This document examines how to increase cycling's modal share in the country.

<div>To benefit from the support of the Recovery and Resilience Facility set up by the EU in the aftermath of the COVID-19-induced economic crisis, Member States submit their recovery and resilience plans to the European Commission. Each plan sets out the reforms and investments to be implemented by end-2026 and Member States can receive financing up to a previously agreed allocation. Each plan should effectively address challenges identified in the European Semester, particularly the country-specific recommendations of 2019 and 2020 adopted by the Council. It should also advance the green and digital transitions and make Member States’ economies and societies more resilient. The Commission validates the plan after which it effectively enters in force and EU subsidies can start flowing towards the member state.<br><br>The European Commission has given a positive assessment to <strong>Belgium’s recovery and resilience plan, which will be financed by €5.9 billion in grants</strong>. <strong>50% </strong>of the plan’s total allocation for reforms and investments supports climate objectives, including:</div><ul><li><strong>Energy-efficient renovation of residential and public buildings: </strong>financing renovation wave across regions to increase the energy efficiency of public buildings, social housing and residential buildings. <strong>€1 billion</strong></li><li><strong>Novel low-carbon energy technologies: </strong>financing innovative hydrogen projects and the construction of a multi-functional energy platform in the North Sea to connect 2.1 GW of offshore wind electricity to Belgium. <strong>€540 million</strong></li><li><strong>Sustainable transport: </strong>financing of 356 green buses for public transport, promoting the deployment of over 78,000 electric charging stations, improving railway infrastructure and intermodal platforms in ports across the country, creating or refurbishing 1500 km of cycling pathways. <strong>€920 million</strong></li></ul>

The National Energy and Climate (ENCP) Plan is a ten-year integrated document mandated by the European Union to each of its member states in order for the EU to meet its overall greenhouse gases emissions targets. The plan aims to define measures adapted to different dimensions : 1) decarbonisation dimension : reduction of GHG emissions by 35% in 2030 compared to 2005 for non-ET sectors, a Belgian contribution of 17.4% of renewable energies compared to gross final energy consumption; 2) energy efficiency dimension : Belgium has set a contribution to the European target of 32.5% by 2030 (15% in primary energy and 12% in final energy); 3) energy security dimension : one of the most important challenges for Belgium, in the short and medium term. A radical shift in the electricity mix due to the planned gradual phase-out of nuclear power by 2025 is planned; 4) the internal energy market dimension : regarding energy transport infrastructure, efforts will be made in the coming years to strengthen the existing interconnections with France and the Netherlands; 5) research, Innovation and Competitiveness dimension : Belgium is committed to devoting at least 3% of its gross domestic product overall to R&D. 

This Plan completes and identifies specific ways of implementing the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy over the period 2017-2020. It mentions the impacts and vulnerabilities to Climate Change on the country, establishes adaptation planning at regional and federal level, national actions, and defines monitoring and implementation policies.<br />
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The Plan details several measures to implement over the period: 1) development of high resolution climate scenarios, 2) Development of a roadmap for a Belgian Centre of Excellence on Climate, 3) Development of a national online platform for climate adaptation, 4) Strengthening sectoral coordination at national level, 5) Take climate change into account in risk analysis for invasive alien species, 6) Evaluate the impact of climate change on the security of the energy supply and the energy transport and distribution infrastructures, 7) Evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of climate change in Belgium, 8) Take climate change impacts and adaptation needs into account in the framework of the future National Environmental Health Action Plan (NEHAP),9) Education and awareness-raising<br />
among health professionals on the subject of climate change impacts, 10) Promote transnational cooperation on adaptation, and 11) Coordination of preventative, planning and management measures in the event of emergency climate change situations.

<div>The Strategy was developed by the Belgian National Climate Commission in response to the EU White Paper on Adaptation (2009) and the Belgian National Climate Plan (2009-2013). The three main objectives of the Strategy are:</div><ul><li>improve the coherence of existing adaptation initiatives (evaluation of climate change impacts and vulnerability, existing measures)</li><li>improve communication at the national, European and international level</li><li>create a National Adaptation Plan</li></ul><div>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;The Adaptation Strategy lays down the following principles and considerations to be followed during elaboration of a National Adaptation Plan (currently being developed):</div><ul><li>consideration of particular vulnerability of coastal areas</li><li>need for targeted specific adaptation measures and co-operation among all relevant stakeholders</li><li>possible side effects from adaptation measures but also potential for win-win measures</li><li>adaptation, so far a bottom-up approach, to be further encouraged and communicated through central co-ordinated initiatives especially for monitoring and best-practice sharing</li><li>special support is to be provided to the most vulnerable groups</li></ul><div>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;Based on the above, the following objectives of a future National Adaptation Plan are proposed:</div><ul><li>Cluster and co-ordinate work on adaptation</li><li>Ensure visibility for stakeholders, both in and outside Belgium</li><li>Create awareness and raise the sensitivity of actors</li><li>Identify and communicate dangers, gaps, risks, possibilities and synergies</li><li>Provide policy coherence and a clear structure in which the current activities are to be positioned</li><li>Provide basis for individual actors to take preventive measures and incorporate impacts of climate change in their private, business and public planning</li><li>Enable co-operation and synergy between the federal, regional and local governments</li><li>Ensure that all levels of government can fully control an effective implementation</li></ul>

This <a href="http://www.etaamb.be/fr/loi-du-17-mars-2019_n2019030319.html">law</a>, adopted by the Parliament and signed by the king, enables employers to set up a mobility budget within their companies. It is distinct from the "cash for car" regulation. The document aims at fostering environmentally-friendly cars, that is to say full-electric vehicles or car with CO2 emissions under 105 g/km in 2019, under 100 g/km in 2020 and under 95 g/km from 2021 onward. The mobility budget ceases to be granted if the car does not fit these objectives.

