Belgian-Dutch Summit reaffirms and strengthens cooperation on hydrogen

On January 31, 2023, the Netherlands and Flanders met a for joint Dutch-Flemish Summit, led by Prime Ministers Rutte and Jambon. Since 2011, the Netherlands and Flanders have been organizing regular meetings at the highest political level to work together to further deepen the close bilateral relationship. The last few years, hydrogen has emerged as an important topic on these Summits.

During the previous Dutch-Flemish government summit in 2020, the Netherlands and Flanders recognized that cross-border transport networks for hydrogen, CO2 and residual gases are important for the optimal opening up of our delta region. Our governments now reaffirm this conclusion and confirm that interconnection and the underlying framework conditions for this will be a priority in the Dutch-Flemish cooperation, in which we aim to reduce bottlenecks that originate in origin in policy. In March 2023, a Dutch-Flemish knowledge seminar on infrastructure for energy transition will be organized with governments, industry and civil society organizations as part of this cooperation.

The government leaders also agreed to exchange information on the position on the EU regulatory framework for hydrogen (both low carbon and renewable hydrogen), including within the European decarbonization package. Where possible our countries will work together act together in the negotiation and implementation of new European energy and climate regulations. The Netherlands and Flanders recognize the role of low-carbon hydrogen and low-carbon fuels of non-biological origin (LCFNBOs) to achieve the ambitious (European) climate and energy targets, particularly in the industrial and mobility sectors, and assign an essential (transition) role to CCS/U technology and the further transport and storage of CO2 in the region, among others.

The Netherlands and Flanders are both strongly committed to hydrogen innovation and in the context of the high tech cooperation agenda will further explore collaboration opportunities. In the field of heavy duty mobility (trucks, shipping), the Netherlands and Flanders are working together in a targeted way. We also take advantage of European opportunities within the framework of IPCEI, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, the Connecting Europe Facility and the Innovation Fund.