Central-local relations in Belgium: A tale of divergence

1. Central-local relations in Belgium: A tale of divergence Ellen Wayenberg & Filip De Rynck University College Ghent

2. WORKING POINTS • BELGIUM’S DIVERGING LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS • FLANDERS’ DIVERGING MULTI-GOVERNMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS

3. BELGIUM’S DIVERGING LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS • Belgium’s complex institutional framework • Federalization from local government’s viewpoint • Its impact upon Belgium’s local government system • Potential path of development of the local government systems • Local government’s discretion and access

4. Belgium’s complex institutional framework

5. Federalization from local government’s viewpoint • Creation of a new layer of central governments • communities: person-oriented competencies • regions: territory-oriented competencies • Regionalization of the competency for several of the cornerstones of the local government system • supervision over local government (1980) • the municipal fund (1988) • the basic local government legislation (2001)

6. Impact upon Belgium’s local government system • Belgium classified as disposing over a uniform local government system in international studies • Local government system of the Southern European or the ‘Franco’ –type • low level of local discretion • high level of (direct) local access • Uniformity or divergence in Belgium’s local government system?

7. Potential path of development of the local government systems

8. Local government’s discretion • Evolution captured by focussing upon: • Central supervision over local government • the Flemish region: steps towards more local discretion • restricted exercise of opportunity control • reduced number of local decisions subject to ex ante control • the Walloon and Brussels-Capital region: preservation of the ‘ancient regime’ of far-reaching central supervision over local government

9. Local government’s discretion • Central funding of local government • earmarked subsidies as a more important source of local income in the Walloon and the Brussels-Capital Region than in the Flemish region • Central regulation of local government’s tasks • frequent use of the intergovernmental policy agreement or contract in the Flemish region allowing to arrange local task implementation in a bilateral way versus primarily top-to-down task regulation in the Walloon and the Brussels-Capital region

10. Local government’s discretion • Central regulation of local government’s administrative and political organisation • NPM –thinking on the part of the Flemish region when regulating LG’s administrative organisation, allowing the latter more discretion versus no traces of NPM –thinking on the part of the Walloon and the Brussels-Capital region • no outspoken regional divide as far as the political organisation is concerned

11. Local government’s access • Evolution captured by focussing upon: • direct local access to central government • practice of dual mandates still prevalent in all three regions / tempered impact of this practice in the Flemish region by the increased use of intergovernmental contracts • indirect local access to central government • no formal procedures for this kind of access in the three regions though more prevalent in the Flemish than in the Walloon and the Brussels-Capital region

12. Conclusion • Belgium’s federalization = a tale of divergence as far as the local government system is concerned • Regional divide coincides with language (area) divide: • the Flemish Region: evolution into the direction of a northern european system • the Walloon and Brussels-Capital region: preservation of the traditional southern european system