Brussels has become the latest major European city to call time on shared electric scooters, with the regional government confirming this week that rental electric scooters will be banned from the city’s streets starting January 1st 2027. If you ride, rent, or follow scooter policy in Europe, this is a significant one, both for what it means for Brussels specifically and for what it signals about where other cities might be heading.
In this piece we’ll walk through what’s actually been announced, why it’s happened, and what it means depending on whether you’re a Brussels resident, a visitor, or just someone keeping an eye on how European cities are approaching scooters more broadly.
What’s actually been announced
According to VRT NWS, the Brussels government announced on Thursday that shared electric scooters will be banned across the Brussels Capital Region from 2027. The mechanism is fairly simple. The operating licences currently held by the two remaining shared scooter providers, Bolt and Dott, expire at the end of 2026, and the government has confirmed no new licences will be issued.
Zag Daily quotes Mobility Minister Elke van Den Brandt and Minister President Boris Dilliès directly on the timing, stating that the authorisation granted to current operators expires at the end of 2026, and that from January 1st 2027, new operators will no longer be able to rent out shared scooters in the city.
This isn’t a sudden overnight removal so much as a managed wind down. The current operators can continue running their fleets until their licences expire at the end of this year, but from that point on, there’s simply no legal pathway for shared e-scooter rental to continue in Brussels.
Why now, the numbers behind the decision
The headline justification comes down to a fairly stark accident statistic. Belga News Agency reports that in 2025, 666 people were injured in the Brussels Capital Region in accidents involving an electric scooter, a rise of more than a quarter compared to 2024. That’s not a small increase, and it’s the kind of trend line that tends to force a policy response sooner or later.
Beyond the headline injury figure, the announcement also points to ongoing friction between scooters and other road users. The same Belga report notes that carelessly parked scooters frequently block the way for pedestrians and cyclists, a complaint that’s been a recurring theme in cities with shared scooter schemes for years now, and one we touched on in our guide to staying safe on electric scooters in European cities, where pavement clutter and pedestrian conflict came up repeatedly in the research.
It’s worth being honest that this 25 percent year on year rise sits within a broader pattern across Europe. Our accident safety guide covers research showing electric scooter injuries rising significantly across multiple European markets, often driven by single rider falls, road surface issues, and risky riding conditions rather than collisions with other vehicles. Brussels’ numbers fit squarely within that wider trend, even if the city’s response, an outright ban rather than tighter regulation, is more dramatic than most.
The criminal activity angle
This is the part of the story that’s perhaps less expected, and it’s a genuinely notable detail. VRT NWS reports that according to Brussels public prosecutor Julien Moinil, shared electric scooters were used in 25 shootings in the capital last year.
Euronews frames this as part of a broader set of complaints, describing years of issues around dangerous riding, pavement clutter, and links to organised crime as having built up pressure for this decision. The logic here seems to be that shared scooters, being quick to rent anonymously through an app and easy to abandon afterward, have become a convenient tool for certain kinds of criminal activity in a way that’s proven difficult to address through smaller regulatory tweaks.
It’s a reminder that the policy conversation around shared scooters in cities isn’t purely about traffic safety statistics, even if those tend to dominate headlines. Public order and security concerns, while less frequently discussed, appear to have played a meaningful role in this particular decision.
What happens to Bolt and Dott
For the two operators directly affected, this is obviously a significant blow. VRT NWS quotes Bolt director Guillaume Burland responding to the announcement, saying simply that the company is “very disappointed” and is currently considering its next steps.
Minister-President Boris Dilliès, described by VRT as the driving force behind the ban, takes a different view, characterising the decision as clear and sound policy. This kind of disagreement between operators and city authorities isn’t new, shared mobility companies have pushed back against restrictive regulation in numerous European cities before, but the finality of a non renewal, as opposed to, say, tighter operating conditions or reduced fleet caps, leaves Bolt and Dott with considerably less room to negotiate than in previous regulatory disputes elsewhere.
Bikes are staying, scooters aren’t
One detail that’s easy to miss in the headlines is that this isn’t a wholesale retreat from shared micromobility in Brussels, it’s specifically targeted at scooters. Zag Daily notes that Brussels was among the first cities in Europe to regulate free floating electric scooters back in 2019, which makes this reversal something of a full circle moment for the city’s approach to micromobility regulation.
Shared bikes, meanwhile, are sticking around and even expanding. JCDecaux currently operates the Villo! bike-sharing scheme in Brussels, and according to both Belga and VRT, that concession will be extended until September 2028, after which a new system based on fixed docking stations across all Brussels neighbourhoods will be introduced, with electric bikes throughout.
