The Walloon Climate Minister Philippe Henry (Greens) stated that Wallonia is "not going to do Flanders' work for them" on the environment after the Flemish Government led Belgium to abstain from voting on the EU nature restoration law.
Belgium was one of the only EU Member States to abstain, with the federal and all three regional governments failing to reach an agreement on the issue.
Following the abstention, the Walloon Government expressed its regrets over the lack of agreement on the issue in Belgium. The region's Climate Minister Philippe Henry blamed his Flemish counterpart Zuhal Demir (N-VA), describing her as "a dissonant voice in Flanders."
Demir has consistently opposed the EU law due to their claim the legislation is a threat to Flemish businesses.
Her opposition brought the Commissioner for European Green Deal Frank Timmermans to intervene in the press, promising her that Member States would be given "maximum flexibility" to implement the nature restoration plan.
However, the Flemish Minister did not budge an inch, and obtained a Belgian veto by not supporting the law. Belgium could now fail to reach the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.
Indeed, Henry told regional MPs on Tuesday that his government "is not going do Flanders' work for them." He also stated that, for the time being, "we are obviously not agreeing to do more because Flanders doesn't want to pull its weight."
Although the Walloon minister did conclude that Belgium may still reach an agreement on the nature restoration law with "discussions set to resume next week."
