in Belgium, a lot of people are considering buying a new car. It’s already tricky and time-consuming to search for the best buy, but then there is taxation. In a country that is just twice the size of the city of LA and counts 11 million inhabitants, there are several taxation […]
January 16, 2020
According to the Global Automotive Consumer Study 2020, done by Deloitte, 29% of the Belgian consumers are ready to buy a hybrid electric car, and 9% want a fully electric vehicle. These findings corroborate the study of the Belgian car magazine, AutoGids/Le Moniteur Automobile, where one-third of the respondents was ready to drive an electrified […]
January 16, 2020
The cameras of the newly introduced low-emission zone in Ghent registered 5.072 offenders during the first week of January. They will not be fined yet; they’ll just get a warning. Fines of 150 euros will be imposed as of February. The introduction of the measure was announced last year. Transition period The high number of […]
January 15, 2020
Jean-Dominique Senard was on a visit at the Brussels Motor Show. There he confirmed that the rumors about a possible divorce between Nissan and Renault were completely false. “On the contrary, we will see to it that the Alliance will be in full force again as soon as possible.” It was the newspaper, the Financial […]
January 14, 2020
The MR’s president, Georges-Louis Bouchez, surprised more than one citizen when he declared that Belgium should become the leader in autonomous vehicle technologies and the first country to fully allow self-driving cars on the road. The young new head of the party wishes to broaden the political debate to new topics. On Sunday, during the […]
January 14, 2020
A massive switch to electric cars in Belgium will inevitably lead to electric car taxation. That’s the opinion of a number of experts. Most think road-pricing will be used to do so. Others fear the electricity used to charge cars will be taxed. In 2018, the state raised 8,6 billion euros in excise duties and […]
January 13, 2020
A test from the Flemish public television has shown that CNG is not the most eco-friendly fuel to run a car on. Considering toxic exhaust gases, it’s still good, but climate-wise it seems that there is a bigger problem than expected. The test has been executed together with several academic experts and a test lab […]
January 13, 2020
Speed controls with mobile speed cameras have become useless in The Netherlands due to the popular app, Flitsmeister, that allows drivers to warn each other for speed controls. Last year, there were more controls but 10% fewer fines, according to an analysis of the Flitsmeister’s data. Hardly any fines anymore Public services are worried because […]
January 13, 2020
While fuel cards are taxed as a benefit in kind by the Belgian government, electricity charged at home and even the EV charging station installed at the bosses’ expense aren’t. At least for the time being, financial newspaper De Tijd dug out. With company cars being more and more electric, often, a specific EV charging […]
January 10, 2020
According to HR organization Acerta, 0,6% of the Belgian company car fleet currently has electric propulsion. There is still a lack of infrastructure, although in the near future car taxation will discourage internal combustion engines and promote electric propulsion. Switch from diesel to gasoline Acerta publishes these figures based on an analysis of more than […]
January 10, 2020
Belgian tax-efficient alternatives to the company car, like the mobility budget, and ‘cash for car’, are not catching on yet. Only 0,011 percent of the employees eligible for the mobility budget opted for it. ‘Cash for car’ could only convince 0,175% of the 210.000 company car drivers surveyed by Acerta. ‘Cash for car’ and the […]
January 10, 2020
Since January 1st, 2020, the parking management of the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek has been in the hands of the regional parking agency parking.brussels. The new and modern parking policy and the resulting measures were presented on Thursday by Schaerbeek’s alderman for mobility, Adelheid Byttebier (Groen), and director-general of parking.brussels, Eric Dubois. Green zones all […]
January 10, 2020
Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO of Peugeot and visiting the Brussels Motor Show on Thursday, is clear. “We will be ready for the stringent EU emission regulations from Day One. And that doesn’t mean Peugeot cars won’t be attractive anymore, on the contrary.” The automotive sector is under pressure in Europe. The average CO2 emissions for every […]
January 09, 2020
Car sharing is a good idea, but how much does it cost? Until a few years ago, the situation was clear. If you needed a shared car, there was Cambio. Period. Meanwhile, however, the Flemish driver can choose between several tens of alternatives, each with their specific formula, says Jeffrey Matthijs of Autodelen.net, an independent […]
January 09, 2020
According to Transport and Logistic in Flanders (Transport en Logistiek Vlaanderen, TLV), the idea of the Belgian fashion chain, JBC, to have parcels returned by commuters is illegal. The professional association that represents 1.500 Flemish transport companies considers juridic actions when the fashion store continues its plans. On Tuesday, JBC announced it is going to […]
January 08, 2020
Last year, companies in Belgium registered a record number of 315.557 new cars. That is almost 22.000, or 7 % more than in 2018. The Belgian company car market exceeded the 300.000-mark for the first time. The share of company cars in Belgian car sales rose from 53% to 57% last year. This is the […]
January 07, 2020
From 2021, the entire Brussels region will become a 30 kph zone where the maximum speed of 30 km/hour will become the norm. However, there will also be exceptions to this rule, for example, on dedicated lanes on which buses drive at 50 km/hour. The stakes are high for the Brussels transport company Stib/Mivb: maintaining […]
January 07, 2020
Infrabel CEO, Luc Lallemand (53), is leaving the company to do the same job at the French railway infrastructure management company, SNCF Réseau. Lallemand has been in his current function since the railroad was split up in 2005. At SNCB Réseau, Lallemand will be in charge of 54.000 employees, five times as many as at […]
