Manure action plan: parties involved can agree themselves
On Monday, some agricultural organizations announced that they would prefer not to continue working on the basis of the first working text with measures. That working text caused quite a stir in the past week and also led to a lively discussion between government parties N-VA and CD&V. Minister Demir wants to prevent the file from crashing before it has finally taken off. It therefore invites the civil society organizations and government agencies involved to come to an agreement together. The minister grabs the bull by the horns. A first consultation took place on Tuesday, led by Toon Denys, managing director of the VLM.
The agricultural, environmental and nature organizations and government agencies are given time to reach an agreement on the basis of their own proposals. That agreement must meet the objectives of the Water Framework Directive and the Nitrates Directive and must be acceptable to the European Commission.
timing
If the new consultation model results in an agreement, the minister will submit this to the government. If the consultations do not lead to an agreement, the minister will submit his own proposal to the government. There is no hard deadline for an agreement based on the consultation model, but the aim is to reach the end of the year.
The minister calls on the negotiating parties “to show their most constructive side, in the interest of both agriculture and water quality in Flanders.”