Environmental organisations Bond Beter Leefmilieu, Natuurpunt and Dryade are going to court. Minister Brouns decided to approve 28 measures to reduce nitrogen emissions, but the environmental organisations see this as a dead end. “The scientific advice from the Flemish advisory body was completely ignored,” they state. “This decision endangers the Flemish nitrogen targets, and once again puts farmers on the wrong track. Agriculture and nature deserve better policy.”
The decisions that Bond Beter Leefmilieu, Natuurpunt and Dryade are challenging at the Council of State concern 28 nitrogen-reducing measures. It involves 22 floor systems and 6 grazing measures. The theory is that these separate the manure and urine of cattle, resulting in less ammonia.
However, recognising these measures is poor policy and governance, for several reasons:
- the competent Minister does not base his decisions on the best available knowledge from science and practice;
- the approved measures are not only unproven, but also expensive. This cost cannot be justified for farmers, nor for the citizen, whose taxes subsidise these techniques through the VLIF;
- the minister is not authorised to approve these measures.
Magic floors
The floor systems have been under fire for some time. Areport from Wageningen Universitystates unequivocally that they do not work; in the Netherlands, they derisively refer to “magic floors”. Also theScientific Committeewhich advises on the techniques, was evident inher advicecritical. Of the 22 floor systems examined, the Committee states that 2 simply do not work and that the emission reduction of the other 20 is greatly exaggerated. The advice was ignored, and all floor systems were approved through ministerial decisions at excessively high reduction percentages.
The cow in the field
In addition to the floor systems, 6 grazing measures are also being challenged. The environmental organisations support grazing as emission-reducing measures, as grazing motivates cattle farms to engage in land-based agriculture. The problem is that the Scientific Committee has indicated since 2024 in multiple advice that the emission factors used for cattle are too low and need to be increased. This did not happen, making the issuance of permits based on grazing measures incorrect.
Farmers who invest deserve legal certainty
This is not the first time that the organisations have raised these issues. In October 2025, they already went to court to challenge the emission-reducing barn system Lely Sphere in that procedure, insufficient account was taken of the substantiated advice from the Scientific Committee.
“The Scientific Committee previously stated clearly that the floor systems are not or insufficiently effective, and that the emission factors used in Flanders for cattle are too low. Nevertheless, the recognition of these emission-reducing measures was pushed through. Recognising these techniques hastily is irresponsible towards the farmer who invests in them,” states Sofie Bracke, agricultural policy expert at Bond Beter Leefmilieu.
“The ministerial decisions recognising the emission-reducing measures once again show serious legal deficiencies. For instance, the assessment of environmental effects is missing, and the decision was made by the Flemish Government, not by the minister himself, who has therefore exceeded his authority.”concludes Dries Verhaeghe from Dryade.