Aviation
Alain Maron, the Brussels Minister for the Environment, wants to appeal against the new environmental permit for Brussels Airport, which was issued by the Flemish Region. He believes that “the questions from the Brussels government have not been taken into account”, but he does not receive support for this from coalition partner Open VLD.
The Brussels Minister for the Environment Alain Maron (Ecolo) announces that he will appeal against the new environmental permit that Flemish Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA) has issued for Brussels Airport. “After analysis by our lawyers, there appear to be elements that justify an appeal against the permit,” Maron told Belga on Thursday.
According to the Brussels minister, the concerns of Brussels residents were not taken into account when the permit was granted. It is said that she is not ambitious enough for the well-being and health of those living near the airport. And moreover, the permit would be based on a “largely incomplete” effects report.
“Given the impact of the permit on the Brussels population and the failure to take into account the questions of the Brussels government, I will propose next Thursday to start the conflict of interest procedure against the permit,” Maron said.
Not in line
But the question is whether he will find sufficient support for this among his coalition partners. Brussels Finance Minister Sven Gatz (Open VLD) does not agree with his Ecolo colleague, he told Belga on Thursday afternoon. Gatz points out that the permit, which came after a long process, is more balanced and better than the current permits. “Something is being done about noise pollution, whereby the Brussels noise standards must of course be respected, and about environmental pollution,” said the Open VLD minister.
In addition, he must also take into account the economic impact of the airport for the Brussels Region and the entire metropolitan region, which is very large. Increasingly, many low-skilled people are working in and around Brussels Airport. Gatz is also surprised that the issue was not discussed at Thursday’s cabinet meeting. He formally tells Bruzz “that the appeal will not happen”.
The Brussels government has been asked to limit the number of flight movements to 220,000 per year in the new permit, to take into account Brussels noise standards, to ban night flights and to impose a renewal of the fleet with less noisy aircraft, says Maron. The permit issued by Demir stipulates a maximum of 240,000 flight movements per year. Brussels Airport still has room to grow, because last year there were approximately 192,000 flight movements.
According to Maron, the region works together with the Brussels municipalities to defend the interests of the inhabitants of the capital. He regrets that the Flemish government is “sacrificing the well-being and health of tens of thousands of residents living near the airport, Flemish, Brussels and Walloon residents, for the short-term interests of the airport and an unbalanced and outdated vision of economic development.”
