Ban on most polluting petrol cars in the Brussels-Capital Region from 1 January
The Low Emissions Zone that was introduced across the whole of the Brussels-Capital Region at the start of the year will be extended from 1 January to cover a greater range of both petrol and diesel vehicles. Currently only the oldest most polluting diesel vehicles are banished from the capital’s streets.
These are vehicles that either are unclassified according to Euro Standards on emissions as defined in the EU directive or vehicles that fall under Euro Standard 1.
From 1 January 2019 this will be expanded to cover diesel vehicles with Euro Standard 2 and petrol vehicles that are unclassified or are classified Euro Standard 1. These are vehicles that first came onto the roads in 1997 or earlier.
Fines of 350 euro
Those caught breaching the ban will first be issued with a warning. Repeat offenders risk a fine of 350 euro. Motorists can buy a 24 hours exemption for 35 euro. The exemptions can be bought a maximum of 8 times within a 1-year period.
The first fines were issued in October. During that month 228 fines were issued.