In our election series, we and you have had to conclude that the policies pursued in recent years have been grossly inadequate – at all levels. This has to change after Sunday 9 June: we can no longer afford to “dabble in institutional lasagne”.
In the run-up to the Flemish, federal and European elections on 9 June, Flows polled what priorities the maritime and logistics sector has for politics. We put some political questions to certain key figures from the maritime and logistics world. Quite deliberately, we did not gauge political preferences, but rather dossiers: where progress was being made, where not.
Yet we only received answers from a handful of brave people among you. We were often told that ‘politics’ is rather sensitive and people preferred not to participate. We can certainly understand that, but to address challenges, it is good to be able to name them too.
Our election series was therefore rather limited in time, yet the responses were remarkably unambiguous. We cannot but conclude that the policies pursued in recent years have been grossly inadequate – at all levels.
At European level, the Green Deal was rolled out, with particularly ambitious targets for greening. By now, everyone will agree on the goal, but the timing and the way in which this is done are increasingly hotly debated. To prevent the remaining industry from disappearing here too, the call for an Industrial Deal is getting louder and louder. It cannot be a matter of importing products produced less sustainably elsewhere….
At the federal level, meanwhile, the ruins are almost incalculable. The budget is completely derailed, the national debt is becoming unsustainable and the tax burden in our country is among the highest in Europe. Energy policy has been disastrous – at a time when Russia was invading Ukraine – and uncontrolled migration is putting increasing pressure on society. The fact that working barely pays anything more than not working is also pernicious. We know Vivaldi as a gifted composer, but this government has made a terrible cacophony of it.
At the Flemish level too, we have to conclude that too little progress has been made on major dossiers. After breaking the deadlock with an agreement on nitrogen, INEOS has finally been able to start building ‘Project One’, but with buckling knees. Nor dowe have clarity on when the New Lock in Zeebrugge will be in place, not to mention when the first ships can dock in an additional dock as part of ‘Extra Container Capacity Antwerp‘.
It is also these policy levels that politicians too often hide behind. Depending on which seat they occupy themselves, it sounds: “Ah, but that is not my competence, that is at Flemish/federal/European level (delete as appropriate)”. For our politicians in Belgium, they say, it is “plodding in the institutional lasagne”.
But dear politicians, if this lasagne of powers makes it impossible for you to pursue a coherent policy, well then take the bull by the horns and provide a structure that does work. Make sure you don’t have to break your head over how to dissect the lasagne of powers to make a minimal adjustment. Make sure thatpolicies can be put in place that allow things to move forward, secure our prosperity and safeguard our purchasing power.
