"On July 1, 2016, the Flemish Government ratified a decree that integrated the environmental impact assessment and other impact evaluations into the planning process of a spatial implementation plan. On Friday, February 17, 2017, the Flemish Government approved an implementing decision associated with this decree. The implementing decision determined when the decree of July 1, 2016 would take effect, namely on May 1, 2017. From that date onward, planning processes were required to follow the new integrated procedure. Seven years after the decree came into force, an evaluation was launched to assess whether the decrees objectives had been achieved and whether any adjustments were needed.
After investigation, it was concluded that the integrated procedure largely meets the objectives of the decree. However, several external factors were identified that create obstacles in the practical implementation of the planning process. Consequently, the policy recommendations in the report do not focus on revising the procedure or amending the decree. Instead, several possible optimizations are proposed to improve the implementation of the decree."