The leader of the Socialist Party (PS) Paul Magnette has unveiled its local policy priorities to plug the gap for municipal authorities at the Congress of Communes in Wavre in Wallonia.
Housing, local business support, climate change adaptation, and refinancing of local powers were among the main areas of focus during the congress.
Over the past few months, the PS has organised nine thematic workshops, bringing together field experts and local office-holders, with the goal of identifying local priorities and assisting candidates in formulating their programmes for the upcoming local elections on October 13. From these deliberations, 21 key measures emerged.
"Municipalities must be given the means to function," declared PS President, Paul Magnette, in front of a packed room of 800 local delegates and activists.
According to the party’s calculations, Walloon municipalities are approximately one billion euros short, noting an underfunding in public centres for social welfare, emergency zones, civil protection, police services, and employer liability insurance contributions.
To lighten the financial burden on municipalities, the PS proposes transferring the pension scheme for local agents into the general public service pension financing scheme. The party also recommends that social integration income financing be managed by the federal state.
Paul Magnette additionally called for the federal state to "adequately finance its own policies, which impact communities." He criticised the insufficient resources allocated to areas of security and justice.
With regard to housing, the PS proposes increasing the number of public dwellings and better regulating rentals of homes smaller than 40m2, in an effort to combat poor housing conditions.
Finally, the party also expressed its aim to provide improved support for local businesses, by reforming regional programmes backing businesses.
