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GOVERNMENT of FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT All the Pictures in This Publication Were Taken by Tom D’Haenens

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GOVERNMENT of FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT All the Pictures in This Publication Were Taken by Tom D’Haenens PROGRESS CONNECT TRUST GOVERNMENT OF FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT ALL THE PIctuRES IN THIS puBLIcatION WERE taKEN BY TOM D’HAENENS. VISION STATEMENT GOVERNMENT OF FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT Flanders is facing a difficult and challenging period. We are still struggling with the impact of the economic crisis. Furthermore, the sixth state reform has allocated additional powers to us, but on the other hand there are also major budgetary challenges to be dealt with. At the same time, we are confronted with major social challenges, especially in terms of care and education. Equally important aspects include the need for more jobs; further development of our inclusive community; better quality water, soil and air; critical infrastructure works; and a thriving business climate. Plus, all of this must be achieved on a balanced budget. Our response to these challenges takes the form of a triptych, which embodies familiar historic heritage. We have designed a Flemish triptych for the future: trust, connect, and progress. Trust in our own abilities. Because Flanders possesses all the qualities and talent for achieving our ambition: to be a European leader in terms of welfare and well-being by 2020. But also trust in each other. You do not tackle difficult obstacles alone, but shoulder to shoulder. Therefore trust also means connecting, to each other and to each other’s talent and qualities, so that we can progress side by side. No one will be left behind. Trust begins with transparency, which is why we will tell it like it is. We will all have to make a contribution. Everyone will feel the effects, especially during the first two years. However, we will prune to encourage growth so that a few years down the line our efforts will yield fruit. This will provide both our economy and our care sector with a powerful boost. We will put our trust in our companies by freeing them from administrative and other burdens as much as possible. We will concentrate on what we can do, focussing on innovation, research and development, and other forms of support for businesses. We will provide our economy with an unprecedented injection of up to half a billion euros by the end of this legislative session. We will also give our care and support sector a powerful boost by allocating the same amount to it. From day one we will increase our investments in those that need our care the most, first and foremost in people with a disability. Thanks to the efforts we will make in the first couple of years, we can alsoinvest in quality education, in improving our mobility and several leading cultural and other infrastructure projects, as well as in the environment, agriculture, culture, sport, etc. Those that require others to make a contribution must act as an example. Therefore, the Government of Flanders will first make substantial savings in its own governmental system. At the same time, we will give our civil servants more trust and responsibility. We will drastically reduce the number of entities. We will 4 give our municipalities more autonomy and trust, especially our major cities, and limit the tasks of the provinces to territory-based powers. Our objective is a smaller, more vigorous government characterised by less administrative burden and more customer-friendliness. Trust and connecting also relate to associations and civil society. We offer increased trust through fewer rules so that associations can focus on their operations and less on administrative procedures. We will also directly incorporate these associations into our ambition to connect, to create support for our future path, to progress together. This coalition agreement is our commitment to progress. We trust in our community and in our future. Together we can connect and progress. Trust, connect and progress: our triptych for the future, to successfully embark upon the journey from today’s challenges to tomorrow’s achievements. 4 5 GOVERNMENT OF FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT TOURISM INNOVatION AGRICULtuRE WORK EcONOMY SOCIAL ECONOMY 6 AT THE ENTRancE OF an InduSTRIAL LOOM (Van DE WIELE) for growth Connecting 7 6 GOVERNMENT OF FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT First and foremost, this government wants to provide our economy and our care sector with a major boost. A Flanders that aspires to be ranked among the EU top five in terms of welfare and well-being, in accordance with the Pact 2020 and “Vlaanderen in Actie” (ViA, Flanders in Action), relies on a strong economy. We will focus on our own powers and on our strengths, innovation and entrepreneurship. We will resolutely strive for demand-driven and market-driven government policy that evokes trust and gives trust, and that therefore values entrepreneurs and offers them legal certainty. We will connect entrepreneurs and government policy more closely through fewer and simpler structures and instruments with faster and simpler