Belgique

While means-tested benefits such as minimum income benefits (MIB) and unemployment assistance (UA) are an essential safety net for low-income people and the unemployed, incomplete take-up is the rule rather than the exception. Building on desk research, open-ended surveys and semi-structured interviews, this paper investigates the opportunities and risks of using artificial intelligence (AI) for managing these means-tested benefits. This ranges from providing information to individuals, through determining eligibility based on pre-determined statutory criteria and identifying undue payments, to notifying individuals about their eligibility status. One of the key opportunities of using AI for these purposes is that this may improve the timeliness and take-up of MIB and UA. However, it may also lead to systematically biased eligibility assessments or increase inequalities, amongst others. Finally, the paper explores potential policy directions to help countries seize AI’s opportunities while addressing its risks, when using it for MIB or UA management.

Given the important role of strategic foresight in policymaking and resilience, the Government of Flanders has been taking steps to improve its capabilities in this area. This report outlines the main findings and recommendations of the OECD assessment of the strategic foresight system of the Government of Flanders. It includes a blueprint and roadmap for incorporating strategic foresight into the public administration of Flanders over the next five years.

Since 2014, the Flemish government has undertaken a series of reforms of its budgetary system, including the implementation of performance-informed budgeting, which includes both the implementation of spending reviews and performance budgeting. The aim of the reforms is to better integrate policy development and resource allocation and improve the accountability and transparency of the Flemish public sector. This report takes stock of performance-informed budgeting practices in Flanders. It provides an assessment of their key strengths and highlights where improvements can be made. Finally, it includes recommendations to further strengthen the approach to performance-informed budgeting in Flanders.

As countries seek to draw lessons the COVID-19 crisis and increase their future resilience, evaluations are important tools to understand what worked or not, why and for whom. This report builds on the OECD work on 'government evaluations of COVID-19 responses'. It evaluates Belgium’s responses to the pandemic in terms of risk preparedness, crisis management, as well as public health, education, economic and fiscal, and social and labour market policies. Preserving the country’s resilience in the future will require promoting trust in public institutions and whole-of-government approaches to crisis management, reducing inequalities, and preserving the fiscal balance. The findings and recommendations of this report will provide guidance to public authorities in these efforts.

This report addresses housing inequities through a series of analytical chapters and case studies. The cross-country chapters examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing demand, develop a proposal for a green land value tax, evaluate the dynamics between fiscal autonomy and housing supply responsiveness, as well as explore the drivers of inter-regional migration. The case studies unravel the changes of Korea's progressive national property tax and a programme to address regional imbalances, assess the impact of the US property tax system on housing, dive into Norway's property taxation in relation to inequality, as well as survey Belgium's approaches to housing policy. With a blend of empirical data and critical analysis, the report underscores the pressing need for comprehensive strategies in addressing housing inequities. It also offers insights for policymakers and scholars, highlighting the complex balance between national and local housing policies.

This Review assesses the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB) and its institutional, operational and analytical performance as an independent fiscal institution. The FPB’s responsibilities have been growing and this Review provides insights into how effectively the institution continues to serve the needs of its stakeholders. As part of this, it looks at the Bureau’s performance related to its new mandate to undertake election budgetary costings and impact assessment, carried out for the first time in relation to the 2019 election.

Au cours de la dernière décennie, le marché du travail de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale s’est amélioré. De nombreuses offres de travail ouvrent des possibilités pour des travailleurs hautement qualifiés, faisant de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale une destination importante pour les talents belges, européens et internationaux. Or, malgré les perspectives de carrière offertes par la région, un nombre important de résidents est exclu du monde du travail. Les travailleurs moins diplômés se font concurrence pour un nombre de postes limités, en dépit des pénuries observées sur le marché du travail. Les facteurs qui mènent à l’exclusion de certains bruxellois et les solutions pour y remédier, doivent être un pilier de toute vision d’avenir de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. Le marché du travail bruxellois récompense la formation. Faciliter l’accès aux formations disponibles en Région est donc une priorité, notamment pour qu’elles soient adaptées aux différents besoins de la population. Réduire les entraves à la formation est un autre levier d’action. Pour le service public de l'emploi, la simplification des parcours, la mobilité géographique des chercheurs d’emplois moins diplômés et une meilleure prise en compte de la dimension migratoire de l'exclusion peuvent, chacune à leur manière, aider un plus grand nombre de bruxellois à trouver un emploi de qualité.

In the face of what has increasingly been referred to as an ongoing 'permacrisis', governments must cope with and respond to emerging threats while already grappling with longstanding issues such as climate change, digital disruption and low levels of trust. In this context, understanding new approaches and spreading successful ideas has never been more important. To promote this, the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) has analysed 1 084 innovative initiatives from 94 countries to derive and understand novel government practices. The report discusses four key trends: 1) new forms of accountability for a new era of government, 2) new approaches to care, 3) new methods for preserving identities and strengthening equity and 4) new ways of engaging citizens and residents. Ten case studies and dozens of supporting examples illustrate these trends.

This paper provides an analysis of the Belgian federal government’s practices regarding the institutionalisation, quality and impact of policy evaluations. The paper takes a holistic approach, which not only looks at individual practices, but also at how those can come together so that evaluation becomes an integral part of the policy cycle. Public policy evaluation promotes evidence-informed policymaking and ensures that policies improve outcomes by bringing an understanding of what works, why, for whom, and under what circumstances. Evaluation is also a core tool of sound public financial management, as it helps governments spend better and promotes accountability and transparency in spending. The paper proposes concrete policy recommendations for improving the Belgian federal government’s evaluation system.

Around one-third of the European Union’s budget is dedicated to cohesion policy, which promotes and supports the overall harmonious development of its Member States and regions. The success of this investment relies on effective partnerships among governments, stakeholders, and citizens. Citizens have a key role to play in shaping decisions on public investment, as well as in making public authorities more transparent and accountable. From July 2020-December 2021, the European Commission and the OECD partnered to explore how five authorities across Europe could place citizens at the centre of their investment decisions. This report summarises lessons learned throughout this project and, particularly, the results of applying innovative citizen participation methods to cohesion policy more broadly.