Officially, nothing has been written down yet, but plans for a Belgian toll vignette are already heating up emotions between the Netherlands and its southern neighbors. Concerned reactions from the Netherlands have not yet given Belgians any other ideas about the vignette, and a plan should be on paper this spring, NOS writes.
The first ideas leaked at the end of last month. The vignette must be introduced from January 1, 2027 and would cost around 100 to 120 euros annually. Negotiations are still in full swing, but the proceeds (130 million euros) have already been included in next year’s Flemish budget.
MPs want outgoing Minister Tieman (BBB) to commit himself to getting the Belgian plan off the table. The Dutch ambassador to Belgium is already in contact with the Flemish government, Tieman told the newspaper NOS. He also wants to talk to the responsible Flemish minister in the short term.
‘Ridiculous’, ‘Far too expensive, how do we get rid of that?’ ‘Let them improve those bad highways first’. The reactions of Dutch people addressed to the last pumping station before the Belgian border are obvious. They become a little more mellow when they hear that the intention is for the money to be used to improve the highways in Flanders and Wallonia.
Hullabaloo
Anyone who has ever crossed the border into Belgium knows this from personal experience: the smooth highways suddenly end and make way for moderately, sometimes downright poorly maintained lanes. Belgians do not think it is fair that it is now only the Flemish and Walloons who pay for the highways.
“I understand the fuss in the Netherlands,” says Jasper Pillen, parliamentarian for the Flemish liberal opposition party Anders. “It makes sense, no one likes to pay for the use of roads in another country.” He supports the ideas, but is critical of the feasibility of the implementation date in ten months. “In political terms, that is the day after tomorrow. I doubt whether the minister will really succeed in making a completely comprehensive plan.”
Discrimination
There are all kinds of legal snags to the toll vignette. Germany previously tried to introduce a toll vignette, in 2017 the Austrians, with support from the Netherlands, took them to the European Court of Justice. Austria was right: European rules do not allow foreigners to have to pay a toll vignette for the use of highways, while the residents of that country themselves receive compensation for the costs of the vignette. That is discrimination, the judge ruled.
Nobody in Belgium wants the Flemish and Walloons to have to pay more for the highways themselves. The residents would then have to be compensated in some way. But coming up with legally sustainable legislation for this is not that easy, Pillen thinks. “The arrangement that Minister Weyts wants to knock down here in Flanders must be legally made of concrete. Otherwise Europe will say, you cannot make that.”
‘Childish’
For the time being, the responsible minister of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA does not seem to be impressed by the protest from the Netherlands. “Work is continuing steadily on the plans,” Ben Weyts said in the Flemish Parliament on Wednesday. The new plan should also include the option to purchase a cheaper vignette for, for example, a day or ten days.
If the vignette is indeed introduced, Denk’s faction is calling for countermeasures. Belgians who want to drive into the Netherlands would also have to pay. Outgoing Minister Tieman also does not rule out countermeasures, although his successor will have to decide on this.
