Flanders reduces funding for Brussels by €20 million

Flemish budget cuts will result in €20 million less in funding for initiatives in the Brussels region, namely in the areas of education, childcare and non-profit organisations.

Flemish minister-president Mathias Diependaele (N-VA) announced earlier this week that €1.5 billion must be saved throughout Flanders by 2026, Bruzz reports, and cuts to Brussels have already been laid out.

Higher education is expected to lose €18 million between Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Erasmushogeschool Brussel (EHB) and Odisee (KU Leuven).

The loss of the supplementary allowance for Brussels institutions in higher education accounts for €10.4 million of this, with other required savings adding up to €5 million at VUB, €1.8 million at EHB and €1.75 million at Odisee.

There will also be savings on the funding of non-European students, which will be discontinued.

For VUB, which has an above-average number of non-European students, this will result in an additional loss of €2 to €3 million.

The Erasmus University College has yet to make the exact calculation but Odisee estimates this loss at €1 million. In principle, the colleges can ask for a higher allowance from non-European students to compensate, but VUB called such a solution undemocratic.

VUB is also losing the entire €2.2 million in funding for the Institute for European Studies. In Flanders, the University of Antwerp is losing similar funding for the Institute for Development Policy.

Losses to childcare initiatives in Brussels are estimated at €1.7 million: €1.2 million for creches and €500,000 for after-school care.

Open VLD and Groen parties announced that the amounts involved are €3.6 and €1.5 million respectively, but Lorenzo Terrière, spokesperson for Demir, denied this.

“This was over-subsidisation from Flanders, solely for Brussels, something that has developed historically," said Lornzeo Terrière, spokesperson for Flemish minister Zuhal Demir.

Terrière said creches and childcare initiatives run by the Community Education system received an extra amount on top of the money provided by the Flemish welfare department, but this will now be discontinued.

The total cost that non-profit organisations are facing remains unknown, but Dutch-language news outlet Bruzz is looking at a loss of €434,000 less per year, representing 6.5% of its total subsidies from Flanders.

Non-profit organisations such as student housing provider Brik are also mentioned, but they say that negotiations are still ongoing.

The Flemish Community Commission (VGC) will lose at least €1.2 million euros, representing about 3.75% of its operating subsidy of more than €30 million. This is the first time that cuts have been made on the VGC subsidy.

Amid all the cuts, an extra €1 million is being made available for Dutch-language initiatives in Brussels through a call for projects that will enable new initiatives. ‘

“In this way, we are opting for a clear focus in Brussels policy,” said Flemish minister for Brussels Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA).