The Uber drivers wanted to block the center of Brussels until "the taxi plan is ready." For a while they blocked some tunnels and their actions even paralleled those of the police, who took to the streets in protest against their working conditions. When they stopped their actions at 09.00 a.m., the Uber drivers were left alone.

According to the trade magazine Passenger Transport, the Uber drivers did not have to demonstrate for long, because after the cabinet meeting, the cabinet of Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS) quickly announced that the Brussels government had approved the taxi plan. After Vervoort received a representation of the Uber drivers for consultation this afternoon, Asmaa Snaibi, unofficial spokesperson for the Uber drivers, said that "the government is looking for a temporary solution for us."

It is not yet clear whether that means that Uber can continue to work after the deadline of the Court of Appeal (Friday 18.00 p.m.) or that the drivers will have to twiddle their thumbs for some time. Some Uber drivers, not knowing whether they will be able to work and be paid in the coming weeks, wanted to continue to block the city center of Brussels. “We continue to mobilize,” said Snaibi.

Prime Minister Vervoort promises in a press release that the taxi plan will become a "legally certain and reliable framework for the professional passenger transport sector, which can guarantee a quality service, adapted to the new habits of customers and users." Now Vervoort still has to go to the social partners, the advisory committee, the Data Protection Authority and the Council of State. Vervoort promised to find a temporary solution for the platform drivers as long as the new taxi plan has not yet been introduced. Next week there will be new consultations between Vervoort and the Uber drivers.

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Vervoort criticized Uber's attitude: “The devastation among the VVB drivers touches me deeply. They are not responsible for this situation. Uber is itself responsible for the fact that it has allowed this sector to develop, while there was a legal risk that the initiative would be banned. Uber misled those people.”

That was promptly denied by Uber chief Laurent Slits to Bruzz. He indicated that he had received a 'yes' from the then mobility minister Pascal Smet at the start of Uber in Brussels (“not really in a vacuum”).

Also read: Brussels Court of Appeal restricts Uber

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