Brussels mismanagement | The time
Brussels has assets to be a strong region in Europe, but that potential requires substantial policy.
At the end of October, the Court of Audit reviewed the accounts of the Brussels-Capital Region. The court indicated that there was insufficient information to conduct a proper audit of those accounts. Therefore it could not arise.
It is astonishing that the Court of Audit can no longer even rule on the correctness of the Brussels figures.
The state of Brussels public finances was already worrying, given the main deficits and rapidly mounting debt. It is astonishing that the Court of Audit can no longer even rule on the correctness of those figures. Proper use of public funds is a basic principle for government policy.
Dramatic policy results from Brussels if possible. Brussels can be approached with regard to Flanders from Wallonia, as it is reached with metropolitan transactions. But also connected with other European capitals, the economic situation in Brussels is a drama.
In 2020, for example, no fewer than four in ten Brussels residents of active age were not at work. That is with European capital among the regions. In Amsterdam it is 19 percent, in Stockholm only 16 percent.
The large number of works in Brussels is not an extra number, because companies just next door in Flanders are faced with increasingly acute personnel shortages. Some steps have already been taken in this area, but clearly not enough.
Poverty figures
In addition, the poverty figures for Brussels paint a downright staggering picture. 38 percent of the Brussels population is at risk of social poverty according to the standard European poverty indicator. That is more than 10 percentage points worse than Vienna, the second on the poverty list of the European capitals.
In the majority of these European capitals, the poverty rates are more than half lower than in Brussels. It therefore makes no sense to blame the figures on the metropolitan situation.
The poor functioning of the labor market plays an important role in the Brussels figures. For example, 21 percent of Brussels residents under the age of 60 live in a family in which they work. That is again clearly worse than the number two on that (Vienna, with 14%). In addition, the quality of education is a factor.
Brussels has to be a strong region in Europe, with, among other things, its international orientation, its role as the capital of Europe and its young population. But to make that potential a substantial policy is needed. And that seems to be completely missing for longer than today.