On Thursday 20 June, the European Commission announced that it had opened an in-depth investigation to determine whether the Flemish Region and its municipalities had granted illegal State aid to three spatial planning organisations involved in nature conservation activities, and information and education on environmental conservation and protection (‘Natuurpunt Beheer’, ‘Limburgs Landschap’ and ‘Vzw Durme’).
The aid was granted for the purchase of land to be converted into...