Belgian context

Belgian context

Belgian institutional context

Since Belgium is a Federal State, the Regions have a great deal of autonomy in managing their own competences such as territorial planning. They are called upon to cooperate with each other and with the Federal Sate to manage matters of common interest.

The Brussels Region cooperates with the Walloon Region and the Flemish Region on certain areas or inter-regional projects, such as for example the redevelopment of the former NATO site. And it does so, even though in Belgium, there is as yet no structural metropolitan cooperation as is the case in other countries.

Belgian actions

Cooperation with the Belgian statistics system

As a regional statistics authority, the Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (BISA) represents the Brussels-Capital Region within official statistical and economic bodies:

• on the Board of Directors and in the working groups of the Interfederal Statistical Institute (IIS), in particular as part of an integrated statistical programme, which defines the public statistics that the authorities wish to produce or improve collectively;
• on the Board of Directors and in the scientific committees of the Institute for National Accounts (INA);
• au Conseil d’administration et dans les comités scientifiques de l’Institut des Comptes Nationaux (ICN) ;
• at the Higher Council of Statistics (CSS).

Within the framework of its expert mission, the BISA conducts many projects with its Federal, Walloon and Flemish counterparts in order to produce joint statistics and analyses on Belgium, such as the annual publication of the Regional Economic Outlook. The BISA also contributes to several working groups beyond the regional borders, such as the Observatory of Cultural Policies in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation or the Labour Accounts working group of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue.

Community cooperation regarding school infrastructures in Brussels

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Flemish Community and the Brussels-Capital Region have adopted investment plans to create new places in Brussels’ schools.

Within perspective.brussels, the School Service assesses the requirements in terms of creating places in the education system in the Brussels Region and facilitates the completion of projects with a view to increasing the school offering. In this respect, it works with the administrations of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the French Community Commission (COCOF), the Flemish Community and the Flemish Community Commission (VGC).

Interregional cooperation on territorial planning

Since 2012, the Inter-regional Forum of information on territorial planning has brought together the administrations of the three Belgian regions to facilitate the exchange of information on planning policies and tools and discuss common issues. It has also been used to finance joint studies such as the Metropolitan Landscapes study. 

Documents :

• Agreement between the 3 Regions

More informations about Metropolisation

Inter-regional cooperation

Belgian inter-regional cooperation on European matters

In Belgium, the three Regions (Brussels-Capital, Flanders and Wallonia) cooperate to promote common positions on urban and territorial affairs at European level. This cooperation takes place in particular before informal councils dealing with these issues.

In addition to coordinating European policies, the three Regions work together on various European projects dealing with common issues, in particular those linked to the Eurodelta.

Finally, in 2021, as part of the European Union's Territorial Agenda 2030, the three Belgian Regions jointly launched a pilot action entitled ‘Urbanisation strategies for transregional or transnational valleys facing climate change’. The main aim of this initiative was to study territorial water management through an integrated approach, focusing on the risks of floods, droughts and water shortages. During the three years of work, both prevention and crisis management strategies were analysed, enabling concrete recommendations to be developed to improve the resilience of the areas concerned. Completed in 2024, this pilot action was part of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union and made a major contribution to the Presidency's work on territorial cohesion.

Final Report