Voka-KvK Flemish Brabant advocates reform of the Flemish environmental permit

Voka-KvK Flemish Brabant advocates reforming the Flemish environmental permit procedure. Voka addressed this call to politicians during the last Voka election session with MPs from the 7 Flemish political groups. Today, more permit applications than before are stranded in the jungle of procedures and appeals: 30% of permit applications on which a decision has been taken in 2023 will not lead to a permit.

Voka-KvK Vlaams-Brabant proposes to reverse the public inquiry, whereby the licensing authority first draws up a politically validated design decision and only then initiates the public inquiry. Urgent political action is also necessary regarding water quality.

“Smooth licensing is crucial if we want to keep Flanders on the map as an attractive investment location. We are going backwards when it comes to robust and reliable permitting procedures. That is why Flemish companies are requesting a new and simple procedure based on the Dutch model that limits the risk of disruptions. This is a priority for the coming Flemish coalition agreement,” says Kris Claes, managing director of Voka-KvK Flemish Brabant.

One in three permits fails
Nearly 30% of the permit applications on which a decision was made in 2023 did not result in a permit, which is an increase compared to previous years.​ The Flemish licensing is in the doldrums. Lead times are skyrocketing and almost all projects of a certain scale encounter lengthy appeals and cancellation procedures. All sectors are confronted with this problem, ranging from industry and recreation to construction and real estate development.

For Voka-KvK Flemish Brabant, the Flemish environmental permitting must be faster, of better quality and more reliable.​

Reverse procedure
That is why Voka-KvK Vlaams-Brabant proposes to reverse the public inquiry and to first work on providing advice and a politically validated design decision. Only afterwards will that draft decision be subjected to a public inquiry. This way, third parties can immediately see what the project will look like, what advice has been given and what permit conditions are proposed. At the same time, the permit applicant can also respond to the draft decision.​

Reversing the public inquiry can be done perfectly within the existing decision periods and therefore without prolonging the environmental permit procedure.​

Water quality
Voka-KvK Vlaams-Brabant explains the proposals regarding the granting of permits in detail in the Flemish and federal memorandum. This also pays ample attention to the issue of a possible freeze on permits due to strict environmental legislation in the field of water.

“The quality of our waterways hangs over the Flemish economy like a sword of Damocles. We call on the next Flemish government to make water policy an absolute priority. We must not make the same mistakes as in the nitrogen dossier. In other words, we must take action now and prepare a programmatic approach to water. That is the only way to improve water quality without shutting down the economy,” concludes Kris Claes.