News.az’s explainer puts this plainly, noting that officials have indicated future mobility permits will focus on shared bicycles rather than scooters. The reasoning, even if not stated explicitly in every report, seems fairly intuitive. Docked bike sharing systems don’t have the pavement clutter problem that free floating scooters do, since bikes have to be returned to a station, and bikes generally don’t feature in the kind of accident statistics or criminal misuse patterns described above to the same degree.
Brussels joins a growing list
Brussels isn’t breaking new ground here so much as following a path that other major European capitals have already taken. Euronews describes Brussels as joining a growing list of European cities turning away from what it calls the once-booming mode of transport, and both Belga and VRT specifically name Paris, Madrid, and Prague as cities where shared scooters have already disappeared from the streets.
This matters beyond just being a list of similar decisions. It suggests a pattern where the initial wave of shared scooter adoption across European capitals in the late 2010s and early 2020s is now being followed by a second wave of cities reassessing whether the model, as it’s currently structured, is one they want to continue hosting. Whether other major cities follow this same trajectory is obviously speculative, but the direction of travel among several large European capitals now points the same way.
What this means if you live in or visit Brussels
If you’re a Brussels resident who relies on shared scooters for short trips, the practical upshot is that you’ll need to plan around their absence from January 2027 onward. Travel and Tour World frames this from a visitor’s perspective, noting that travellers accustomed to using app based scooters for short trips will need to adjust to alternative modes of transport, including bike sharing programs, public transportation, and walking routes.
The same piece notes that the Villo! bike sharing system will remain available until at least 2028, and that the city’s broader strategy involves expanding electric bicycle programs and improving cycling infrastructure as part of what it describes as a focus on safety, accessibility, and sustainable travel. For day to day practical purposes, this likely means shared e-bikes become the closest equivalent to what shared scooters currently offer, at least until the new docked system arrives.
Does this affect privately owned scooters
This is probably the question most relevant to readers of a site like ours, and the answer, based on current reporting, is no, not in terms of this specific ban. News.az’s explainer is explicit that the decision specifically targets shared scooter services rather than privately owned scooters, and that the policy is about not renewing operator licences rather than restricting personal scooter use or ownership.
That said, it’s worth being aware of a separate, unrelated piece of context here. The City of Brussels had previously announced a short, specific ban on all electric scooters, both shared and privately owned, across the Brussels Capital Region over the New Year period at the end of 2025, citing safety concerns around celebrations. That was a temporary, time limited measure unrelated to the 2027 announcement, but it’s a useful reminder that Brussels has shown willingness to restrict scooter use, including personal scooters, in specific circumstances, even if the headline 2027 ban itself is focused on shared fleets.
If you own a scooter and use it in Brussels, the practical implication of all this is less about your scooter being banned and more about a changing overall environment, less competition for road space and parking from shared fleets potentially being a small upside, while the broader safety conversation driving these decisions is one worth paying attention to regardless of whether your scooter is shared or owned. If you’re looking to make sure your own scooter is in good shape and riding as safely as possible regardless of what’s happening with shared fleets around you, our helmet guide for Europe and our broader accident safety guide are both worth a look.
The bigger picture for shared scooters in Europe
It’s worth stepping back and asking what this means beyond Brussels itself. The fact that Paris, Madrid, Prague, and now Brussels have all moved away from shared scooter schemes suggests this isn’t an isolated local decision driven by Brussels specific factors alone, even though the criminal activity angle does seem fairly specific to Brussels’ situation.
What seems more likely is that the initial enthusiasm for shared scooter schemes across European cities, often introduced with relatively light touch regulation in the late 2010s, is running into a second phase where cities that have accumulated several years of data on accidents, pavement clutter, and misuse are concluding that the model as originally implemented isn’t working for them. Whether that means an outright ban, as in these four cities, or significant tightening of operating conditions elsewhere, the direction of regulatory sentiment in several major European capitals does appear to be hardening against shared scooters specifically, even as personal scooter ownership and use continues to grow.
For anyone following the broader regulatory landscape, our guide on electric scooter laws across Europe is worth keeping an eye on, since these kinds of city level decisions often end up influencing national level policy discussions down the line too.
What we’d suggest if you’re affected
If you’re a Brussels resident who’s been relying on shared scooters and this news has you thinking about buying your own, it’s worth taking the time to do this properly rather than rushing into a purchase. Our buyer’s checklist for second hand electric scooters is a genuinely useful starting point if budget is a consideration, since a well chosen used scooter can be a great way to get the flexibility shared scooters offered without the ongoing per ride costs.
And if you’ve already got a scooter and you’re simply wondering how this changes the landscape around you, riding wise, our repair guides and safety focused articles are there whenever you need them, regardless of what’s happening with shared fleets in your city.
Got questions about getting set up with your own scooter, or want help making sense of how this kind of regulatory shift might affect your area? Get in touch with us, and we’re happy to help you think through it.
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