Minister president Matthias Diependaele has announced an annual allocation of €5 million for three municipalities in the Flemish periphery around Brussels: Dilbeek, Halle and Vilvoorde. The mayors have been requesting additional funding for 10 years to tackle the challenges posed by migration from the capital.
Although it is less than expected – €7 million had initially been promised – mayor Eva Demesmaeker of Halle is positive about the allocation.
“Many people are fleeing the capital and moving to our city,” she said. “This means that some of the problems of the metropolis are being transferred here. It puts pressure on our housing market, education, language and integration, our social services, and also leads to more crime and illegal employment.”
Many people are fleeing the capital and moving to our city. This means some of the problems of the metropolis are being transferred here
The distribution is still to be finalised, but Halle will likely receive an additional €600,000 on top of existing support of €600,000. Demesmaeker: “We still need to discuss where we will use that money.”
The funding is based on four objective criteria: population density, the number of people receiving social security, the number of people moving from Brussels and the number of non-EU citizens in the municipality.
Nevertheless, the allocation is raising questions in other municipalities that face similar problems, such as Sint-Pieters-Leeuw.
“I am pleased that objective criteria for extra support have been established,” says mayor Jan Desmeth. “We will demonstrate to the Flemish government with legally sound arguments that extra resources must also be provided for us and other municipalities in the Flemish periphery. But that should not be at the expense of Dilbeek, Halle and Vilvoorde.”