Party States report procedure

The procedure

Each State that ratifies the Aarhus Convention must send a report every two to three years to the Convention’s International Secretariat regarding implementation of the Convention’s provisions in the State. This report is completed using a questionnaire which is identical for each State (see Decision I/8 on the presentation system for the reports). When the report is written, a national public participation procedure on the report must be organised.

Implementation in Belgium

Belgium’s first national report was adopted in May 2005 by the second Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention, which was held in Kazakhstan. This national report consists of four separate reports prepared by the Federal State and the three Regions, each having been submitted for public consultation.  The same happened for the second, third and fifth report in 2007, 2010 and 2013.

In 2016, the Federal State and the three Regions have each written a report for the fifth time. These reports have been submitted for public consultation and sent to the Convention’s Secretariat in December 2016. The national synthesis contains among other things a summary of the results of the public consultation.

The reports (2016):

• the final Belgian synthesis
• the four reports:
  • Federal State (FR) – (Dutch)
  • Brussels-Capital Region (FR) – (Dutch)
  • Flemish Region
  • Walloon Region (FR)

The comments of the public (2016):

• the position of the four environmental protection federations on the federal report (FR) - Dutch translation - summary
• the comments of Greenpeace on the federal report (FR) – Dutch translation of the summary of the comments of Greenpeace on the federal report
• the position of the Inter-Environnement Wallonie federation on the Walloon report (FR)
• the position of the Bral and Inter-Environnement Bruxelles federations on the Brussels report (FR)
• the joint comments of citizens on the Brussels report (FR)
• the comments of a citizen on the Brussels report (FR)

The previous reports (2013):

• the final Belgian synthesis
• the four reports:
  • Federal State (FR) – (Dutch)
  • Brussels-Capital Region (FR) – (Dutch)
  • Flemish Region
  • Walloon Region (FR)

The comments of the public (2013):

• the position of the four environmental protection federations on the federal report (FR) - Dutch translation - summary
• the position of the Inter-Environnement Wallonie federation on the Walloon report (FR)
• the position of the Inter-Environnement Bruxelles federation on the Brussels report (FR)
• the comments of Natagora on the federal and the Walloon reports (FR) – Dutch translation of the summary of the comments of Natagora on the federal report
• the comments of the association ‘NON aux éoliennes à Gesves-Ohey’ on the Walloon report (FR)
• the comments of a citizen on the Walloon report (FR)
• the comments of a citizen on the Brussels report (FR)

The first reports (2005):

• the final Belgian report
• the four reports:
  • Federal State (FR) - (Dutch)
  • Brussels-Capital Region (FR) - (Dutch)
  • Flemish Region (Dutch) -  (FR)
  • Walloon Region (FR)

The reports of 2007 and 2010 are available upon request via info@environment.belgium.be or 02/524.97.97 (Contact Center).