Belgium’s Flanders region may soon become the second European area to authorize Tesla’s supervised autonomous driving technology, following the Netherlands’ groundbreaking approval last month.
Transport Minister Annick De Ridder announced Tuesday that she has requested documentation from Tesla to potentially expedite approval of the company’s “full self-driving” software in her region. The Flanders area, which shares a border with the Netherlands and is primarily Dutch-speaking, could make a determination about fast-track authorization by week’s end.
“Because you shouldn’t slow down innovation, but make it possible in a thoughtful and safe way. This way, we keep Flanders at the forefront as a forward-thinking region,” De Ridder wrote on social media platform X.
The Netherlands became the European Union’s first nation to grant provisional authorization for the technology on its roadways last month. The software can operate a vehicle independently but mandates that drivers remain alert and ready to intervene.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has expressed optimism about broader EU acceptance of the full self-driving technology, though regulatory authorities in several Nordic countries including Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway have expressed doubts about the system and its purported safety advantages.
Belgium’s federal transport ministry confirmed that regional authorities handle such approvals rather than the central government. Tesla has submitted similar requests to Wallonia, Belgium’s predominantly French-speaking region, according to ministry officials. Representatives from Brussels, which operates as a separate administrative region, have not yet responded to inquiries about Tesla’s application there.
