Welcome to Interel. The new governments of the Wallonia Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation : key takeaways

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Joella Walsh
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Welcome to Interel We are a fully integrated

The new governments of the Wallonia Region and

1 Welcome to Interel We are a fully integrated international communications consultancy specialising in strategic communications, public affairs and association management. The new governments of the Wallonia Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation : key takeaways August

Analysis of the Government of the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Shortly after the elections of 25 May 2014, the PS (socialists) and the cdh (social-democrats) announced they

2 Analysis of the Government of the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Shortly after the elections of 25 May 2014, the PS (socialists) and the cdh (social-democrats) announced they would form the governments of the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, leaving the MR (liberals) and Ecolo (greens) in the opposition. Parliaments of the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation With 43 seats out of 75 in the Walloon parliament and 52 seats out of 94 in the parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, both parties started talks to establish the programme of both governments for the next 5 years. 2

3 Economy and Education at the core of the regional policy As often in such forward-looking exercises, the programmes of the Walloon government and the Wallonia-Brussels government is a collection of intentions that lack clear targets and the concrete means to reach the objectives the government aims at. Government of the Walloon Region The main challenge of the Walloon government will be to return to budget balance despite a deficit of 1.1 billion euros in New investments will be pushed back and budget efforts will be concentrated on the period (355 million euros in 2015 and 660 million euros in 2016). Other budgetary measures will include a limitation of spending, a reduction of the administration staff and the appointment of a monitoring committee to manage the debt. The economic policy of the government focuses on the revival of the Walloon industry through the Marshall Plan and its competitiveness clusters. However, due to the government s economy programme, the financing of new projects within the competitiveness clusters may be frozen for 2 years. Special attention will be paid to the growth and internationalisation of SMEs and to job creation. Subsidies to companies will be conditioned to job creation. The creation of new economic zones will be coupled to the reconversion of former industrial sites. In cooperation with the social partners, the government intends to adapt the fiscal framework and to lower the cost of employment for companies, without mentioning concrete targets. In order to boost employment, the Walloon government will focus on young graduates. For those who have trouble finding a job 18 months after they graduated, a so-called insertion contract will enable them to sign a 12-months contract in the private, public or association sectors. The government also incentivises companies to hire less qualified young workers with a 0% national insurance contribution. Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation The government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation will also be implementing a budget balance strategy. In 2015, 140 million euros will have to be saved, and 280 million euros in In order to reach the objective, the same measures as for the Walloon Region will be implemented: limitation of spending and non-replacement of 4/5 of staff. The government has made of education one of the priorities of the next 5 years. Education is rightly believed to contribute to increasing the employment rate both in Brussels and Wallonia. 3

4 Despite its saving plan, the government announced a few investments in education with the creation of new places in elementary and high schools, the recruitment of 750 teachers and the refinancing of higher education. An evaluation test will also be implemented at the end of the high school program in order to assess a minimum level of competences in French, maths, sciences and modern languages. The Walloon trade federation UWE (Union Wallonne des Entreprises) stated that the programme of the new government goes in the right direction but judges it too vague. They regret it does not emphasise enough the competitiveness of the Walloon economy although the federation supports the call for dialogue between the social partners. With the announced budget freezing, the federation fears that investments in education and innovation might be affected. And more importantly, the government should urgently reduce employers contributions. A new casting that denotes the focus of PS and cdh on the regional level The formation of the Walloon government and the government of the Wallonia- Brussels Federation saw the appointment again of two Minister-Presidents instead of one previously for both governments. Paul Magnette (President of the PS and Mayor of Charleroi) becomes Minister-President of the Walloon government and Rudy Demotte (former Minister-President of the Walloon government and the government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation) is now Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation only. Moreover only 2 ministers will sit simultaneously in both governments, vs. 4 in the previous legislature. Together, both governments have now 13 ministers, which is 2 more than before, although there are only 2 parties governing, vs. 3 previously (Ecolo is now in the opposition). This is a consequence of the Parti Socialiste (PS) being excluded from the formation talks for a federal government. As a result, the PS had less possibilities to appoint the personalities of the party in ministries. The cdh party, which refused to take part in the formation talks at the federal level, was facing the same situation. Consequently, some cdh and PS personalities have returned from the federal level to the regional level such as Joëlle Milquet (cdh Education) and André Flahaut (PS Budget of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation). In these new governments, we also note the presence of new names such as the Mayor of Namur, Maxime Prévot (cdh Public infrastructure and Health), René Colin (cdh Agriculture) and Christophe Lacroix (PS Budget of the Walloon Region). 4

Government of the Walloon Region Paul Magnette (PS) Minister-President Previous function: President of the PS (ad interim) Age: 43 He is also Mayor of Charleroi and will combine both functions He is

function: Mayor of Namur Age: 36 He will remain Mayor of Namur and combine both functions He is the rising star of the cdh, very close to its President, Benoit Lutgen Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) Deputy

