In the Nitrate Case, the environmental organisations BBL, Dryade, Greenpeace, Natuurpunt and WWF have been vindicated by the court. The ruling states that the Flemish Government is failing to fulfil its duty to improve the appalling water quality in Flanders. The nature and environmental organisations hope that this clear message will finally lead to a change of course, with the foundations of the failing manure policy being drastically overhauled.
In July 2022, five nature and environmental organisations took the matter to court. They demanded that the Flemish Government take additional measures to improve water quality. The case was a last-ditch attempt to urge the Flemish authorities to take action to ensure healthy watercourses. After all, Flemish legislation has failed for more than twenty years to translate the European Nitrates Directive and Water Framework Directive into a demonstrable improvement in water quality.
The court has now ruled in favour of the environmental organisations: Flanders is not doing enough to protect water quality. This is having a serious impact on the environment, harming both our health and biodiversity. The Flemish Government now has six months to introduce appropriate measures and thus drastically tighten the current manure decree.
Europe Under the Magnifying Glass
This court ruling comes at a time when the European Commission is also scrutinising Flanders closely. In recent years, the EU has repeatedly expressed its concerns about poor water quality and urged the region to take much stronger measures and tackle the root causes of the pollution problems. In February, the European Commission even issued a formal notice to the Flemish government for failing to introduce stricter measures against nitrate pollution.
The ball is in the government’s court
Read it the judgement of the Court of First Instance in Brussels of 21 June 2023.