Requiem for provinces, prelude for private interests in Flemish intercommunal associations?
On 13 May 2016 the Flemish Parliament amended the Intercommunal Association Decree (hereafter called ‘IAD’). This amending decree was published on 17 June 2016 in the Belgian Official Journal.
The various regulations will come into effect between 27 June 2016 and 1 January 2019.
The amendments of the IAD indicate – in anticipation of a new Local Government Decree – three trends in the Flemish administrative law.
You win some, ou lose some: the provinces have to resign from the intercommunal associations no later than 31 December 2018, while other legal entities under public law are now allowed to participate (for example police zones and fire brigade zones).
This is familiar: private partners are again allowed to participate in the financially and technically demanding energy and waste intercommunal associations by means of the new Official Representative Association with Private Participation. Besides this restriction in terms of content measures have been taken to prevent conflicts of interest. In that sense the new legal entity cannot participate in other intercommunal associations. Moreover, various measures have been taken in order to limit the decision-making power of private partners in the questionable intercommunal association. Finally, conditions have been imposed concerning private participation in the energy sector in order to safeguard the unbundling of the energy market.
Changed intercommunal association: the various tasks do no longer have to correlate functionally. However, this does not imply that giant intercommunal associations are free to do whatever they want, given that it is still the Flemish Government who ratifies amendments to the statutes and given that the various (diverging) tasks have to be precisely defined.
Despite repeated criticism the classic intercommunal association seems to be a real comeback kid in Flanders too. The amending decree does not only offer the opportunity to expand the intercommunal associations; the questionable decree is especially the start of a eulogy for the provinces and a reintegration for private partners in the waste and energy sector. It seems that the new Local Government Decree will mainly stand for a return to the former Intercommunal law.
Associated areas of specialisation: Public administration and legal texts, Public economics and finance