The Flemish government agreed on a new nitrogen agreement during the night from Monday to Tuesday. The Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon left on X know that a press conference will follow on Tuesday. Like the Netherlands, Flanders has been struggling with nitrogen damage to nature reserves and how to deal with it for some time.
The government reached an agreement twice before news channel HLN, but they did not last. Earlier this year, according to news channel VRT another nitrogen decree submitted by two parties, but the Council of State was critical of its scientific substantiation and elaboration. The press conference will make it clear what exactly the new deal contains. VRT reports that the new agreement should halve nitrogen emissions by 2030. “Nitrogen remains a sword of Damocles over our economy, but we are hanging on to it a lot more firmly,” writes the Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA). on X.
The new deal would be less strict than the previous version, Flemish media write. Peak loaders no longer have to close automatically before 2030, but they can also choose to significantly reduce their nitrogen emissions by making investments. Agricultural companies that exceed the set emission threshold are also no longer automatically excluded from a permit. These companies can have an individual environmental study carried out, after which it is examined per file whether a permit is possible.