Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was unimpressed on Monday by the decision of the Flemish government to reject the conclusions of an impact study on noise pollution around Brussels-National airport, commissioned in 2017 by then Minister of Mobility François Bellot.
“Perhaps we should stop torpedoing reports before they are discussed,” Mr. De Croo told journalists on the sidelines of Flemish Community Day celebrations at Brussels City Hall.
He called for more cooperation between the different levels of government and stressed that the development of Zaventem airport was also in the interest of Flanders, on whose territory it is entirely located.
For his part, the Minister responsible for the Flemish Periphery, Ben Weyts (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA), explained that Flanders’ criticisms of the impact study, done by French consultancy company Envisa, were well founded.
According to Mr. Weyts, Envisa “has denied the political and technical remarks” made by the Flemish government. Seven of the nine scenarios the consultancy put forward for a fair distribution of noise over Flemish and Brussels territory lead to “a concentration of flights over Flanders,” the N-VA minister stressed.”That’s not an equitable distribution of nuisance,” he added.
Together with his colleague for the Environment, Zuhal Demir (N-VA), Weyts has sent a letter on the issue, on behalf of the Flemish government, to the Federal Minister for Mobility, Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo).
