Local Government
30
Large Cities
0
Capital Cities
0
Regional or State Governments
0
National Government
0
Other Institutions
0
Local Government
30
Large Cities
0
Capital Cities
0
Regional or State Governments
0
National Government
0
Other Institutions
0
Community
Capital
Brussels
Population
11 422 070
Language
Dutch/French/German
Currency
Euro
Indexes
Democracy
31
Flawed Democracy
Democracy
Democracy
31
Flawed Democracy
Democracy
Corruption Perception
17/180
Corruption Perception
Corruption Perception
17/180
Corruption Perception
Human Development
17
Very High
Human Development
Human Development
17
Very High
Human Development
World Happiness
18/156
World Happiness
World Happiness
18/156
World Happiness
Legislation Regarding the Regulation of Participatory Budgeting Experiences
In Wallonia, the Regional Government has included a decree in the Code of Local Democracy and Decentralization (L1321-3) and in Brussels, Article 258bis of the New Communal Law, inserted by Article 33 of the Ordinance of the Brussels-Capital Region of 5 March 2009, states: “The communal council may allocate part of the budget, called the PB, to projects emanating from neighborhoods committees or citizen initiatives. “A proposal has also been tabled in the Flemish Parliament for citizens to be involved in the preparation of the Flemish government’s budget.
Outstanding Innovation
Regarding the available resources, the vast majority of Belgian initiatives are debating insignificant amounts. Moreover, if we look at the cycles of the “PB”, we often operate in reverse: elected officials isolate a part of the budget that they do not allocate to a specific issue to decide what to do with citizens. Others test the “PB” by using a subsidy (which is not communal money). These logics therefore do not really allow citizens to take ownership of the functioning of public finances or to guide and support elected officials in their budgetary choices. We are also often on a tight schedule of spending decisions. In recent years, several cities have posted more significant amounts debated with citizens, such as Antwerp (1 million euros) or Brussels City (200,000 euros).
Principal Tendencies Detected
In general, the existing mechanisms in Belgium, with the exception of a few processes, really integrate the democratic and budgetary learning dimension. More limited public funds operate on the basis of a call for projects formulated and implemented by citizens, rather than an exercise around the prioritization of issues and the distribution/redistribution of public financial resources. This is marked in particular by the fact that:
- Few of them propose an effective relation with the municipal budget itself, in reflection, analysis temporality.
- The processes do not really leave much room for the analysis of issues, particularly because there is little or no diagnostic work at all, and even more since most of the approaches are based on the fact that the projects will be carried out by the citizens themselves, and not by the municipality. We often focus on small projects that meet limited challenges (cleanliness, local festivals, small facilities such as flower boxes, small actions...).
- The decision-making procedures rarely propose moments of discussion between the different actors and therefore the needs of the municipality. Projects are most often chosen by a select committee (whose composition is defined by politicians) and/or placed in the hands of citizens without political intervention.
Other Information
Despite this, we remain convinced that forms of “real PB” will emerge in the upcoming years. As a structure born in Brazil and pursuing the purpose of a more democratic and inclusive society, Periferia tries to encourage this evolution and promotes municipal PB as a democratic tool. We have written an advocacy document to raise awareness of this practice among public actors and written a publication to inspire those who would like to get started. More recently, we have created an online database compiling a series of documents to provide information and instruments on this matter. These 3 resources are available online free of charge via our website:
- Publication “un budget r.ellement participatif en Belgique: est-ce possible?”
- Plaidoyer “pourquoi encourager les budgets participatifs?”
- Base de donn.es “budgets participatifs”
In autumn of 2019, a cycle of events will be organized in order to facilitate the development of municipal and regional PB experiences in Belgium.
* There are no Participatory Budgeting experiences based on the five requirements, but there are more than 30 experiences supporting local initiatives promoted by municipalities, regional departments or public social welfare institutions.
