Jambon: “Flanders cannot fully spread its wings due to the twisted state structure”
“We live in a country with two democracies, a country where the two peoples disagree on how to handle problems,” Jambon said. He referred to the organization of the labor market, the affordability of pensions, health care, the problems within the judiciary, the migration issue, the immense energy problem.
“The visions between the north and the south are always very different. Everyone recognizes that. And nobody denies that things cannot go on like this and that major reforms are therefore needed. Not least to safeguard our prosperity and our future.” said Jambon. He also emphasizes that it is the full right of “our Walloon neighbours” to want to pursue a different policy than that which the majority of Flemish people stand for. “Every nation should be able to decide for itself what is best, every nation has the right to self-government.”
The Prime Minister therefore calls for an end to “this untenable situation” after the next federal elections. “We now have to prepare for the inevitable negotiations about what we still want to do together and what really no longer works.”
Most of the powers should therefore rest entirely with the federal states, certainly when it comes to work and health. “The pandemic showed in a painful way how absurd it is that residential care centers are a regional and hospitals a federal issue,” Jambon said. “And the situation in the current labor market illustrates that looking for a job on the one hand (which the VDAB does) and the compensation – or no longer reimburse – of people without a job (which the RVA does) should also go hand in hand. you simply can’t have a policy.”
The federal government must also implement as much policy as possible tailored to the regions. “That can’t wait until 2024. What is the federal government waiting for to enable a real asymmetric approach already now?” said Jambon. “Because Flanders wants to fly higher and further. Fly itself, under its own power. Self-government.”