Between 1999 and 2003, Durant served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility and Transport in the [[Belgian federal government]], [[Guy Verhofstadt]]'s [[Verhofstadt I Government|first government]].
In 2003, Durant and her party colleague [[Olivier Deleuze]] resigned from Verhofstadt’s government one week before the [[2003 Belgian federal election, 2003|national elections]] and after a clash over the issue of night flights from [[Brussels Airport]].<ref>John Carreyrou (January 10, 2000), [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB947448990924358973 Controversy Flies Over Brussels And Green Party's Noise Plan] ''[[Wall Street Journal]]''.</ref><ref>Tim King (March 30, 2016), [http://www.politico.eu/article/why-belgium-politicians-havent-lost-their-jobs-resignation-political-failures-security-brussels-terror-attacks/ Why Belgian politicians haven’t lost their jobs] ''[[Politico Europe]]''.</ref>
