Mark Rutte and Elio Di Rupo ratified the Walloon-Dutch ‘road map’ on Tuesday evening in The Hague. In this way, the Dutch Prime Minister and the Walloon Prime Minister will strengthen cooperation in various areas over the next two years. These include agriculture, public health, employment, research and innovation, the environment, spatial planning and mobility.
An exchange structure will be established whereby physical meetings will be held once or twice a year to discuss border issues. The countries also want to examine what lessons can be learned from the severe floods of July 2021.
Rutte and Di Rupo also discussed political developments at European level. In the first place, it concerned the war in Ukraine and its immediate consequences for the European Union. Just think of the dependence on fossil fuels and the energy transition.
Different opinions
The liberal Dutch prime minister and the socialist prime minister of Wallonia also discussed strengthening European defense policy and the need for an ambitious climate policy. The rules of the EU’s economic policy were also discussed, as was the Union’s trade policy. These are two topics on which the two have different opinions.
“Together with Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo of Wallonia, I have endorsed the Dutch-Walloon roadmap,” Rutte tweeted. “With this we strengthen our cooperation in areas such as water management, area development in the border region, agriculture, mobility, innovation and digitization.”
“The Covid-19 crisis has once again underlined that cross-border cooperation is essential,” Di Rupo said in a press release. “The roadmap offers opportunities for developing bilateral exchanges and improving the quality of life in the border regions.”
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.