Car vignette plans abandoned

There won’t be a road vignette system in Belgium, De Morgen has learnt from various government sources. The introduction of the kilometre charge tax for trucks, however, is maintained and will come into force on January 1, 2016. The Flemish government was never enthusiastic about the introduction of vignette and its Walloon counterpart has now realised that the system proved less profitable than expected, the newspaper says. Negotiators from the Regions have come to an agreement over the kilometre charge for trucks, which is expected to bring in €1bn euros annually. The names of the five companies shortlisted for the development of the kilometre charge system will be revealed this week, with the winner announced by March 2014.