Brussels: new low emission zone from 1 January 2018

A new environmental zone has come into force in Brussels, Belgium from the start of 2018. For travellers and logisticians, this requests increased attention, including a registration procedure at www.lez-belgium.be.

Belgium’s capital introduced the extensive environmental zone covering the entire metropolitan area with its 19 municipalities, on 1 January. In order to enter this zone, all European vehicle owners must first be registered in the municipal database. Older, polluting vehicles are then excluded from traffic. For the present, however, this regulation only applies to Belgians, with foreigners exempt from registration before summer 2018. The precedent has already been set in the country; Antwerp has had in place a low emission zone since February 2017.

As the issue of air pollution becomes increasingly important in Europe, more and more cities are introducing environmental zones. In France for example, 17 environmental zones came into force during this year, some of which even include entire departments. Changes across Europe can be followed on the Green-Zones App.