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2009
33

European funds in Brussels: from principles to practices

Press release

Notes de la rédaction

This is the press release related to the article from Gaëlle Hubert, published December 21, 2009. Read the article.

European Structural Funds are aimed at compensating for inequalities between European regions. The result of Belgian federalism and its distinctive characteristics is that the three Regions in the country elaborate their own programmes, which they negotiate directly with the European authorities.

Although it is one of the six European regions with the highest GDP per inhabitant, the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) is eligible for Structural Funds support based on the strength of the fact that it suffers, among other things, from budgetary weakness, an under-qualified workforce, structurally high unemployment and an urban exodus of the middle classes which reduces the tax base.

The European Funds were thus mobilised in Brussels to support economic and sociocultural development at local level, in coordination with the neighbourhood contracts. Since 2007, the action has been reoriented towards competitiveness and employment, in more large-scale projects.

Gaëlle Hubert, doctor of political and social science and researcher at Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis (Brussels), was struck by the fact that all of the stakeholders in these programmes appear to speak with one voice, and act consensually and in a perfectly transparent manner, in the service of common and clearly defined objectives. Given the reality of the city’s management, this comes as a surprise. Hence the main question discussed in issue n°33 of Brussels Studies: is the coherence of action real or does it only appear a posteriori, on paper?

The author also points out the fact that the request for Structural Funds by BCR was not seen as an occasion to rethink the coordination of interdependent yet fragmented scopes of activity within the institutions in Brussels.

Furthermore, although the elaboration processes for the most recent programmes are based on the contemporary requirements for partnership and fieldwork, they are nevertheless greatly influenced by the inequalities between participants, with each one trying to pull the blanket to their side. Dominating the organisation of the consultation process and having good local and regional political networks, or having the necessary expertise in order to understand the complexity of procedures are assets which make access to the Structural Fund windfall much more difficult than announced.

The author therefore suggests a move from principles to practices. For those who wish to influence decisions, in terms of control, the procedures are much more important than the projects. Is it therefore surprising to see the emergence of programmes elaborated without governing principles, apart from maximum conformity with the Structural Fund rhetoric?

And it is more surprising to observe that the formal procedures often give precedence to the creativity of stakeholders who continue to use the networks of relations in which they are immersed?

References
Hubert, GaëlleEuropean funds in Brussels: from principles to practices”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 33, 21 December 2009. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/736
Contact
Benjamin Wayens, Senior Editor: bwayens[at]brusselsstudies.be

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