Final declaration Flemish-Dutch summit

With the determination to work together even more closely and intensively in many areas, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon and his Dutch colleague Prime Minister Mark Rutte completed the fifth Flemish-Dutch summit virtually.

An important item on the agenda was cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus. Since the COVID-19 pandemic knows no borders, Flanders and the Netherlands have the ambition to strengthen cooperation on healthcare. Where necessary, they will work to remove legislative and regulatory obstacles while respecting the health systems in the two countries.

The Minister-President and the Prime Minister also want to tackle border bottlenecks in other areas. This applies both to complex infrastructure works and to border obstacles to doing business or living and working in the border region. They want to use the establishment of the transnational North Sea Port as a driving force to take further steps in cross-border cooperation.

Strengthening the cross-border energy infrastructure and the cross-border knowledge fabric will support the knowledge and innovation industry and the many Flemish and Dutch SMEs. Cooperation in the transition to a digital economy will also help companies to remain competitive and attract new activities worldwide.

In order to achieve the Paris climate objectives, as regions with great potential in the field of hydrogen and CC(U)S, Flanders and the Netherlands emphasise that they benefit from European regulations and financial resources that support the scaling up of these technologies. Jan Jambon and Mark Rutte also discussed closer cooperation to significantly reduce nitrogen emissions and deposition.

With regard to mobility, both governments are working towards sustainable and connected mobility for the future. The cross-border use of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is an example of this.

Various European issues were also discussed, including Brexit, of course.

Both Flanders and the Netherlands attach great importance to an ambitious and balanced agreement on the future partnership between the EU and the United Kingdom. Both governments are calling on all stakeholders to prepare themselves in a timely and careful manner for the changes after the end of the transitional period. The Netherlands and Flanders look forward to the European Commission’s proposal on the Brexit adjustment mechanism and hope that it will support the Member States and regions most affected.

Finally, Flanders will appeal to Dutch expertise in drawing up a Canon of Flanders.