Weyts accuses Anders and Groen of dodging a road-charge they backed in Brussels
The clash sits inside a file that Belgium's regions have studied for years without delivering, and it exposes how road pricing is judged very differently in a congested capital than across Flanders.
In 30 seconds
- Flemish minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) accused the parties Anders and Groen of approving a wegenvignet in Brussels and then avoiding responsibility, per De Standaard.
- His quoted line was: "Mee goedgekeurd in Brussel, maar nu onder steen gekropen."
- Charging cars for road use is largely a regional competence in Belgium, decided separately by Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.
- Belgium already applies a kilometre charge to heavy goods vehicles, but not to passenger cars.
A wegenvignet is a road-usage charge for drivers — historically a time-based sticker, now more often a distance-based fee. Flemish minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) has accused the parties Anders and Groen of having approved such a charge in the Brussels-Capital Region while avoiding responsibility for it in a Flemish context. In Belgium, charging cars for road use is largely a regional competence, so Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each decide separately — which is why a measure supported in one region can become a point of attack in another.
Background
Belgium has debated a wegenvignet for passenger cars for over a decade, including earlier three-region talks aimed partly at making foreign drivers contribute, which were ultimately dropped. Flanders has studied and shelved a kilometre charge for cars more than once, while Brussels has pushed variants of smart, usage-based pricing such as SmartMove. A kilometre charge for heavy goods vehicles already operates across the regions, making passenger-car charging the politically harder frontier.
What to do
For now the practical implication for drivers is nil — this is political framing, not a fee. Any real charge would depend on a future regional decision, most consequentially for those commuting between Flanders and Brussels.
The Belgian angle
Because road charging is set region by region, the dispute pits Brussels' congestion-and-air-quality logic against Flanders' reluctance to price car use. Commuters crossing between the two regions, and cross-border drivers, would feel any eventual charge most directly, but for now the practical impact is confined to the political framing of a file that has not produced a concrete Flemish proposal.
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- 5 Aug 2026
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