5 Government of the Walloon Region Paul Magnette (PS) Minister-President Previous function: President of the PS (ad interim) Age: 43 He is also Mayor of Charleroi and will combine both functions He is the rising star within the PS and booked 50,000 personal votes Maxime Prévot (cdh) Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Public infrastructure, Health, Social action and Heritage Previous function: Mayor of Namur Age: 36 He will remain Mayor of Namur and combine both functions He is the rising star of the cdh, very close to its President, Benoit Lutgen Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Economy, Industry, Innovation and Digital Previous function: Walloon Minister of Economy and Higher education Age: 57 He is the initiator of the Marshall Plan and was Walloon Minister of Economy for the last 10 years He recorded a strong score in Liège with more than 38,000 personal votes Paul Furlan (PS) Minister of Local management, Cities, Housing and Energy Previous function: Walloon Minister of Local management, Cities and Tourism Age: 52 He was a discreet member of the previous government but receives new important competencies such as Housing and Energy 5

Carlo Di Antonio (cdh) Minister of Environment, Town and Country planning, Mobility and Transport, Airports and Animal well-being Previous function: Walloon Minister of Agriculture and Public

He was trained as a chemical engineer and started his political career with Ecolo, before joining the PSC, which he helped transforming into cdh Eliane Tillieux (PS) Minister of Employment and

Government of the Walloon Region Christophe Lacroix (PS) Minister of Budget, Civil service, and Administrative simplification Previous function: Head of the PS group in the Senate Age: 47 He had lost

6 Carlo Di Antonio (cdh) Minister of Environment, Town and Country planning, Mobility and Transport, Airports and Animal well-being Previous function: Walloon Minister of Agriculture and Public infrastructure Age: 52 He replaced cdh s President Benoit Lutgen as Minister of Agriculture in He was trained as a chemical engineer and started his political career with Ecolo, before joining the PSC, which he helped transforming into cdh Eliane Tillieux (PS) Minister of Employment and Formation Previous function: Walloon Minister of Health Age: 48 Employment will be a key factor of the future policy of the Region that aims at reviving its economy She is the only woman in the Government of the Walloon Region Christophe Lacroix (PS) Minister of Budget, Civil service, and Administrative simplification Previous function: Head of the PS group in the Senate Age: 47 He had lost his seat in the Senate and is quite a surprise as Walloon Minister With the strict budgetary objectives that are announced, he will have to prove he is up to the challenge René Collin (cdh) Minister of Agriculture, Nature, Rurality, Tourism and Sport infrastructure Previous function: Provincial deputy in the Province of Luxembourg Age: 56 He was no famous figure and a surprise among the new Walloon ministers He has some experience as chief of staff in cdh cabinets in charge of agriculture 6

Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Rudy Demotte (PS) Minister-President Previous function: Minister-President of the Walloon Region and of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Age: 51 He lost

Education Joëlle Milquet (cdh) Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Education, Infancy, Day-nursery and Culture Previous function: Federal Minister of the Interior Age: 53 Her appointment as

7 Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Rudy Demotte (PS) Minister-President Previous function: Minister-President of the Walloon Region and of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Age: 51 He lost his position as Minister-President of the Walloon Region but remains a prominent figure among the socialists His main focus will be the budget balance of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Education Joëlle Milquet (cdh) Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Education, Infancy, Day-nursery and Culture Previous function: Federal Minister of the Interior Age: 53 Her appointment as regional minister was a surprise, denoting cdh s decision not to step into a federal coalition Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Higher education, Research and Media Same as above. He is one of the two ministers that are present in both the Walloon Region and the Wallonia- Brussels Federation governments Rachid Madrane (PS) Minister of Youth assistance, Justice houses and Promotion of Brussels Previous function: Brussels Secretary of State for Public waste management and Urban planning Age: 46 He was expected as Brussels Minister again but he will be in charge of promoting Brussels in the government of the Federation 7

simplification Previous function: President of the Federal Parliament Age: 58 His comeback at the regional level denotes the PS is expecting to stay outside the federal majority He is one of the

8 René Collin (cdh) Minister of Sport Same as above. He is one of the two ministers that are present in both the Walloon Region and the Wallonia- Brussels Federation governments André Flahaut (PS) Minister of Budget, Civil service and Administrative simplification Previous function: President of the Federal Parliament Age: 58 His comeback at the regional level denotes the PS is expecting to stay outside the federal majority He is one of the prominent figures in the PS Isabelle Simonis (PS) Minister of Social promotion education, Youth, Women rights and Equal opportunities Previous function: Member of the Walloon parliament Age: 47 She is also one of the surprises of the new government. She was briefly Secretary of State in the federal government of Guy Verhofstadt in

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