Brussels is angry at the Netherlands’ refusal to flood the Hedwige polder and has told environment minister to get on with it. But what’s the story all about?

What is the Hedwigepolder?
The Hedwigepolder is part of a nature reserve called the Verdronken land of Saeftinghe (the ‘drowned’ land of Saefthinge) in Zeeuws Vlaanderen on the Belgian border. It became a polder – land reclaimed from the sea – in 1907 and is now used for agriculture.
Why is it such a bone of contention?
In 2005 Flanders and the Netherlands entered into an agreement to deepen the Westerschelde estuary making it easier for big ships to reach the port of Antwerp.
According to European directives this meant that any damage to the environment ensuing from the work would have to be compensated. It was decided that the Hedwigepolder would become sea once more. The Vogelbescherming, the organisation of the protection of birds, was and still is in favour of this.
Many inhabitants of Zeeland, however, were very reluctant to relinquish 300 hectares of valuable arable land to the sea, or any land seeing how Zeeland all but disappeared beneath the waves in 1953 and parliament agreed with them.
In April 2009, The Netherlands told the Flemish, who were getting more impatient by the day and contemplating slapping a big fine on the Dutch government for prevarication, that this part of the deal was off. Then, later that year, it was on again.
And then it was off again. The Hedwigepolder would remain a polder, the cabinet decided. Environmental protection organisations reluctantly gave in except the Vogelbescherming. ‘This is a victory for junior agriculture minister Bleker and will make it that much easier to find an alternative’, said its angry chairman Arjen Schreuder at the time.
What is the alternative?
The alternative plan is to submerge 150 hectares of land near Vlissingen. Bleker also pledged to create another 120 hectares of ‘new’ nature.
Does that mean the problem is solved?
No. The European commission has written a letter to Henk Bleker this week telling him that it is not convinced the plans are adequate. A spokesman of the agriculture department said ‘We will do our utmost to come up with more scientific data to support our claim that we are doing enough to compensate for the environmental damage’.
What will happen next?
It depends if Brussels decides to get heavy-handed with the Netherlands or not. Meanwhile none of the land earmarked for flooding has been submerged and Belgium and thousands of sea birds are still waiting.