procedures, increased transparency and a customer-friendly, single-counter function. We will also merge “Agentschap Ondernemen” (Enterprise Flanders) and the “Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie” (Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology) into a single “Agentschap voor Ondernemen en Innovatie” (Agency for Enterprise and Innovation) with a single support framework. We will incorporate the “Hercules-Stichting” (Hercules Foundation) in the “Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek” (FWO, Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders) for investments in research infrastructure. The Government of Flanders will use a cluster policy to accelerate the transformation of our industrial fabric and reinforce the knowledge-driven nature of our economy. We will use digital infrastructures and networks to prepare Flanders for the fourth industrial revolution. And since industrial innovation is largely supported by new and young businesses, we will address the failure of SMEs to keep up in terms of innovation, better support them and lower the entry barrier to innovation support. We will also connect entrepreneurs and the government with the aim of achieving the 3% standard for R&D by 2020. We already offer a solid budgetary growth path for innovation and support for enterprises. Running a business is also a question of culture. With targeted initiatives in the media and in education, we want to contribute to greater recognition of entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurship. We will support SMEs in crucial life phases and ensure that failure carries no stigma. Moreover, we will examine how to make the win-win loan even more appealing. We can also connect more to make progress for government instruments. There will be no more overlapping operations between the “ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen” (PMV, Participation Company Flanders) and “Limburgse Reconversiemaatschappij” (LRM, Limburg 8 Reconversion Company), but there will cooperation. The LRM will concentrate on implementing the “Strategisch Actieplan Limburg in het Kwadraat” (SALK, the Strategic Action Plan for Limburg Squared) We will avoid multiple subsidisation as well as multiple instances of shareholding through a subsidy and shareholding database. Farmers and horticulturists are also excellent entrepreneurs. We will do our utmost to strive to Connect for Growth in this area: sustainable growth for sustainable and economically viable agriculture. On the one hand, we will increase the sector’s resilience, but we will also reduce the overall environmental pressure. We will connect to the agri-food sector to allow Flanders to evolve to become the ultimate Food Valley in Europe. This makes innovation in this field crucial, to produce the highest quality products using innovative processes. Therefore, we will also apply regulations for investment support by the “Vlaams Landbouwinvesteringsfonds” (VLIF, Flemish Agricultural Investment Fund) to make the sector more resilient, more innovative and more sustainable. We will create a “Strategisch Innovatieplatform” (SIP, Strategic Innovation Platform) for the agri-food sector. Agriculture naturally requires space, legally secure space. Here, too, we can further and improve our connections to progress by, for example, ensuring a region-specific and project-based approach with a process manager to guarantee coherence in the implementation of interwoven policy agendas in rural zones such as mobility plans, basin management plans, environmental and nature policy plans, etc. Tourism and culture are also certainly part of the economy and growth. In implementing the “Toerismepact 2020” (Tourism Pact 2020), we will strive to connect tourism more to other policy areas and bring about increased cooperation and coordination in the tourism sector. We will select several tourism leverage projects that can make a difference to the power of attraction exerted by our destinations and concentrate public resources on these projects. The key attractions in each of the three macrodestinations (Flemish Coast, Flemish Regions and Art Cities) will be the starting point for this selection. We will examine whether Flanders’ maritime and nautical past can unlock tourism and act as a valuable resource, especially in Antwerp and on the Coast. We will improve access to the whole of Flanders with a walking nodes network similar to the cycling nodes network. We will continue to commemorate “The Great War Centenary” until 2018. We want to make Flanders a preferred destination for peace and remembrance tourism even after this period by, for example, 8 9 GOVERNMENT OF FLANDERS 2014-2019 COALITION AGREEMENT the proposed recognition of the major cemeteries and memorials in the region of the front as World Heritage sites. In the meantime, we are preparing celebrations for the 500th birthday of Pieter Bruegel the Elder as a major cultural-tourism event in 2020. If we want to Connect for Growth, it goes without saying that we want to get more people employed and optimally connect supply and demand in the labour market. We remain committed to the objective to increase the employment rate to 76% by 2020. To do so, we will use our existing and new powers in a consistent and effective manner.
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