Objections Rejected
The maximum speed on the A2 in Noord-Brabant, 130 kilometers per hour during evening hours, will not be lowered in the coming years. The Council of State has definitively rejected demands to that effect, in a lengthy procedure that Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) had already started in 2019.
On several points, the highest administrative court agrees with the environmental organization in terms of content, but the issue falls under transitional law that is still in effect until 2030. The government official responsible for Nature cannot take enforcement action until that time, even if new research were to show that a nature permit is required for the use of the highway section.
Milieudefensie initially objected to various speed increases that had already been implemented, because they lead to more nitrogen oxide emissions. Nature reserves near highways may suffer damage as a result. At the end of 2019, the then-current cabinet decided to lower the maximum speed throughout the country to 100 km/h during the day. Because this also reduced nitrogen emissions, the then-Minister of Nature saw no reason to intervene, as Milieudefensie had demanded.
Wednesday’s ruling specifically concerns the section between the Leenderheide junction, near Eindhoven, and Budel. Previously, the court ruled against Milieudefensie in the case. The Council of State has now overturned that ruling, but this has no practical consequences.
Previous nitrogen rulings by the highest administrative court had major consequences. The most significant was the ruling in which the Council of State declared the so-called Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS) invalid. That was exactly six years ago on Thursday. The problems are still far from resolved in the meantime.