Decree on the Unique Permit published

The Decree of 25 April 2014 on the unique permit was published in the Belgian Official Journal on 23 October 2014. This procedural decree provides for the abolition of the - currently independent - urban development permit (or report) and environmental permit (or report). The decree provides that both urban development actions and the environmentally hygienic operation will be integrated into a single authorisation, i.e. the unique permit. Ideally, this change will make the permit procedure significantly faster and more efficient.   The decree will enter into effect on a date set by the Flemish Government. However, this date will fall at least one year after the date of the approval of the implementing decree of the Flemish Government.   The consultation on a draft implementing decree is currently in progress. It is still impossible to say when this implementing decree will be completed, but it is expected that it will only be ready for approval by the Flemish Government in early or even mid-2015. So it will be some time yet before the unique permit enters into force.   We will keep you posted on further developments.