The Brussels Parliament postponed the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) this week. The MR, Open-VLD, PS, Les Engagés, PTB, Team Fouad Ahidar and Vlaams Belang voted in favor. DéFi and Ecolo-Groen spoke out against it.
The LEZ is postponed for two additional years for Euro 5 vehicles: this is what a large part of the Brussels Parliament voted for this week. These cars will be able to drive in the capital until January 1, 2027.
Only Groen, Ecolo and DéFi voted against this postponement, while the N-VA, Vooruit and the CDNV abstained.
Questioned by Martin Buxant, the president of DéFi returned to this vote, which therefore accompanies that of the environmentalists. “You should know that this is a measure which was not at all initially decided by environmentalists because it was decided in 2017 by the previous Brussels government”recalled Sophie Rohonyi. “This includes the Socialist Party which, as usual, with the approach of the elections, is reversing its course as they did with the landscape decree before the previous elections”she then said.
According to the party president, this situation would be “once again an exploitation of files for purely electoral purposes” of the PS. A situation that Sophie Rohonyi says “regret”. “It was a measure that had been there for a long time and that this area makes it possible to significantly improve the air quality and therefore the health of Brussels residents.”
DéFI pointed out that there is “a whole series of categories of people who are not able to comply”and that the party tried to work to support these people. “In Parliament, we tabled a whole series of amendments to be able to respond to this reality, to be able to respond to people who have to go to the hospital and who are disabled, those who use their vehicle very little”. The party was not proposing a postponement, but rather an exemption “unlimited in time”.
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