The decision follows the Council of State’s ruling on Wednesday, which annulled the permits of the current providers of shared bikes and scooters in Brussels operating in free-floating fleets, which users can freely rent and leave in a drop zone. It was multinational Lime, which was excluded when the Brussels Region decided to limit the number of operators, that appealed to the Council of State.

The Council of State ruled, among other things, that the law on the explicit motivation of administrative actions had been violated. Additionally, the call for candidates was based on a decision from 2023 “whose several provisions are themselves unlawful”.

Brussels Mobility confirmed on Thursday that the ruling does not affect the Brussels government’s decision to ban free-floating shared scooters from 1 January 2027, for various safety reasons. The Council of State also refused to comment on future measures.

The ruling also has no impact on the Villo! service, where bicycles are available at fixed stations. The current concession, operated by JC Decaux, expires in September. The Brussels government has already decided to extend it until September 2028. This ensures that Brussels residents can continue to rely on a shared bike offer while awaiting a new system, also with fixed stations.

“The Brussels Region takes note of the Council of State’s ruling and oversees its implementation. Brussels Mobility will now send an official letter to the involved operators requesting them to remove the vehicles covered by the annulled permits from the streets,” said Brussels Mobility in a press release.

Due to the summer period, the region is implementing a “transition period so that operators can organise the withdrawal of their fleet”. “The goal is that all relevant vehicles, both shared scooters and free-floating shared bikes, are removed from Brussels streets by 1 September 2026 at the latest,” it states.

Brussels Mobility also invites all sector operators for a consultation in mid-August. The discussion will focus on the Council of State’s ruling and its possible consequences.

The initial translation of this content was generated by AI. All facts, context, and language have subsequently been verified and validated by a human editorial team.
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