Brussels bans gas heaters on terraces from 2026, but allows electric ones

Gas-fired patio heaters in cafes and restaurants in the Brussels region, used to warm up customers on chilly days from September to May, will be banned from 1 June 2026. However, appliances powered by electricity will still be allowed.

This was the decision taken by the Brussels parliament plenary session, with 41 in favour, 18 against (the left-wing PTB and the Flemish N-VA and Vlaams Belang parties) and 17 abstentions.

The move is part of the capital’s drive to cut unnecessary spending on energy. More broadly, the Brussels assembly approved, in a single ordinance, several energy-saving measures so that it will be mandatory to:

• switch off illuminated signs and advertising between 23.00 and 6.00, except in public spaces which need to be made safer;
• close doors to heated or air-conditioned businesses to limit heat loss;
• and switch off interior lighting in unoccupied offices and shops at night, unless an activity is taking place.

The draft ordinance comprises three main parts:

• updating the emissions trading scheme;
• improving the operation of the green certificate market [with tradable certificates, also called Renewable Energy Certificates, proving that electricity has been generated by a renewable (green) energy source];
• and long-term energy efficiency measures resulting from the 2023 Air, Climate and Energy Plan - containing specific measures aiming to reduce CO2 emissions in Belgium by 35% by 2030 and to increase the share of renewable energy to 18.3% by 2030.

These measures were taken in December 2022 by the [Rudi] Vervoort (Socialist) government, in the context of the energy crisis, and will now be extended.

“In 2025, it will be hard to understand why heated or cooled shops leave their doors wide open, or why empty buildings are lit all night long,” said climate and energy minister Alain Maron (Ecolo).

Hotel and catering businesses say the ban, which was originally planned to come into force in June 2025, could damage the already ailing sector and result in job losses, despite the exemption for electric heaters tabled by Pascal Smet (Vooruit).

The president of the Fédération Horeca Bruxelles, Matthieu Léonard, said the heaters allowed cafes to seat more clients and boost revenue. One Brussels cafe owner told RTBF that he would lose 25-30% of his business without them.

Smet said the exemption would protect the capital’s cafe culture. “If the catering industry goes badly, the city goes badly,” he said. “And we want to avoid that at all costs.”

Meanwhile, establishments that have, in good faith, invested in gas equipment, could be able to claim that they have been discriminated against before the Constitutional Court.