ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the 2005 Iron Rhine Arbitration between Belgium and the Netherlands. It discusses the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) consideration of the principle of sustainable use of natural resources by other international courts and tribunals and the European Commission (EC). The Iron Rhine railway was constructed according to the Treaty of Separation as amended by the Iron Rhine Treaty, used intensively from 1879 until the First World War and thereafter intermittently until 1991. Sustainable development objectives were invoked on both sides to support the legality of the State's conduct. Belgium argued that its request for reactivation was motivated by a desire to protect the environment, as set out in the Trans-European Networks (TEN) system provided for in Articles 154 to 156 of the EC Treaty. This system included the Iron Rhine railway in a list of priority projects aimed at supporting more sustainable means of conveyance, by favouring railways over air and road transport.
