Brussels communes have come together to demand improved financing and reinforced police funding ahead of the elections in June.
Brussels mayors hailing from different political ideologies have come together to highlight a pressing need to review existing budgetary rules as each commune has suffered considerable financial losses since 2020. They decried an increase in competencies without a corresponding boost in funding.
"We have had to deal with a health crisis, the reception of Ukrainian refugees and a rise in social precarity," Mayor of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Olivier Maingain (DéFI) stated during a press conference on Wednesday. "Regardless of the coalitions in place and our budgetary constraints, we have responded when other authorities have failed."
Crisis management has led to four communes being unable to adhere to the obligatory budgetary balance set out by the Brussels-Capital Region. Mayor of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Benoît Cerexhe (Les Engagés) said this situation has prompted "weariness" among municipalities and called for reality to be taken into account.
L-R: Olivier Maingain (DéFI), Benoît Cerexhe (Les Engagés), Vincent De Wolf (MR). Credit: Belga
The group is therefore urging the Regional Government to increase the amount of funding each municipality receives via the general commune grant (DGC) and to reduce the number of grants available as the battle for subsidies "creates competition between municipalities and generates an overwhelming administrative burden."
They also believe pensions for municipal employees should become the responsibility of either the Federal or Regional Government.
Police shortages a 'disgrace'
At the same press conference, Etterbeek Mayor Vincent De Wolf (MR) emphasised the detrimental effects of police shortages across the city.
He denounced the 'KUL norm', the current method used to calculate how many police officers are necessary for each zone that was established in the 1990s. The system has led to Brussels police forces being underfinanced by 10%. "It has never been indexed," Brussels Mayor Philippe Close (PS) said. "We have about ten people per shift. It's a disgrace."
The Federal Government wants to recruit 1,600 more police this year to address long-standing staff shortages. Credit: Belga
The Mayor called for an integration of police forces across Brussels as a way to address the sector's issues. Indeed, cross-border cooperation is viewed as a solution to multiple challenges shared by communes, with all 19 Brussels mayors in favour of a 'Brussels-Capital Community', an idea that first emerged in 2011.
The project would create links with Flemish and Walloon communes within the old Brabant province, but Flanders has historically opposed the initiative due to concerns about Brussels' expansion.
Within the capital, the political will for such a project exists. In his concluding remarks, Close affirmed "the message is clear: we are ready to cooperate more and allocate more resources to improve the quality of life for all residents in Brussels and nearby municipalities."
