Brussels government continues to ignore language laws

Quite simply ignored. That’s what the Brussels government and the Common Community Commission did regarding the letter Flemish minister for Brussels Dalle sent them following the Brussels Vice-Governor’s dramatic annual report on compliance with the language law by local Brussels authorities. “Downright scandalous,” says Flemish MP Annabel Tavernier, “and a manifest lack of respect for the Flemish people in Brussels. Competent Minister Elke Van den Brandt is again nowhere to be found.”

The Brussels Vice-Governor checks the recruitment of Brussels municipalities and Public Social Welfare Centres (OCMW) for compliance with the administrative language law and temporarily suspends it if necessary. The annual report he published on it speaks volumes. Tavernier: “Never before have so many recruitments been suspended. No less than 60% of the recruitments were in violation of the language law. A new and sad low point. The situation is worsening year after year. And yet again, the Brussels government did not overturn a single decision.”

Not even the basic courtesy to reply

Following that 2021 annual report, Flemish Minister for Brussels Benjamin Dalle sent a letter to the competent members of the Brussels government and the Common Community Commission Alain Maron (Ecolo), Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) and Bernard Clerfayt (DéFi). In that letter, the minister calls on his Brussels colleagues to act and put an end to the violations of the language law. However, that letter went unanswered. According to Tavernier, this is a disgrace: “I can’t believe that Elke Van den Brandt can’t even muster the basic courtesy to reply to the letter. I can only conclude that she really doesn’t care.”