Brussels decided to postpone the tightening of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) at the end of last year. However, a legal error in the new ordinance has now been revealed, with serious consequences.
The LEZ bans the most polluting cars from the entire region. Since 2022, diesel vehicles with Euro 4 standard have not been allowed to enter the Brussels LEZ. The rules were scheduled to be tightened as of 1 January 2025, which would see Euro 5 diesel-engined vehicles and Euro 2 petrol vehicles being banned.
In October, however, the Brussels Parliament – on the initiative of Francophone liberals MR, socialists PS, centrists Les Engagés and Flemish liberals Open VLD – voted in favour of a proposed ordinance to postpone the next milestone to 2027. But Brussels city association BRAL has found a legal error in the text of the postponement ordinance, Bruzz reported. This calls into question the complete postponement.
"As a result, the standards that were foreseen for January 2025 have been reaffirmed. So nothing has changed," Raf Pauly, coordinator at BRAL, told The Brussels Times.
What's the mistake?
Specifically, the adopted amendment to the ordinance does not refer to the article in the 2018 decree on the Euro 5 and the Euro 2 standards, but to another, incorrect article. This article covers Euro 6 and Euro 3 standards, but they were not scheduled to be banned until 2028.
What does this mean for people who are driving around Brussels with Euro 5 diesel and Euro 2 petrol cars? "They are now driving around illegally," Pauly said. This would reportedly affect 35,284 cars and 8,512 light commercial vehicles in the region.
"That was not the intention of the legislators, but the text was voted on in that way. So the question is, will the administration fine these people? The government has to provide clarity," he said.
Legal experts said a new retroactive ordinance must be voted in to solve the problem. This was confirmed by outgoing Environment Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo), who said those opposing the postponement pointed out the legal risks of such an action.
"The abrupt amendment [...] without prior consultation, without the opinion of the LEZ task force, without the opinion of the administration and the opinion of the Council of State on the legal validity of the system, was seen as a very risky move," he noted in a statement.
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Pauly added that this is proof of the rush with which the measure has been pushed through. "The political pressure was very high. And this is when mistakes happen."
Maron is calling on the authors of the ordinance to table a legally-sound text as soon as possible. In the meantime, Maron said, "citizens acting in good faith will be protected from this risk of a fine."
If the parties who proposed the new ordinance stand their ground and say that people are misinterpreting it, BRAL says it will go to the Constitutional Court if the ordinance is not urgently amended.
