Following The Brussels Times' publication of the article 'Special report: Brussels Region allegedly misused EU funds to pay off debt' on 9 July 2025, the private office of Sven Gatz, Minister of Finance for the Brussels-Capital Region, contacted the editorial team requesting a right of reply. The Brussels Times had contacted Minister Gatz's office in advance of publication for comment, but his office declined to comment at that time. We are, however, happy to publish Minister Gatz's right of reply in full, unedited, below.
Minister Gatz's right of reply in full
Following the article by Mr Milan Schreuer published on 9 July 2025 in The Brussels Times under the title “Special report: Brussels Region allegedly misused EU funds to pay off debt,” I wish to use this right of reply to provide several important clarifications and corrections.
Upon reading this article, both by my administration and myself, we were surprised by the serious allegations made concerning the Brussels Region’s financial management. These allegations are entirely unfounded.
We will limit ourselves to the first point raised in the article, namely, the alleged misuse of multiannual credit lines obtained in recent years from the EIB (European Investment Bank) and the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank).
First, it is important to note that, at the author’s request, we provided detailed responses to the questionnaire he submitted in preparation for his article. These responses are shared below in the interest of clarity and transparency for the reader.
Here are some additional clarifications in response to the article:
The credit lines from the EIB and the CEB were indeed effectively used for the intended projects, in accordance with the contractual conditions.
Under the EIB and CEB contracts, a clear distinction must be made between revenues and expenditures. On the revenue side, the funds, like all financial receipts, including loans and disbursements via the EIB and CEB credit lines, are allocated to the general treasury, not to cash management (cash pooling). On the expenditure side, the Brussels Region must demonstrate that the projects have been sufficiently carried out to justify the allocated financing. These projects are funded through allocations from the general treasury.
Furthermore, for each disbursement via the EIB and CEB credit lines, the Brussels Region is required to submit the contractually required information in advance and to demonstrate that all conditions have been met. All disbursements were approved by the respective banks, which raised no objections regarding the use of funds by the Region.
The EIB confirmed this in their communication on 10 July 2025, stating that it has no indication that the borrowed funds were not used for their intended purposes. “This is, of course, monitored through regular reporting obligations, including ex-post,” said the EIB spokesperson.
In relation to the article’s allegation that the Brussels Region resorted to the EIB and CEB credit lines to address acute liquidity needs, we would like to clarify that at the time of each disbursement the Region had ample liquidity reserves (“cash rich”). Additionally, unused credit lines were available (ING and Belfius).
In other words, at the time of each disbursement, independent of European financing, the Brussels Region had sufficient means. The received funds were not used to repay other short-term or long-term loans.
Although the article, as well as a previous article dated 12th of June 2025, refers to a potential risk of default, we can confirm that the funds raised by the Front Office on financial markets were hardly impacted by the credit rating downgrade of 13th of June 2025, neither in terms of price nor volume.
This demonstrates that market confidence in the Brussels Region remains intact.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to emphasise that the administration, in this case, the Brussels Debt Agency, is bound by confidentiality obligations and does not communicate publicly via the media.
The absence of a response from the administration should therefore not be interpreted as a refusal to cooperate. Questions regarding financial management should be addressed to the office of the Minister of Finance, who bears political responsibility.
Questions submitted to Minister Gatz's private office
As stated above, prior to the publication of the special report, The Brussels Times contacted Minister Gatz's office for comment, which was declined. The Brussels Times also submitted a series of questions to the Brussels Debt Agency, via Minister Gatz's private office. We have published these questions in full below, together with the responses we received from the Debt Agency via the minister's office, which we have left in the original French.
Can you confirm whether any of the amounts drawn (or to be drawn) from the €475 million EIB credit lines or the €250 million CEB facility are legally permitted to be used for general treasury or liquidity purposes - such as refinancing short-term debt, covering deficits, or maintaining minimum liquidity coverage - or are they strictly earmarked for specific infrastructure projects (e.g. MIVB-related mobility investments)?
Les contrats de financement pluriannuels conclus avec la BEI et la CEB visent des projets de mobilité spécifiques. Ils sont donc bien « earmarked » à des projets spécifiques. Toutefois les financements sont intégrés dans la gestion financière globale pour des raisons d’optimisations opérationnelles.
Cependant, il revient à la Région (ici STIB) de prouver qu’il y a une exécution suffisante des projets par rapport aux fonds levés. Le risque d’inadéquation est d’autant plus limité que les lignes ne couvrent qu’au maximum la moitié des montants des projets visés.
