The new Flemish government has convinced Noord-Brabant and Zeeland that the nitrogen battle from Belgium, in particular from the port of Antwerp, will fall in the coming years. Due to this supposed decrease, the Dutch provinces no longer oppose the nitrogen that is expected to descend in Natura 2000 areas Westerschelde & Land van Saeftinghe in Zeeland and the Brabant Wal by the factory of chemical giant Ineos.
A headache file for Flanders has been resolved with the strike of the legal battle. The objection of the border provinces to the factory in Antwerp forced Flemish and Dutch governments to discuss cross -border nitrogen problems. That now gets a structural follow -up, says the Zeeland Deputy Wilfried Nielen. “This way we protect our nature against too much nitrogen battle and our important economic development in the border region.”
Read also
Nitrogen on Brabant and Zeeland nature by an ethaan cracker just across the border: that causes unrest
The resistance of the border provinces began in the summer of 2022, when Noord-Brabant and Zeeland appealed against the permit of the Flemish Government for the construction of the Ineos factory. The Council for Permit Disputes in Flanders in favor of the Dutch provinces: the Flemish Government and Ineos could not show that plants and animals on the Brabantse Wal, such as the black woodpecker, would not suffer from the factory of nitrogen. After that, the Flemish government granted a permit twice, in which Noord-Brabant and Zeeland always appealed. That put bad blood in Flanders.
In Flanders, the Ineos factory is seen as the investment of the century. The factory that Ineos builds is a so -called Ethaanker, where building blocks are made for plastic. The factory must be ready by the end of 2026.