2023-07-28 15:24:43
The N-VA and the Open Vld have tabled a proposal for a decree on nitrogen without the CD&V in the Flemish Parliament, hoping thus to save the mega-investment of Ineos in Antwerp.
The N-VA and theOpen Vld have decided to “step up a gear”. Rather than waiting for an agreement within the Flemish government on nitrogen emission standards, they filed a proposal for a decree in the Flemish Parliament on Thursday without their coalition partner, the CD&V. And they asked the President of Parliament to seek the opinion of the Council of State on this text.
“I received, on the Flemish side and on the federal side, the commitment that this problem would be solved. That’s what I wanted to hear.”
An eagerness that both parties justify by the recent cancellation of the permit granted to the ethane cracker that the British giant Ineos wants to build in the port of Antwerp. “It’s a signal to Ineos and to all investors that we take this seriously and do everything we can to ensure a strong licensing framework,” Open Vld Chairman Tom Ongena said.
Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe told Tijd that he was therefore giving one more chance for the project. “I received, on the Flemish side and on the federal side, the commitment that this problem would be solved. That’s what I wanted to hear. Otherwise, we should have stopped.”
Industry versus agriculture
The Nitrogen File divides the Flemish majority for a year and a halfwith a N-VA very concerned about the interests of the industrywhile the CD&V is very sensitive to the interests of farmers. But Flanders, which is the leading emitting region in Europe, can no longer be satisfied with the status quo, under penalty of seeing too many new environmental permits blocked.
The CD&V refuses to co-sign the decree proposal, because the concessions he obtained in March on this file have not been implemented. But he can obviously live with the current approach of the Open Vld and the N-VA, perhaps because the elections are too close to bring down the Flemish government.
“If two majority parties ignore the remarks of the Council of State and seek a separate parliamentary majority, then the government will find itself in a new reality.”
For CD&V president Sammy Mahdi, the fact that the Council of State provides legal clarification on the proposed decree of the Open Vld and the N-VA is a good thing. However, he warns that the majority will have to take this opinion into account if it is negative. “If two parties of the majority ignore the remarks of the Council of Statestubbornly stick to the current proposal and then look for a parliamentary majority distinct from the existing majoritythen the government will find itself in a new reality“, he said on Twitter, renamed X.
Other projects under threat
Nearly 15 days ago, the Flemish Minister for the Environment, Zuhal Demir (N-VA), decided to introduce, through ministerial instructionsof the stricter conditions for the granting ofauthorizations to the livestock sector. She thus hoped to avoid stopping the issuance or extension of permits, after the failure of discussions within the Flemish government on nitrogen.
But’Ineos judgment has given a boost to the debateand Minister Demir decided to shelve her ministerial instructions after the private member’s initiative.
On July 20, the Permit Litigation Council had canceled the permit granted in 2022 to the chemical giant for its ethane cracker, a project now estimated at nearly 4 billion euros, and disputed both in Belgium and in the Nederlands. The Litigation Council considers that the permit granted by the Flemish government underestimates the risk of nitrogen emissions from which the Brabantse Wal, a nature reserve located not far away, on the Dutch side of the border.
Without a definitive decree on nitrogen,other major infrastructure projects are under threatwarns the employers’ organization Voka, like ECA, the enlargement of the port of Antwerp.
The summary
- The N-VA and the Open Vld have tabled a proposal for a decree on nitrogen without the CD&V.
- They want to speed up the creation of a legal framework, to save the Ineos investment project in Antwerp.
- The CD&V, which vigorously defends the interests of farmers, will not co-sign this text.
- However, he does not seem ready, at this stage, to bring down the Flemish government.
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