The Council of State has overturned the decision made by the Brussels-Capital Region at the end of last year to limit the number of e-scooter operators from seven to two.
Amid growing public frustration amid their nuisance, the measure had aimed to reduce the number of vehicles, but the highest court's overturning will now likely mean an increased presence of e-scooters on the streets of Brussels.
Almost since e-scooters and other shared micromobility solutions were introduced in Brussels, it has been scratching its head over how to deal with the nuisance and inconvenience they cause. In the busiest areas in the capital, many streets and squares were often littered with such vehicles. The region implemented measures stricter than those adopted nationally in 2022 but this failed to tackle the problem. It therefore passed a new decree to better regulate shared e-scooters and e-bikes from 1 February.
As part of this new law, thousands of e-scooters were removed from Brussels streets. Initially, the total number was expected to drop from 21,000 to 8,000, while the number of operators was scheduled to go from seven to two. Bolt and Dott were the two providers selected to operate in Brussels. However, two other operators, Lime and Voi, contested the decision and took it to court, which ruled in their favour.
For months now, there have still been four operators in the city, and the refusal of both companies to remove their scooters means there are still 12,000 e-scooters in the region – 45% more than the target number. On Thursday, the Council of State suspended the restriction on e-scooters in another case, brought by the operator Gliize, which will see the entire limit on operators fall.
Pushing on
All rejected operators who still have a permit will now again be allowed to operate in the capital, effective immediately. The number of e-scooters will likely rise again soon.
"We were very disappointed when faced with a legal guerilla by the e-scooter operators, who had requested this reform themselves and, after extensive consultation, had also agreed to it," Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) told The Brussels Times. She added that she regrets that the Council of State did not authorise a faster transition to a two-operator system.
"However, the Council of State does show the legal possibilities to remove them in the future. For this, we will work with Brussels Mobility."
Meanwhile, the minister did welcome the fact the Council of State upheld the legality of parking in drop-off zones and also the system of parking fines, which she noted made a real improvement across the region.
