The Decree on Local Governance will result in one of the most import reforms for local governments in recent decades. The primary aims of the Decree are:
- integration, as far as possible, of the municipality and the public centre for social welfare ("OCMW"), while at the same time maintaining their legal personality,
- reform and simplification of the framework regarding administrative supervision,
- modification of the rules on the policy and management cycle,
- modification or tightening of a number of rules on intermunicipal cooperative entities and their subsidiaries,
- codification of all organisational rules concerning the municipality, the public centre for social welfare and the intermunicipal cooperative entities in one Decree,
- further simplification and improvement of the organisational rules with regard to digitisation,
- increased local autonomy.
Following generally favourable advice from the Legislation Division of the Council of State on the preliminary draft of the Decree, the Flemish Government was already able to give its final approval to the draft Decree on Local Governance on 27 October 2017. The draft was then introduced in the Flemish Parliament on 30 October 2017.
The Eubelius team, composed of Bart Martel, Aube Wirtgen, Kristof Caluwaert and Toon Moonen, assisted the Agency for Domestic Governance ABB and the Office of the Minister for Domestic Governance with the preparation of the draft Decree.