As reported by environmental NGO T&E, the three NGOs, including T&E member Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL), collected 25,000 signatures for the petition protesting about a fiscal regime in Belgium that makes it more lucrative for employers to pay their staff through company cars and company fuel than by giving them more money.

T&E added that report in 2009 by the Copenhagen Economics consultancy said company cars accounted for about half of all new car sales in the EU. Because of this, the kind of cars companies choose has a strong influence on the car fleet on the roads, as many company cars spend most of their life as private cars after they have been sold on. 

A recent report by the OECD says most countries treat only 50% of the personal benefit to employees from company cars as taxable. 

A survey of congestion in 2014 showed Brussels and Antwerp as the two most congested cities in Europe. The trio of environmental groups that have launched the petition say this is hardly surprising, as treatment of company cars in Belgium encourages motoring. Indeed in recent months the three biggest banks in Belgium have put an extra 10,000 company cars on the road. 

With Belgium in the midst of a political debate about shifting taxes from labour to consumption and pollution, the petition included a call for company car subsidies to be used to fund lower labour taxes. A statement accompanying the petition said: ‘Hundreds of thousands of Belgian workers have a company fuel card with which they can fill up with diesel free of charge, while the government wants to save hundreds of millions from its public transport budget. If that seems absurd, it’s because it is!’ 

The OECD report says current company car tax rules increase the distance driven, which in turn harms the environment, and that not taxing the distance driven (as opposed to the cost of the car) is the most harmful feature of most company car tax systems – both environmentally and socially. The Copenhagen Economics study estimated EU governments were losing €54bn a year in lost revenue from company car taxation, and the welfare losses in distortions of consumer choice were estimated at between €12bn and €37bn. 

The three Belgian NGOs who launched the petition were BBL, Kom op tegen Kanker, and Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit.

In a statement Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit said: ‘Not only is there more driven vans (20-30% more mileage), it is also dangerous driving with a company car. Beldam recent study claims that "350,000 salary cars make up half of the file". The company is additionally used not only for commuting (in some cases not at all), and so the government is subsidizing the use of the car during free time. Through the use of a company car, the price signal to the user is completely lost, especially for people with unlimited fuel card.

‘In many companies, a company synonymous for a ban on the use of public transport, while for many public transport would be a logical / rational choice.

‘Should we simply abolish vans? No, for certain users (sales representatives, technicians, …) they remain necessary. Salary for vehicles, there is an alternative: the mobility budget. In the mobility budget is a part of the extra-legal benefits (such as unlimited fuel card or larger car) exchanged for an alternative (the season ticket or a folding bike).’

On the subject of mobility budgets, the organisation added: ‘The mobility budget is only a short-term alternative to the company. It is no definitive answer to the problems that cause the fees in commuting for our mobility system.

‘In the long term, we must continue to strive to fringe benefits of mobility (such as the company, but also other benefits) to tax as salary. In this way, again a clear price signal linked to the movement, and the excessive burden on wages (a little) less.’