The Brussels Parliament will be discussing the controversial proposal to postpone the next phase of the Capital Region's Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) by two years.
The proposal was put on the table by Francophone liberal MR, socialist PS and centrist Les Engagés – behind the back of Dutch-speaking formator Elke van den Brandt (Groen) – at the end of August. Dutch-speaking liberal Open VLD also backed the proposal, as did Team Fouad Ahidar.
"Many people are asking for a postponement because they have been facing money problems since the pandemic and the energy crisis," Ahidar told Belga News Agency. In February, he already put forward a proposal to postpone the next phase of the LEZ. "We ask that Brussels follow the example of Flanders and Wallonia."
While Les Engagés said that the LEZ is "a good tool for the health and climate transition in Brussels," they added that a lot has changed between the reaction of the LEZ in 2016 and today. "It is only normal that we now give a bit more time for people to adjust."
Open to compromise
Despite the majority in favour of the postponement, Dutch-speaking greens Groen will oppose the proposal, said Van den Brandt (who is also outgoing Mobility Minister).
"They will vote for the entire postponement, which means that it will be pushed back for everyone, including for commuters and people who can afford a new car and have known that this tightening was coming for eight years," she said on BX1 on Tuesday.
However, she is open to compromise and finding solutions for families who need their car and cannot afford to buy a new one. Van den Brandt condemns the lack of consultation in general, but particularly on a subject so important to environmentalists. An increase in premiums or a freeze on fines is acceptable to avoid the LEZ being postponed altogether.
Groen formator Elke Van den Brandt (left), and MR's Georges-Louis Bouchez and David Leisterh. Credit: Belga
She added that she was ready to negotiate a government with Team Fouad Ahidar and socialist Vooruit, but that Groen would not join a government without a change of attitude from the French-speaking parties.
"The question is: do I still want to continue with this MR party, which does nothing but threaten and say that they are going to overturn the Good Move mobility policy, that they are going to put an end to the 30 zone and to our climate ambitions?"
Van den Brandt reiterated that she would only resume negotiations if there was a profound change in method on the part of the French-speaking parties. "What I expect is that when they propose a text during a period in which I am in talks with them every day, they talk to me about it."
For her, this proposal on the LEZ leaves the greens with no choice but to oppose it. "It is a clear signal that they have decided to go ahead without me. If there is a vote to postpone, it is a signal of a Brussels Government without Groen."
