Brussels has abandoned a plan to establish a formal platform for dialogue between the Region and its 19 muncipalities.
The R+19 platform would have been used to ensure regular coordination of regional and municipal actions, pursuant to a pledge contained in the 2019-2024 political agreement. The platform’s aim was to hold at least two meetings annually to discuss strategic and operational objectives.
A footnote to a circular for local authorities, presented at Parliament in late October, mentioned that the R+19 platform project has been halted due to lack of agreement.
“I had already suspected this, given the postponing of discussions about this platform in the Council of Ministers on at least 25 occasions in recent years,” said Mathias Vanden Borre (N-VA), an opposition legislator. He views it as another promise not fulfilled by the majority and the confirmation of an institutional deadlock in Brussels.
Vanden Borre also highlighted the struggle facing most Brussels municipalities to submit their budgets on time. “Three municipalities (Ixelles, Ganshoren and Uccle) have stated that they will be working with provisional monthly budgets next year, and Saint-Josse community council only approved their initial budget for this year in September,” he said.
Local Government Minister Bernard Clerfayt confirmed that the project had been shelved due to a lack of consensus among majority partners. Apparently, there was a surprising lack of will to give legal form to the dialogue between the municipalities and the Region, his office said.
However, it said dialogue between the two levels of government would be maintained spontaneously, thanks in particular to the conference of mayors, which regularly hosts members of the Brussels government, depending on the matters to be discussed.
In addition, “Brulocalis, the association of Cities and Municipalities of Brussels, is often consulted on ordinance and decree projects that concern the municipalities. This is a way of implementing R+19, despite its lack of formal structure,” the Clerfayt cabinet posited.
