2023-07-31 15:50:16
The provisional permitting framework drawn up by Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir does not offer any guidance on the nitrogen dossier until there is a comprehensive framework decree, says the Council of ‘State.
“The regulation that has just been drawn up will have to be accompanied by an adequate decretal legal basis”, declared the Council of State in an opinion on the provisional framework for the granting of permits that the Flemish Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA) elaborated mid-June. For the Minister, it was a matter of providing the desired legal certainty as long as a global framework decree on nitrogen has not been finalized.
However, the Council of State, in its opinion, stresses the need for a global framework decree on nitrogen, in accordance with the negative opinion of the Flemish Council for Permit Disputes concerning the Ineos ethane cracker, whose environmental permit at the port of Antwerp had been cancelled. Until this decree is in place, there is “no appropriate legal basis available”. “Consequently, the Council of State abstains from any additional investigation”, he indicates.
Lack of clarity
The Council of State therefore does not specify whether it will still be possible to work with different nitrogen thresholds for agriculture and industry. A question that the Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Economy, Jo Brouns (CD&V), wants to get answered before approving the nitrogen decree. The latter should translate into legislation the political agreements reached by the government in March, including on thresholds and on a differentiated approach for agriculture and industry.
If the Council of State does not want to comment on the merits, the entourage of Jo Brouns still reads this between the lines: companies applying for a permit cannot simply be exempted from an individual study on the impact of their nitrogen emissions.
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