Vlaams Hervormingsprogramma 2019
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FLEMISH REFORM PROGRAMME 2019 1 PREFACE The present Flemish Reform Programme (Vlaams Hervormingsprogramma/VHP) 2019 is the ninth in a row to be drawn up by Flanders and the last to be presented by the current Government of Flanders. In the present Flemish Reform Programme (FRP) Flanders offers a bespoke response to the country-specific recommendations 2018-2019 and the challenging Europe 2020 targets. The FRP is to ensure that the European Commission (EC) receives a sufficiently detailed picture of the measures Flanders is taking within the framework of the European Semester (ES). In recent years, the current Government of Flanders has focused increasingly on the follow-up of the ES, with good results. At the Flemish level, it was tried during this term of office to increase support for the FRP in Flanders. This is perfectly illustrated by the stronger structural involvement of the social partners, the members of the Liaison Agency Flanders-Europe (Vlaams-Europees Verbindingsagentschap/VLEVA) and the Flemish Parliament, as well as the weight which the Board of Chairmen (Voorzitterscollege) attaches to the ES. In addition, the FRP always responds to new European Semester developments, such as the inclusion of a Flemish Social Scoreboard and the actions taken in response to the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP). At the federal level, particular reference can be made to the integral inclusion of the FRP in the National Reform Programme upon Flanders’ request. At the European level, the EC invariably appreciates the proactive and quality contribution of the Flemish authorities to fact finding missions, bilateral meetings and so on. As a result, a lot of Flemish policy measures and data are fed into the European Semester documents. It is therefore no coincidence that the Country Report Belgium 2019 contains a historically high number of references to Flemish measures and statistics. Flanders also tried to act in quick response to new instruments, such as the Structural Reform Support Programme: both in the 2018 and 2019 cycles, Flanders received support for three projects which are explained in the present FRP. In recent years, the European Semester Officer (ESO) has played an important role in ensuring interaction between the Flemish authorities and the EC services. In this respect, reference can be made, inter alia, to the annual meeting between the ESO and the Board of Chairmen of the Flemish public administration. The Flemish authorities also repeatedly made their ES expertise available to the Committee of the Regions (CoR). The Government of Flanders keeps urging the EC to request more region-specific recommendations and analyses. Since the 2019 Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) will be of decisive importance for the programming of the Structural Funds 2021-2027, it is vital that these CSRs are sufficiently attuned to the needs of the regions so that Flanders can act decisively. Both within the future MFF and in the EC's recent reflection paper 'Towards a sustainable Europe in 2030', the ES is extremely important and it is already clear that the investment dimension will continue to be a top priority at the European level in the coming years. It is therefore no coincidence that the present FRP additionally highlights the significance of the investment dimension. As is abundantly clear from the present FRP, the current Government of Flanders has been an investing government, which has borne fruit. The employment rate in Flanders has never been higher and our investments in R&D, as well as in care, education, mobility and public works have reached record levels. However, resting on our laurels is not an option: the new Government of Flanders will have to keep acting in response to investment challenges. Geert Bourgeois Minister-President of the Government of Flanders 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS1 Preface ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Part 1. Macro-economic developments in the Flemish Region .................................................................................... 8 Part 2. Measures within the framework of major economic challenges .............................................................. 11 2.0. The Country Report Belgium 2019 11 2.1. Country-specific recommendation 1 11 2.2. Country-specific recommendation 2 14 2.3. Country-specific recommendation 3 22 2.4. Responding to investment challenges 24 PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION OF FLANDERS’ EUROPE 2020 TARGETS ....................................................................... 34 3.0. Introduction 34 3.1. Employment rate 34 3.2. Education 35 3.3. Research and development (R&D) 37 3.4. Climate and energy 38 3.5. Poverty and social exclusion 42 3.6. Flemish Social Scoreboard 45 Part 4. Use of structural funds .....................................................................................................................................................47 Part 5. Institutional issues and stakeholder participation .......................................................................................... 48 5.1. Enhancing public support 48 5.2. Involvement of the Flemish Parliament 48 5.3. Involvement of social partners 48 5.4. Involvement of (supra) local authorities and stakeholders 48 5.5. FRP in a federal and European perspective 50 Glossary .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 51 1 This document is the English translation of the Flemish Reform Programme (FRP) 2019. The official version of the FRP (in Dutch) was approved by the Government of Flanders on 5 April 2019 and can be consulted at https://www.flandersineu.be/nl/prioritaire-dossiers/europees-semester. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Flemish Reform Programme (FRP) is the Government of Flanders’ response to the challenges arising within the scope of the European Semester (ES). With its own reform programme, Flanders assumes the required ownership. The FRP constitutes the basis for Flanders’ contribution to the National Reform Programme (NRP) and is also delivered to the European institutions. The FRP 2019 is composed of 5 parts. PART 1 describes the main macro-economic developments in the Flemish Region. A lot of indicators are green. With an investment ratio of 24.7 in 2018, Flanders is at the forefront in Europe. Total employment grew by 1.3% in 2018 and a 3.45% increase was recorded in the Flemish goods exports in 2018 compared to 2017. PART 2 describes the measures taken by Flanders within the framework of the major economic challenges (the three CSRs and investment challenges) and again constitutes the main focus of the FRP. With regard to CSR 1 (public finances) Flanders achieves a structurally balanced budget for the third time in a row. To that end, it continues to focus on a growth-friendly fiscal consolidation, while paying the necessary attention to public investments in economic and social infrastructure. To further improve the quality of the public finances, Flanders is working towards the introduction of performance-informed budgeting and spending reviews in the budgetary process. Furthermore, the Government of Flanders is aiming to introduce an investment norm and is making considerable efforts to keep debt under control by developing a debt norm, among other things. The transferred competences for long-term care and mobility aids have been included in the Flemish Social Protection (Vlaamse Sociale Bescherming/VSB), with the intention of adapting the financing models so as to evolve towards care-related financing based on an internationally validated care-related instrument (BelRAI). As far as CSR 2 (labour market and education/training) is concerned, the various activation measures (target group policy, expansion of the VDAB guidance offer for older jobseekers, etc.) have reached cruising speed. Focus is also placed on the transition from unemployment to work for vulnerable groups. In addition, several measures are being taken for people with a migrant background (project 'Integration through Work', etc.) and people with a work-limiting disability or medical, mental, psychological, psychiatric or social problems (customisation in social economy, etc.). Furthermore, the reconciliation of work and family life (additional investments in childcare, etc.) and worker mobility (attraction and retention of foreign talent, etc.) are concentrated on. Efforts are also made to guarantee equal opportunities in terms of access to quality education, vocational training and the labour market for the most disadvantaged groups. 2018 was a key year for education and training reforms. For almost all levels of education, important decrees were adopted in the Flemish Parliament and ratified by the Government of Flanders. Equal opportunities are promoted horizontally, among other things, through the reforms laid down in decrees relating to the pupil guidance system, the modernisation of secondary education, the new attainment targets, the new dual learning scheme, the financing system for adult education, part- time education in the arts, short cycle graduate programmes and the adjustment of