In 1967, the Belgian government proposed two projects to improve maritime access to the port of Antwerp. These would involve activities in The Netherlands, the downstream country. The Netherlands agreed to discuss these projects, but insisted on the inclusion of other issues - water pollution and water allocation – in the discussions.
A draft agreement was reached, but this was not accepted within Belgium because the Flemish region would be the main beneficiary, while the costs would fall mostly on the Walloon region. After some negotiation and restructuring of the proposals, agreement was reached on all issues in 1993/1994.
The Convention on the flow of the river Meuse contains a Flemish-Dutch water saving scheme for periods of low flows. Moreover, it entails the establishment of a Flemish-Dutch working group for the regulation of the flow of the Meuse. The Walloon region has observer status in this working group. As part of the agreement, international river basin commissions (ICPM/ICPS) with a co-ordination task were established in 1998. These commissions have prepared a first action plan on protecting the Meuse and the Scheldt respectively.
The objective of both the ICPM and the ICPS is to co-operate in a spirit of good neighbourliness and to maintain and improve the water quality of the main course of the Scheldt and the Meuse river respectively. To reach this aim, the parties may have to take measures in the whole drainage basin in as far as situated on their territories.