Cabinet and MPs fall out over noisy planes flying over Limburg

A fight is brewing between MPs and the cabinet over the question of noisy NATO planes flying over Limburg, according to Friday’s Volkskrant.

On Thursday evening a majority of MPs said they will vote to stop the surveillance flights in the near future. Junior defence minister Cees van der Knaap called the decision ‘unacceptable’, the paper reports.

GroenLinks MP Wijnand Duyvendak told the junior minister that calling a parliamentary motion ‘unacceptable’ would have repercussions for the cabinet and for the minister himself, says the Volkskrant.

The AWACs, stationed at the NATO base in Gellenkirchen in Germany and used in the international fight against terrorism, are allowed to fly through Dutch airspace by the government.

But the people of Onderbanken in Limburg have complained about the noise of the ageing engines and the local council has even demanded the base be closed if the the planes are not modernised.

The council of ministers will discuss the argument between parliament and cabinet later on Friday. The vote on the motion will be taken next Tuesday.

Source: DutchNews.nl, 7 December 2007