“This is the most difficult decision we have had to make in the Flemish government,” said Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon. The Flemish government already drew up plans last year, but protests and disagreements did not materialize. Without measures to reduce nitrogen emissions, farmers, the construction industry and airports, for example, risk not obtaining a permit or losing it due to court intervention.
Belgian PAS approach
“The Policy Approach to Nitrogen (PAS) has been definitively approved by the Flemish government,” said responsible minister Zuhal Demir. “A milestone for our living environment, the health of the Flemish people and the future of agriculture”.
The agreement includes compromises with which the Christian Democrats (Cd&V) could be conquered. They contested, among other things, the unequal treatment between industry and farms in terms of permits.