Antwerp cedes part of port to East Flanders amid municipality merger

The merged municipality of Beveren-Kruibeke-Zwijndrecht, which currently straddles two provinces, will belong to East Flanders and not to Antwerp, the Flemish government has decided. This means that, with the town of Zwijndrecht, part of the port of Antwerp will be transferred to a different province despite objections by Antwerp.

The planned merger between Kruibeke, Beveren (East Flanders) and Zwijndrecht (Antwerp) has caused controversy. In September, 80 per cent of voters in Zwijndrecht rejected the merger, but Zwijndrecht's municipal council gave the go-ahead for merger talks in October.

Until now, it was unclear which province the municipality would belong to. Antwerp wanted to incorporate it, and provincial deputy Luk Lemmens had argued for an attachment to Antwerp "in the interests of the port".

Provincial deputy Luk Lemmens argued for an attachment to Antwerp "in the interests of the port"

Provincial governor Cathy Berx also suggested that the port was best managed as "one area and not fragmented", especially in terms of "civil and police security". East Flanders governor Carina Van Cauter, however, insisted that a transfer to East Flanders was "the logical decision".

Tax revenue

In addition to losing part of Europe's second-largest port - which is already partly on East Flanders territory - Antwerp would lose more than 2 million euros annually if the merged municipality went to East Flanders, due to the loss of business tax revenue from the many port companies in Zwijndrecht.

The Flemish government has now decided, in principle, to assign the merged municipality to East Flanders. The decision still needs to be submitted to the Council of State, Belgium's highest administrative court.

For several years, the Flemish government has been actively encouraging mergers of municipalities, including several financial incentives for local authorities. The regional government wants to reduce the number of municipalities from 300 to 100.

 

#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM


Related news

Website preview
Municipal mergers already cost Flanders a quarter of a billion euros
The mergers that 26 Flemish municipalities have now agreed to are already costing Flanders a quarter of a billion euros, the newspapers De Standaard and Het Belang van Limburg reported on Friday.
www.belganewsagency.eu

Get updates in your mailbox

By clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy.

About belganewsagency.eu

Belga News Agency delivers dependable, rapid and high-quality information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from Belgium and abroad to all Belgian media. The information covers all sectors, from politics, economics and finance to social affairs, sports and culture, not to mention entertainment and lifestyle.

Every day, our journalists and press photographers produce hundreds of photos and news stories, dozens of online information items, plus audio and video bulletins, all in both national languages. Since the end of March 2022 English has been added as a language.

For public institutions, businesses and various organisations that need reliable information, Belga News Agency also offers a comprehensive range of corporate services to meet all their communication needs.

Contact

Arduinkaai 29 1000 Brussels

www.belganewsagency.eu