7.5 percent fewer civil servants in Flanders: minister Bourgeois exceeds savings targets

By June 2014, the Flemish Government wanted to reduce the number of civil servants by 6.5 percent. This target has been easily achieved and even exceeded.

This was revealed by figures from Minister-President and Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs Geert Bourgeois. Under his impetus, Flanders eventually saved 7.5 percent on its civil service: 285 staff members more than the original target of 1,875.

When it took office in 2009, the Flemish Government decided to launch an efficiency exercise by, for example, reducing the number of civil servants from 28,842 to 26,967. The original target of a five percent staff reduction was subsequently raised, first to six and then to six and a half percent. At the end of June 2014, there were 26,682 civil servants.