The new nitrogen agreement of the Flemish government is tailor-made for Ineos, the British chemical company that wants to build an ethane cracker in the port of Antwerp. This is what the opposition party Groen says through its co-chairman Jeremie Vaneeckhout and faction leader Mieke Schauvliege.
The details of the agreement have yet to be announced, but based on what is already known, the Flemish government is “further destroying nature,” says Groen. Farmers are also being “yet another fool in the eye”, while according to the party there is a good chance that the Constitutional Court will annul the deal again.
“Years of negotiations and ending with messy work: this Flemish government is vintage,” say Vaneeckhout and Schauvliege. The government’s mission was to safeguard nature, give farmers a long-term perspective and provide a legally watertight framework, but according to Groen, it has not succeeded in doing so.
The party says pressure for a new agreement has increased in recent weeks. “The hot breath of Ineos CEO Jim Ratcliffe on the neck of the Flemish government ensured that there was a deal, something that (Prime Minister Jan) Jambon was unable to achieve for years. The permit for Ineos will be secured – or at least as long as there is no new destruction,” says Groen. “The Flemish government does not care that nature and farmers are once again paying the price.”
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