Opérationnellement, ces lignes permettent à la Région d’effectuer des tirages durant une période définie (en général 4 ans), les opérations en elles-mêmes forment des emprunts rejoignant le portefeuille de la dette directe.
In your recent exchanges with S&P Global Ratings (ahead of the June 2025 publication), were the project-specific constraints on these credit lines clearly disclosed? Specifically, were these instruments presented as usable for general debt service in the next 12 months, or solely as financing mechanisms tied to specific investments?
Les lignes de financement pluriannuelles conclues avec la BEI et la CEB ne sont pas des lignes de crédit bancaire (à la différence des 2 lignes en cours conclues avec Belfius et ING).
Cependant, la part non encore utilisées des lignes BEI et CEB offre un buffer en terme de liquidité du fait qu’elle permet un accès au financement que la Région peut activer à sa convenance (sous réserve de reporting et d’éxecution des projets). Elle peut donc renforcer les ratios de liquidité calculés par la Région que par S&P. Rappelons aussi, que les lignes BEI et CEB sont liées à des dépenses clairement identifiées et budgetées, si les lignes ne sont pas prises en compte en recette alors il faudrait aussi déduire les dépenses liées du calcul des ratios de liquidités, ce qui ne nous semble dans les deux cas pas opportun, il est préférable d’avoir une vision globale de la situation de liquidité de la Région.
Une distinction est faite dans les calculs sur base des lignes de crédit bancaires avec et sans apport par les lignes de financement pluriannuelles.
S&P fait clairement la différence entre les différents outils de liquidité et de financement à disposition de la Région.
Does the Region include these EIB and CEB credit lines — or their drawn-but-not- yet-paid-out or undrawn portions — in its own internal liquidity coverage metrics? If so, on what basis are they classified as available liquidity given their project-linked character?
Voir réponse à la question 2.
To what extent do these credit lines influence the Region’s short-term cash management strategy or decisions on rolling over commercial paper and deposits? Are they considered part of the available liquidity buffer in case of unforeseen funding pressure?
La Région reste très prudente dans la gestion de sa position de liquidité. Elle veille de base à une utilisation très limitée de ses lignes de crédit bancaires, comme ce fut déjà le cas en 2024 où une position cash rich a été maintenue 3⁄4 de l’année sur les lignes disponibles.
En terme de CP et assimilé, là aussi une gestion très prudente et anticipative est d’application notamment par la conclusion de CP longs et le roll des positions largement étalées durant l’année, diminuant de ce fait le risque de refinancement.
La part non utilisée des lignes de financement pluriannuelles vient bien sur renforcer cette gestion. Une gestion disciplinée est aussi ici d’application par l’utilisation graduelle de chaque ligne durant sa période de tirage respective.
Are the legal or operational restrictions tied to these credit lines explicitly mentioned in public budgetary documents, bond prospectuses, or communications with financial markets?
L’existence, le fonctionnement et l’utilisation des lignes de financement pluriannuelles sont partagées au travers de la communication financière du Front Office auprès de ses partenaires financiers ainsi que dans les reportings et rapports fournis par l’Agence de la dette. Le lien avec les projets sous-jacent est donc bien clairement affiché et communiqué.
Have any amounts already drawn from the EIB or CEB credit lines been used — in full or in part — for purposes other than their originally earmarked infrastructure projects? Specifically, have these funds been used interchangeably (i.e. fungibly) with the Region’s general treasury resources to support overall liquidity or cover short-term budgetary needs or other needs?
Des tirages limités ont été effectués en 2024 et 2025 en respect des contrats en place. Même si les financements sont intégrés dans la gestion financière globale, les tirages se sont bien effectués en lien avec le lancement et l’exécution des projets de mobilité visés.
Lors de chaque tirage des procédures strictes doivent être suivies, un accord formel doit être obtenu après vérification des conditions contractuelles par chacune des deux banques. Un non-respect des clauses impliquerait un non décaissement voire un remboursement anticipé.
According to the 2024 treasury report, the Region drew €125 million from the first EIB line in late 2024, followed by an additional €175 million from that line and €75 million from the CEB line in early 2025 — totalling €375 million. Can you confirm whether these funds were used directly and exclusively for the earmarked infrastructure projects (such as MIVB-related and mobility investments)? Or were they, even temporarily, held within the Region’s general treasury and used to cover other short-term liquidity needs before being allocated to the intended projects?
Le Front Office interroge régulièrement la STIB sur l’avancée des projets visés. En fonction, une utilisation graduelle des lignes est a été mise en place. Une utilisation intégrale des lignes est tout de même visée à terme afin de ne pas perdre le bénéfice du financement apporté par chacune des deux banques.