The law also promotes sustainable transport modes as following:
<ul>
<li>soft mobility (purchase, rental, leasing, maintenance and legally required equipment): cycles and motorcycles.</li>
<li>public transport: subscriptions (for the distance from home to work and on behalf of the worker) and tickets (public transport tickets in Belgium or in the European Economic Area); organised public transport.</li>
<li>sharing solutions: carpooling and car-pooling solutions, taxi services and chauffeur-driven car rental services, rental of self-driving vehicles (maximum 30 days per year).</li>
<li>housing costs (rents and interest on a mortgage): home established within 5 kilometres of the usual place of work; mileage allowance bike or provision of a bicycle.</li>
</ul>

The Act establishes a mechanism to incentivise climate action as part of the National Climate Strategy and contributes to reaching European and International objectives. It Is based on a multiannual reference trajectory for GHG emissions reduction in the residential and tertiary building sectors (excluding industrial buildings), specific for each region. A financial bonus is attributed to a region when it exceeds its assigned objective, to be invested in emission reduction policies. If a region fails to meet its assigned objective, a financial penalty is foreseen, calculated on the difference between the reference trajectory and actual emissions, to be invested in emission reduction policies by the national government.<br />
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This mechanism is to be financed with revenues from auctioning of the emission quotas assigned to Belgium (which are yet to be distributed between the regions and the national government through the domestic-burden sharing, currently being discussed). In order to ensure that a sufficient part of the auctioning revenues is preserved, a bonus ceiling is set at a level equal to the national government's share of auctioning revenues, while the penalties ceiling is set at 50% of the regional share of the auctioning revenues.

The Act provides for companies that sell petrol E5 or E10 or diesel oil to integrate in the fuel mix a volume of sustainable biofuels within one calendar year. The quota obligation applies to all registered oil companies offering petrol or diesel products for consumption. The providers of petrol E5 or E10 or diesel fuels have to ensure that biofuels make up a certain volume (see below) of the company's total annual sale of fuel by the end of each calendar year. The following volumes apply: E5: 4% v/v, E10: 9% v/v, and Diesel: 6% v/v. If a provider fails to fulfil the quota, they must pay a fine of EUR900 (USD1,129) per 1,000 litres of biofuels that was not blended with the annual amount of petrol or diesel products sold.

The Act-Programme establishes the 'Fund for general reduction of energy costs' to support energy-saving measures adopted by the most vulnerable households. The Fund offers low-interest or 0% rate loans to finance energy efficiency measures for individual households (maximum EUR10,000 (USD12,549) /year/household). The poorest households that could qualify for support by the Fund are identified through co-operation between local government and local ‘social action unit'. Energy audits are carried out and the most relevant energy efficiency investments are identified. The details of the loan are agreed upon between the Fund and the local government entity, which is also the guarantor of 95% of the total amount of the loan. The debt ceiling of the Fund is EUR 150 million (USD 188 million).

The Act provides for the gradual phase-out of nuclear energy for commercial electricity production. It prohibits the con-struction of new nuclear power plants and sets a 40-year limit on the operational pe-riod of existing plants (most of which were constructed in 1974 or 1985 and would need to be decommissioned over the 2015-2025 period anyway). The 2013 amendment postpones the nuclear phase out and shutdown of the last nuclear reactor to 2025. The first reactor to be shut down will be Doel 1 in February 2015. The operators of the reactors to be shut down in 2025 are to pay an annual charge in exchange for the operation extension. The revenues from this mechanism are to be used as part of financing for the federal green certificate scheme. The progressive phase-out of nuclear starting in 2015 is to be accompanied by energy market restructuring measures, including reduction of energy consumption by the largest (industrial) energy consumers.

Belgium. 2022 National Inventory Report (NIR), National Inventory Report from Belgium in 2022

Belgium. 2021 National Inventory Report (NIR), National Inventory Report from Belgium in 2021

Stratégie à long terme de la Belgique, Long-Term Low-Emission Development Strategy from Belgium in 2020

Belgium. Biennial report (BR). BR 4, Biennial Report from Belgium in 2020

Belgium. Biennial Reports (BR). BR 3. National Communication (NC). NC 7., Biennial Report,National Communication from Belgium in 2017

Royal Decree on the Tax Regulation Mechanism and Excise Duty Exemptions for Rapeseed Oil Biofuels

Law passed

The Decree provides for the support of biofuels production through an excise duty exemption. The fuel from rapeseed oil produced by a physical or legal person that directly sells its production to the end consumer without intermediary can be exempted from excise duty. The exemption equals the excise rate of the fuel the rapeseed oil replaces. The following conditions apply:</div><ul><li>Rapeseed oil shall be used as a biofuel</li><li>The natural or legal person producing the rapeseed oil shall sell it to the end consumer without intermediary</li></ul><div>&nbsp;The Decree is a follow-on to broader legislative support to biofuels production through tax exemptions (bioethanol, fatty acid methyl ester), which expired in May 2014.

Royal Decree on the Tax Regulation Mechanism and Excise Duty Exemptions for Rapeseed Oil Biofuels

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