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Brussels postpones diesel driving ban by two years

Green-Zones News

The planned introduction of new driving bans for diesel cars with Euro 5 engines and petrol cars with Euro 2 engines has been postponed until January 2027. Thousands of vehicles would have been affected by the original plans. The postponement met with opposition from the green parties Ecolo, Groen and Défi, while the majority of parliament supported the postponement.

Opponents of the postponement argued that air pollution would continue to be a problem in densely populated districts and that low-income households would be disadvantaged. Proponents, on the other hand, emphasized that the implementation of the new driving bans needed to be better planned in order to be successful in the long term.

Critics accused those responsible of endangering the health of citizens and politicizing the low emission zone. The PTB and Vlaams Belang rejected the low emission zone in principle and described it as elitist and socially unjust.

Ultimately, the main beneficiaries of the postponement of the driving bans are those who would have been affected by the original plans, while the long-term effects on the environment and the health of citizens are not yet foreseeable. The political debate on environmental policy in Brussels continues to be controversial and remains a key issue for the future of the region.