Brussels postpones checks of Brussels non-profit organisations such as Samusocial

The Brussels government is extending the term that non-profit organisations have in order to adapt to the stricter regulations from 24 to no fewer than 49 months. The stricter regulations were put in place after scandals at municipal non-profit organisations such as Samusocial. Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre calls this postponement amateurism. “This is a slap in the face for anyone who wants to abide by the rules in the Brussels-Capital Region.

Following the scandals in a number of Brussels municipal non-profit organisations in the previous legislative period, the Brussels Parliament decided to put in place stricter checks of municipal non-profit organisations, with the latter being given 24 months to adapt to the new regulations. That 24-month term expired on 1 September 2020. But what do we learn now? The Brussels government now wants to extend the term from 24 months to 49 months. A two-year postponement in other words. The reasons given are “the lack of staff at the Brussels governmental services able to do these checks” and “the COVID-19 crisis”.

Still no overview of the number of non-profit organisations after two years

Moreover, even after two years (!), the Brussels government has still not produced a list of the non-profit organisations concerned. There are apparently municipalities that have not yet provided this information to the Brussels-Capital Region. The government is thus operating blindly. The Region has no overview of the number of municipal non-profit organisations that must be checked. This also means that there has not yet been a sufficient check of municipal non-profit organisations.

Business as usual in Brussels misgovernment

Brussels MP Matthias Vanden Borre finds all this negligence crass. “The previous legislative period was an all-time low in terms of good governance. The many scandals shook the municipal administrations and the Region to their core. It has now been two years since the rules were tightened. It now appears that the Brussels government doesn’t even have any idea, after all this time, of how many and which non-profit organisations are concerned. Instead of tackling the problem, it now wants to postpone it for two years. This is amateurism. Or does it want to keep on covering up the dirty truth? Interesting detail: in the previous legislative period, Ecolo-Groen was particularly scathing of the misgovernment - and rightly so. But now it turns out that it’s business as usual: try and keep the holes plugged. This is a slap in the face for anyone who wants to abide by the rules in this Region.