State Secretary Bertrand (Open Vld) does not believe that the government should pump money into Van Hool: “It is always a painful story” | Domestic

A special works council will take place at bus builder Van Hool on Monday. It may be announced that some of the 2,500 jobs in Lier will disappear, because Van Hool would concentrate on coaches, which would be built in North Macedonia. The Flemish government is considering temporarily supporting the company, but only if it can put forward a strong future plan anchored in Flanders and if the banks also provide money.

“It is always a painful story when an industrial company gets into trouble, first and foremost for the employees and families. But the question is whether it is the role of the government to invest taxpayers’ money in this if the shareholders do not want to do so, if the banks do not do so and if there are no external investors,” Bertrand responds. “I do not think so. I do think that it is the role of the government and the VDAB to guide people and not to leave anyone behind.”

She refers to business organization Voka, which stated earlier this week that there are hundreds of vacancies in the automotive sector in the region, and thousands of vacancies in other sectors. “That is the role of the government, to give those people a good vision of the future. Because if a company (in which investments are made, ed.) gets into trouble again in the medium term, then that is a lose-lose story for everyone.”

“We must do everything we can to make a restart possible, but not unconditionally.” This is what Flemish Minister of Work Jo Brouns (CD&V) said earlier today in ‘De Zevende Dag’ on VRT 1. “The Flemish government is not a bus builder and we already guarantee 30 million euros. It is important that a strong plan is put on the table, with strong roots in Flanders. We are not going to finance jobs in North Macedonia. And it is important that the banks strongly believe in that plan. And our support would be temporary,” he said.

Brouns also points out that the problems at Van Hool are not only the result of the fact that the manufacturing industry is struggling everywhere in Europe, but also due to strategic choices. “At some point they opted for the hydrogen bus and not for the electric bus, which currently seems to be winning the argument,” says Brouns. He therefore emphasizes that Van Hool’s crisis plan must show that there is still faith in the future and that there are still competitive advantages.

The minister also says that it is food for thought that De Lijn has ordered buses from the Chinese bus builder BYD, while we have a Flemish bus builder. “This is where the shoe pinches for Van Hool. We have a Chinese company that produces in Flanders and Van Hool is dependent on that company for batteries for electric buses. That is why Van Hool is weaker in the electric bus market. As Europe, we must focus much more on economic autonomy and produce raw materials for batteries here,” says Brouns. He also says he is open to the “critical, creative debate about our procurement policy”.

“We of course have to take certain rules into account, but the necessary creativity is needed to take more local components into account, such as maintenance and the speed of service. I think we could be a bit more economically chauvinistic about this.”

Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) emphasized in ‘Wakker op Zondag’ on the Antwerp regional channel ‘ATV’ that the fact that De Lijn has ordered 90 buses from BYD has nothing to do with the problems Van Hool is facing today. sit. “There is a framework contract with Flanders. If they can deliver 300 buses, they can deliver. Immediately. One has nothing to do with the other. We discussed with the government on Friday how we can help Van Hool, tomorrow I will meet with the banks to see what we can do for Van Hool.”