At the invitation of the Service public de Wallonie (SPW), the Seine-Scheldt EEIG held its monthly meeting on 21 May in the commune of Comines-Warneton, on the river Lys, which marks a natural border between Belgium and France.
After a welcome from the Mayor, Alice Leeuwerck, and in the presence of a representative of the European agency CINEA, the members of the EEIG began by examining the various items on the agenda, in the magnificent setting of the town council chamber.
They were then given a presentation of the cross-border operation to recalibrate the Lys, an emblematic project of the Seine-Scheldt Network being carried out jointly by SPW, De Vlaamse Waterweg nv and Voies navigables de France. The challenge is to ensure the passage of Vb-gauge boats (with alternating traffic) on this 16.5 km stretch of water initially limited to class IV boats. The project is being funded by the French government, the Flemish and Walloon regions and the European Union.
At the end of the day, the members visited some of the facilities already built along the Lys in the Comines sector: environmental improvements (restoration of the old branches of the Deûle and a wetland, fish pass, etc.), recalibration, waiting areas, etc.
