Belgium’s ministries to drive electric from summer 2024

In Belgium, federal ministries will only be allowed to buy or lease purely electric official vehicles from July 2024 onwards. The Belgian Council of Ministers has now approved a corresponding proposal by the Minister for the Civil Service Petra De Sutter.

This obligation applies to all federal ministries, the 15 ministers, the five state secretaries and their cabinets. From 2026, only zero-emission company cars will be tax-deductible in Belgium. In terms of numbers, Belgian government officials currently run a fleet of about 920 cars, not including police or emergency vehicles, 170 of which are considered a “function car”. This is also largely due to the fact that of the 65,000 civil servants employed, most prefer to commute to work via public transport.

“If we want to reach the climatic objectives, the government must also become greener. By 2030, most official cars in the federal government are expected to run sustainably,” said prime minister Petra De Sutter.

Late last year, the Flemish government announced plans to ban diesel vehicles from Antwerp and Ghent, banning petrol vehicles from 2035 in the same areas. At the beginning of this year, four EU member states called on the EU Commission to set an end date for the purchase of new combustion trucks and buses, namely the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg. In October, Brussels also announced the requirement for all car parking lots around the capital to have EV charging capacities, which are to be increased slowly until 2030.

gocar.be, rtbf.be (both in French), nieuwsblad.be (in Dutch)