The three Belgian regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels-Capital have agreed on the introduction of a nationwide toll for passenger cars with a maximum permissible weight of 3,5 tonnes.
The plan is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2027, and will end the current toll exemption for passenger cars on Belgian roads. The regional transport and finance ministers justify the move by citing the high costs of maintaining and preserving the road network, for which the individual regions in Belgium are responsible. However, final legal implementation is still subject to approval by the regional parliaments and review by European authorities for compliance with EU law.
The fee structure for the planned digital vignette is tiered and based on vehicle type and emissions class. The price range for an annual vignette is expected to be between €90 for purely electric vehicles and up to €125 for older models with combustion engines. Short-term vignettes valid for 24 hours, ten days, or one or two months are also planned for tourists and transit passengers, particularly those from the neighboring German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to current plans, motorcycles and buses will remain exempt from the toll. Toll collection and monitoring will be carried out via an automated camera system using license plate recognition, with violations subject to a €70 fine.
The political debate surrounding the project carries significant legal and administrative risks, reminiscent of previous European toll projects. To avoid placing an undue burden on the domestic population, the Belgian regional governments are planning a compensatory reduction in national vehicle tax. This linkage of infrastructure charges and tax relief for residents already led to the failure of the German passenger car toll before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2019, as it was deemed discrimination against foreign EU citizens. It remains to be seen whether Belgian legislators can present a legally sound model that complies with European principles of equality without placing an additional burden on their own taxpayers.
Business and transport associations in the border region have also expressed concerns about the impact on local cross-border traffic and regional trade. An additional financial and bureaucratic hurdle could make day trips and shopping excursions to border towns like Liège or Eupen less attractive. Critics also point out that the technical implementation, involving widespread camera surveillance, raises data protection concerns. Furthermore, since the toll revenues flow directly into the coffers of the three autonomous regions, the system requires a complex internal Belgian distribution formula, which could drive up the project's administrative costs.