Today's Top Stories - July 23, 2012

No road tax disk for motorists before 2016

New road tax regulations, involving disks and tolls, have been delayed by three years. But the principles remain the same: heavy goods vehicles (3.5 tonnes and over) are to be taxed according to actual kilometres driven while other vehicles will pay an annual fee. Lorries of 12.5 tonnes and over are currently obliged to buy a Eurodisc to use national motorways. The new regulations will require all other vehicles to pay to drive on any of the country’s roads. For Belgian residents the annual payment will take the form of a road tax, while foreigners have the option of a disc valid for one day, one month or one year. While all three regions have agreed the new regulations, which were planned for 2013, Brussels and Flanders have yet to ratify them. A backlog of political year-end work has been blamed for the delay in addition to the practicalities of introducing the new system.

Tanning salons flout the rules

One in three tanning salons breaks the law by not checking the age of underage customers and allowing people with fair skin to use sunbeds. The federal authorities made the criteria for salons more stringent four years ago, but it seems to have had little impact. Of 612 salons inspected since 2008, only 97 were totally beyond reproach. One in three tanning salons illegally allows minors and people with skin type I, who burn easily and for whom exposure to sunbeds may be harmful. Furthermore, 40 percent of salons inspected did not implement the compulsory 24-hour cooling off period between sessions. 

Speed cameras out of order

The speed cameras on the A12 motorway between Brussels and Antwerp have been out of order for two years. Interior minister Joëlle Milquet confirmed that “for technical reasons” the cameras hadn’t worked since 2010, but added that they “do not necessarily have to be fully functional in order to have a preventive effect”. But she conceded that the number of road accidents resulting in serious injuries on this stretch of motorway rose from 115 to 138 in the past year. The problem lies with the fact that the speed cameras are analogue models using rolls of film that need to be physically replaced on a regular basis, something the federal police is too understaffed to do. Plans are afoot to replace them with new digital cameras, but the process is still in its early stages.

Rubens masterpiece back in Ghent

The painting The Calydonian Boar Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens, stolen in 2001, is back where it belongs in Ghent’s Museum of Fine Arts. The masterpiece was recovered in Greece in September 2011 and had been kept safe in Athens’ Alexandros Soutzos National Gallery before returning to Belgium. The return of the 1618 painting was the occasion for an official unveiling ceremony attended by the Belgian ambassador in Greece Marc Van Den Reeck and his Greek counterpart Platon Alexis Hadjimichalis.

The King’s speech

King Albert II delivered an optimistic address to the nation in his annual July 21 speech, praising the country’s new-found political stability. He said the Federal Government’s actions were stimulating the Belgian economy and the country’s image abroad. But he also called for openness towards other communities in the country as well as people from other European nations. His talk was in stark contrast to last year’s speech in which he berated politicians for the constitutional crisis. The King started his speech by expressing his and the Queen’s sympathies to the families of the children that died in the coach crash in Switzerland in March.