It is therefore mainly Flanders that influences the Belgian average and this penalizes Wallonia twice. “There is a double penalty for Wallonia which, not only was affected by the floods and had weaker economic growth, but which in addition, today, finds itself punished by a reduction in the envelope of subsidies”explains Thomas Dermine.
On the Walloon side, we have already called on the federal government for federal solidarity to find a solution. “There is a deep injustice which I think will have to be addressed by an intergovernmental discussion, for example within Codeco”argumente Thomas Dermine. “The Federal, like what has been done in Germany, where we see that the German federal government helps the Länder which have been affected by the floods, must be able to intervene”, says Thomas Dermine, who intends to defend this point of view in the federal government.
However, to obtain help from the Federal government, the Walloons will therefore have to convince the rest of the country, and therefore Flanders, to help them to compensate for the hundreds of millions of euros not paid by Europe. “It risks getting stuck with the Flemings, but we have to deconstruct a whole series of clichés towards Wallonia”, explains Thomas Dermine. “We are in a country which is made up of regions, there must be national solidarity”, adds the Secretary of State.
Belgium is one of the states where transfers between regions are among the lowest
Thomas Dermine in his contacts with the Flemish political parties and in the debates in which he participates in the north of the country observes that “the Flemings have the impression that transfers between Flanders and Wallonia are very, very high. However, they are important, but compared to other countries, they are not so much”. “Compared to all the other countries in Europe, France, the Netherlands or Germany, Belgium is one of the States where transfers between regions are among the lowest”continue d’argumenter Thomas Dermine.
And to recall the history of Wallonia which experienced its boom with industrialization and is still paying the price of deindustrialization today, whereas there is currently, “a very very strong pride in Wallonia, with young entrepreneurs and workers who want it”, believes Thomas Dermine. The latter also sees “extremely positive signals”, as “the Walloon Recovery Plan supported by the unions and employers”with “a collective effort which has been initiated by the current government and must be amplified in the years to come”.
However, Wallonia’s recovery will take time. “If we wanted Wallonia to catch up with Flanders, it would take a difference in growth of 2% per year for 20 years”, explains Thomas Dermine. For him, it is also necessary to dismantle the clichés of which Wallonia is a victim. “Wallonia has been behind for 50 years, but for 150 years it has been ahead,” he argues. Moreover, “Flanders’ first customer is not Germany, it’s Wallonia. When Wallonia is better, Flanders is better”he concludes.