An agreement within reach, but blocked

The European Renewable Energy Directive requires fossil fuel suppliers to ensure an increasing share of renewable energy in road transport. Those who supply renewable electricity, hydrogen or other renewable fuels receive e-credits in return, which fossil fuel suppliers can purchase to meet their obligations. This mechanism already exists under the supervision of the FPS Economy, but urgently needs to be amended following the most recent revision of the European directive. The transposition of the new targets set out in RED III Transport is absolutely essential to ensure the mechanism continues to function and to provide the necessary incentives to various sectors, including the EV sector. EV Belgium called on the competent minister in April 2025 to take the necessary action, but this call has not yet been heeded. 

“Belgium has been well past the European deadline for transposing RED III for some time now. Whilst our neighbouring countries are continuing to expand their frameworks for renewable energy in transport, Belgian investors in charging infrastructure are still waiting for clarity. That delay comes at an economic cost,” emphasises Philippe Vangeel, director at EV Belgium. 

However, the implementation is explicitly set out in the federal coalition agreement. A broad coalition of companies from the energy, transport and industrial sectors recently reiterated their call to the government in a joint letter, asking for the targets to come into force on 1 January 2027. At government level, an agreement is within reach, but a formal decision is still pending. According to EV Belgium, this is an unnecessary political deadlock that will cost a great deal of money. The delay in this decision has a direct impact on the value of e-credits, which has plummeted over the past year from around €18 to €5 per credit, corresponding to a fall from €0.07 to €0.02 per kWh. By way of comparison: in the Netherlands, where RED III Transport has already been implemented, the average value currently stands at €0.10 per kWh. According to a conservative estimate by EV Belgium, this will have cost the Belgian charging point sector just under €4 million in investment capital in 2026. By the end of 2027, this figure – according to the same estimate – will rise to more than €27 million. This scale demonstrates why policy and investment certainty are essential for a sector with high investment costs.

Vangeel emphasises: “We are in control of the implementation of RED III Transport ourselves, and this will lead to greater independence from price shocks on the oil market. Various reports from abroad (including TU Delft) explicitly show that greater electrification under RED III (can) reduce overall costs – including for people with diesel and petrol cars – because electricity is a cost-effective way of achieving the target.”

What is at stake

Economically:
A well-functioning credit system shortens the payback period for a charging hub and thus reduces the charging price for consumers. It can literally make the difference between investing and pulling out. The Netherlands and Germany have already implemented RED III Transport, with France set to follow in 2027. There, every kWh of renewable electricity does indeed yield a stable return. Investors are therefore turning to our neighbouring countries, as the growth of charging infrastructure in Belgium has been stagnating since the last quarter of 2026. Every month of delay increases that risk.

Competition in the transport sector:   
Although we are a European frontrunner when it comes to the electrification of passenger cars in Belgium, we are lagging behind when it comes to vans and lorries. For a logistics hub such as Belgium, this poses a real risk. Stable e-credits for charging can also make a real difference to the business case for an electric lorry. Our neighbouring countries already offer this benefit to their logistics operators, whereas Belgium does not, and is therefore at risk of losing its competitive edge.

A cost-effective climate measure that pays for itself:
This low-cost CO₂ measure remains unused for an unnecessarily long time, even though it costs the government nothing in budgetary terms, as the system is self-financing. Road transport accounts for almost 29 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions and, according to the latest report from the Flemish Energy and Climate Plan, is the only sector in which emissions have risen since 1990. At the same time, affordable solutions are already available today. Without ambitious targets, Belgium is missing out on a key lever for achieving its European climate target, running the risk of fines or having to purchase expensive emission allowances from abroad. Moreover, the burden would then shift to industry, agriculture and households, where reductions are more difficult and more expensive to achieve.

“There is not a single valid reason today not to implement REDIII Transport, neither for economic reasons nor for the sake of the climate,” concludes Philippe Vangeel

What is needed now

For EV Belgium, the analysis is straightforward: the transposition of RED III Transport is set out in the coalition agreement, and the European deadline has long since passed. Any further delay undermines legal certainty for investors and opens the door to European infringement proceedings. It has now been proven that this measure costs the public virtually nothing: studies in the Netherlands, Germany and France estimate the impact at the pump at no more than a few eurocents per litre, and show that greater electrification can reduce overall costs, as electricity is a cheaper way of meeting the targets.

That is why EV Belgium and its 140 member companies are calling on the entire government to bring RED III Transport into force on 1 January 2027, with retroactive effect if necessary, as has also been done in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Ambitious targets are essential in this regard, as targets that are too low keep credit prices low and undermine precisely the investments that the directive aims to encourage. Furthermore, the framework must recognise all charging points (including private ones), allocate credits based on the actual amount of renewable energy, and operate a simple and legally certain register that is also accessible to smaller players.

Philippe Vangeel concludes: “No one can predict when the next energy crisis will strike or what the price of oil will be tomorrow. We can, however, opt for an ambitious transition that guarantees investment, jobs and a competitive charging price in Belgium. An agreement is within reach: we call on the coalition to finalise it this autumn.”

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