Belgium authorizes Tesla to begin supervised Full Self‑Driving testing on public roads

Belgium’s Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport has authorized Tesla to start supervised Full Self-Driving testing on public roads in Belgium, according to the Belgian authority’s autonomous-vehicles framework and Tesla’s own description of the system as a driver-supervised feature. Belgium’s road authority says tests on public roads require prior authorization under its procedure for semi-autonomous vehicles. (mobilit.belgium.be) Tesla describes Full Self-Driving, or FSD, as a system that can handle route navigation, steering, lane changes and parking under active driver supervision. (tesla.com) The Belgian move gives Tesla a national route to gather road data in Belgium while broader European rules for automated-driving systems continue to develop. (transport.ec.europa.eu) ### What exactly did Belgium authorize Tesla to do? Belgium’s Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport says semi-autonomous vehicle tests on public roads are subject to a formal authorization procedure. The agency’s public guidance links that process to a code of practice for testing in Belgium and a procedure for authorizing trials on public roads. Tesla’s system is branded “Full Self-Driving (Supervised),” and the company says the currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous. That matters because Belgium’s framework covers testing rather than a blanket consumer deployment of a driverless system. (mobilit.belgium.be) ### What is Tesla’s system allowed to do in practice? Tesla says FSD (Supervised) can perform route navigation, steering, lane changes, parking and other driving maneuvers while the driver remains responsible and ready to intervene. Tesla’s support pages say the feature does not replace the driver and does not make the vehicle fully autonomous. Tesla also says the feature is only available for activation and use in regulatory-approved markets. (mobilit.belgium.be) On its public product pages, the company lists the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and South Korea as markets where FSD (Supervised) is currently available. Belgium is not listed among those consumer-available markets on Tesla’s global FSD page, which is consistent with the distinction between a testing authorization and a commercial rollout. (tesla.com) ### Why does Belgium matter if Tesla already runs FSD elsewhere? Tesla says FSD (Supervised) has logged more than 10.28 billion miles globally. The company also says the system has been trained on data from a fleet of more than six million vehicles and is already available in the Netherlands, giving Tesla an existing foothold for the feature inside Europe. (tesla.com) The Netherlands example is concrete. Tesla’s Dutch support pages advertise monthly FSD (Supervised) subscriptions, and Tesla held ride-along events across Dutch locations in February through April 2026. That shows Tesla already has at least one live European market for supervised FSD while Belgium is opening a separate national testing track. (tesla.com) ### How does this fit into Europe’s rulebook? The European Commission said in its March 5, 2025 automotive action plan that it would propose harmonized admission approval procedures in early 2026 to facilitate advanced driver-assistance and automated-driving testing on open roads across the European Union. The Commission also said further automated-vehicle use cases were due in 2026. (tesla.com) UNECE, whose vehicle rules are used across Europe and other markets, says Regulation No. 171 covers Driver Control Assistance Systems, or DCAS, which it classifies as SAE Level 2 systems where the driver retains responsibility and must monitor the surroundings and system performance. (tesla.com) UNECE’s working-party materials show those rules are still being updated in 2026. ### Does Belgium’s approval mean Belgian drivers can buy and use it now? Tesla’s public pages draw a line between testing, regulatory approval and market availability. The company says FSD (Supervised) will come to other regions in future updates and is only available in approved markets. Belgium’s public autonomous-vehicle framework, meanwhile, is structured around authorizing tests on public roads rather than announcing a retail launch. (transport.ec.europa.eu) The next concrete milestones are likely to come from regulators and Tesla’s market-availability pages. UNECE’s GRVA working party has another session scheduled for June 23, 2026, and the European Commission has already said 2026 is the year for additional automated-vehicle approval work. (unece.org) (tesla.com) (unece.org)