Geoffroy LIBERT 2018
7 million euros in fines in Brussels Low Emission Zone (LEZ) last year
Last year the Brussels Region issued almost 20,000 fines to drivers who had flouted the LEZ regulations and had entered the zone in vehicles no longer allowed in the low-emission zone. This netted a total of €6.7 million in fines. The number of fines was up 16 per cent on the year.
Last year the Brussels tax service issued 19,365 LEZ fines in all.
The rise isn’t a surprise. "Since the beginning of 2022, Euro 4 diesel vehicles are no longer welcome in the low-emission zone. That has created a new ‘threshold’, but we’ve seen that the number of fines affecting these vehicles has decreasing relatively quickly" says Brussels environment minister Maron (Francophone green).
If you enter the low-emission zone with a vehicle that is no longer allowed, you can expect a €350 fine. In total, the Region collected €6.7 million in 2022. "The aim is not to generate cash, but to protect the health of Brussels residents," the office of Brussels environment minister Maron says.
"All the proceeds will go to the Brussels Climate Fund, used to promote sustainable mobility measures, and also to decarbonise our economy".
More than eighty per cent of the fines were handed out to drivers whose vehicles were registered in the Wallonia or Flanders. Only 42 fines were meted out to vehicles registered abroad.
In 2025, Euro 5 diesel vehicles (registered before September 2015) and Euro 2 petrol vehicles (registered before 2001) will also be banned in the Brussels Region.
