Brussels, 5 August 2025- In its ruling of 31 July 2025, the Council for Permit Disputes has submitted a preliminary question to the European Court of Justice. The Council wants to know whether for “notifiable activities”, which are small-scale activities for which no permit is required, the effects on nearby nature reserves also need to be assessed. This is prompted by a procedure initiated by the environmental organisation Dryade against a groundwater extraction in the city of Peer that caused drying in a nature reserve.
The Nature Decree provides that only for activities requiring a permit is an appropriate assessment necessary. This is an assessment of the effects of that activity on nearby habitat directive areas. For notifiable projects, according to the Nature Decree, such an effect assessment is not required. A common example of notifiable activities is groundwater extractions with an annual yield of up to 5,000 m³.
Dryade believes that the distinction between activities requiring a permit and notifiable activities is contrary to European regulations, specifically the Habitat Directive. Therefore, Dryade appealed to the Council for Permit Disputes against a notifiable groundwater extraction located in the city of Peer. Previously, the European Commission had already sided with Dryade regarding notifiable drainage. As a result, the Flemish regulations on this were amended.
In response to this appeal, the Council for Permit Disputes is asking a question to the European Court of Justice. The Council wants to know whether the Flemish regulations violate European law by subjecting only projects that require a permit and not those that require notification to an appropriate assessment. The ruling of the European Court of Justice is expected within a period of one and a half years.
“We welcome this preliminary question. The quantitative state of groundwater in Flanders has been concerning for years. This is largely due to an imbalanced relationship between extractions and replenishments of groundwater. We estimate that 12,000 of the 34,000 permitted groundwater extractions may still require an impact assessment. This could mean a significant step forward in the fight against drying out.” says Dries Verhaeghe, director of Dryade.
Readthe full ruling of the Council for Permit Disputes dated 31 July 2025.