Draft Climate Policy Plan saddles Flanders with a disproportionate high bill of at least 130 million euros

The N-VA is committed to a broad-based and fair Climate Plan for Belgium. The advantages and disadvantages of the - rightfully requested - climate efforts must be correctly distributed in this National Climate Plan between the three regions and the federal government. The draft agreement that was reached does not fulfil these requirements according to the N-VA. “The burden was not distributed in a fair, balanced manner,” according to Matthias Diependael, the leader of the N-VA group in the Flemish Parliament. “On the contrary, under this agreement Flemish households and businesses will have to foot a bill of at least 130 million euros a year. Something we refuse to do.”

The federal government and the regions have been negotiating since 2009 about the internal distribution of these advantages and disadvantages. An agreement is necessary for the share of renewable energy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the distribution of funds from the Climate Fund.

Geographical advantages
The share of renewable energy that the Walloon Region must achieve in the most recent proposal would be reduced from 12.5 percent to 11.5 percent. “But Wallonia currently already achieves a target of almost 11 percent,” Diependaele notes. “It will rapidly achieve surpluses because of its much greater potential, especially in terms of open space. Flanders, meanwhile, has to increase its current share of 5.5 percent to 10 percent without the geographic possibilities that Wallonia has. This requires substantial - and expensive - investments. So we find this proposal to be completely unbalanced.” To avoid misunderstandings: while the figure of 10 percent may be lower than the 11.5 percent for the Walloon Region, the Flemish effort is almost double, in absolute terms.

Moreover the Walloon Region will be able to sell its surpluses to the federal level. “It is beyond dispute that the federal level will have to buy these surpluses,” according to Diependaele. “If only because the negotiated target for renewable energy for the federal government is unrealistically high. Consequently, the overall Belgian target of 13 percent renewable energy is impossible to achieve.”

Thoroughly skewed
The distribution of the Climate Fund, which contains the revenue from the auctioning of emission rights, is also thoroughly skewed. As Flanders has energy-intensive industries such as the petrochemicals industry, it also contributes the most to the fund: 64% or 1.25 billion euros at present. “If it is true that Flanders will only receive 50 percent of this revenue, we are not really happy, on the contrary even,” says Diependaele. “Especially if you bear in mind that Flemish households are already making the greatest efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pay the lion’s share of the federal green energy bill”.