In Belgium, initiatives are being taken at both federal and Flemish level to strengthen the administrative enforcement. The idea is that an effective administrative enforcement can complement the criminal law approach to criminals, so that organised crime can be fought effectively and efficiently. At the Flemish level, the ambition to strengthen administrative enforcement was already expressed in the policy memorandum of the Minister of Justice, Zuhal Demir. This policy memorandum has been further elaborated in a vision paper, which will be converted into a legal framework in a relatively short term.
A special feature of the policy memorandum and the vision paper is the recognition that (border) municipalities are increasingly confronted with cross-border crime, mainly from the Netherlands. That is why the Flemish government realises that it is not only necessary to obtain information from Flemish inspection services or from federal agencies, but that it is also important to obtain and provide information across national borders. During the conversation with the Deputy Chief of the Cabinet for Justice, the EURIEC offered to further advise the Flemish Government on what such cross-border information exchange should ideally look like. For example, the BIBOB agency is not the only authority which has information on the granting of licenses in the Netherlands, but Dutch municipalities also have valuable information that could be useful to Flemish authorities.
In the future, Zuhal Demir’s cabinet and the EURIEC will remain in contact in order to work together towards a borderless administrative enforcement. Via our website and LinkedIn, you will continue to be kept informed of these and other legislative initiatives in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.