Cardiff-verslag 2001 Pagina 0 HERVORMING VAN PRODUCTEN-, DIENSTEN- EN KAPITAALMARKTEN BELGISCH VERSLAG VOOR DE EUROPESE UNIE

Cardiff-verslag 2001

Pagina 0

HERVORMING VAN PRODUCTEN-, DIENSTENEN KAPITAALMARKTEN

BELGISCH VERSLAG VOOR DE EUROPESE UNIE

NOVEMBER 2001


Pagina 1

CARDIFF-VERSLAG 2001 I. BELGISCHE PRIORITEITEN VOOR MARKTHERVORMINGEN Zoals veel Europese economieën kent de Belgische economie thans een groeivertraging, nadat in 2000 een zeer sterke expansie werd opgetekend (+4%). De gebeurtenissen van september kunnen zelfs de tot dan toe verwachte groeivertraging in de hand werken, vermits de economische groei in België grotendeels afhankelijk is van de wereldhandel. In deze nieuwe context dienen twee vragen te worden gesteld : • Werken de Europese markten goed genoeg om de weerslag van zo’n externe schok op te vangen? • Is de Europese economie sterk genoeg om baat te vinden bij interne groeibronnen? Voor de Belgische economie moet de aandacht worden gevestigd op een aantal positieve gegevens die erop wijzen dat de potentiële groei toeneemt en dat het concurrentievermogen van de Belgische economie de jongste jaren verbeterd is. Die ontwikkelingen blijken uit een analyse van de oorzaken van de groei tijdens de jaren negentig. Tabel 1 toont dat de versnelling van de groei in de tweede helft vooral te danken is aan de toename van de arbeid en een verhoging van de groei van de totale factorproductiviteit (TFP). Dit betekent enerzijds dat de werkgelegenheidscijfers sterk toenamen om de snellere groei te ondersteunen en anderzijds dat innovatie en technische vooruitgang (zoals ICT) tot een betere aanwending van de productiefactoren leidden. Een gezond macro-economisch landschap en beter functionerende markten droegen bij tot deze periode van sterke conjuncturele groei. Tabel 1 : Recente groeicijfers Reëel jaarlijks BBP Gewerkte uren Arbeidsproductiviteit per uur Toename van de kapitaalvoorraad TFP

Europa 15 91-95 1,0

95-99 2,0

België 91-95 1,1

95-99 2,2

-1,0 2,0

0,5 1,5

-0,5 1,6

0,8 1,4

0,95

0,6

0,9

0,25

1,05

0,9

0,7

1,15

Bron : Europese Commissie, 2000.

Vooreerst is de macro-economische context vrij gezond. Het inflatiepercentage steeg, zowel door de hogere olie- en voedselprijzen als door de ontwaarding van de euro, doch de onderliggende inflatie blijft beperkt. Voor de eerste maal in de jongste veertig jaar waren de nationale rekeningen lichtjes positief in 2000 en zij zouden in evenwicht moeten komen in 2001 en 2002, wat een belangrijke prestatie is op macro-economisch vlak. Tijdens de komende vier jaar zal de interne groei worden gestimuleerd door de impact van de fiscale hervormingen op de koopkracht van de gezinnen. De hervorming van de persoonlijke inkomensbelastingen die geleidelijk zal worden toegepast (op de inkomsten van 2001-2004) zorgt voor een aanzienlijke daling van de belastingen. Verder lijkt de potentiële groei erop vooruit te gaan, mede door een betere werking van de markten zoals blijkt uit een constante integratie in de internationale markten, een aanzienlijke toename van de werkgelegenheid tijdens de jongste jaren en een sterke aangroei van de bedrijfsinvesteringen. Dat neemt niet weg dat er nog veel vooruitgang moet worden geboekt op een aantal gebieden : • O&O en innovatie moeten worden versterkt in de bedrijfswereld;


•

Pagina 2

de verspreiding van ICT moet op een snel tempo worden voortgezet om de kloof met onze Europese partners te overbruggen; de hervorming van de overheidssector is lang niet voltooid en de prijzen blijven buitensporig in de niet-betoelaagde sectoren; administratieve hervormingen.

• •

A.

DOELTREFFENDHEID VAN BELGISCHE ECONOMIE

DE MARKTEN

: STERKE

EN ZWAKKE PUNTEN VAN DE

1. Naar een verdere integratie in de EU De Belgische economie integreert zich steeds meer in de rest van Europa, in het bijzonder in onze drie buurlanden. De handelsintegratie gaat verder, zoals blijkt uit figuur 1. In 2000 vertegenwoordigde de handel binnen de EU (invoer + uitvoer /2) 56,1% van het BBP. De buitenlandse directe investeringen (zowel binnenkomende als uitgaande) groeien eveneens aan. Beide waren goed voor meer dan 40% van de reële BBK 1in 1998, vergeleken bij minder dan 20% in 19972. Beschikbare cijfers voor België in 1999 en 2000 bevestigen de snelle expansie van buitenlandse directe investeringen tijdens de jongste jaren. Figuur 1: Handelsintegratie 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1998

Belg iu m

1999

2000 intra EU

1998 ex tra EU

1999

2000

Eu rop ean Unio n

(X+M)/2xBBP Bron : Eurostat, Comext

De gevolgen zijn enerzijds dat de Belgische prijsniveaus over het algemeen dicht bij het Europees gemiddelde liggen en anderzijds dat zowel de conjuncturele tendensen als de organisatie van de handelssector binnen Europa steeds meer onderling afhankelijk zijn. Betere resultaten zouden dan kunnen worden bereikt als de voorwaarden voor vraag en aanbod binnen Europa gunstig zijn. 2. Snel stijgende tewerkstellings- en activiteitsgraad Het Cardiff-verslag 2000 heeft de nadruk gelegd op de zwakheid van de tewerkstellings- en activiteitsgraad in België, vooral voor de jongste (15-24-jarigen) en oudste (50-64-jarigen) bevolkingsgroepen. Er werden twee soorten maatregelen genomen om de activiteitsgraad jaarlijks met 1% te doen stijgen. Ten eerste werd de belasting op arbeid verminderd om zo meer mensen op de arbeidsmarkt te krijgen en de arbeidskosten voor werkgevers te verminderen. Ten tweede werd een specifiek beleid gevoerd om jonge en oude mensen aan te moedigen op een succesvolle manier toe te treden tot de arbeidsmarkt of om te blijven.

1

Bruto Binnenlandse Kapitaalvorming

2

Bron: UNCTAD – World Investment Report 2000, 2001.


Pagina 3

Tabel 2 : Activiteitsgraad en tewerkstellingsgraad Eur 15 1998 2000 Activiteitsgraad 68,0 68,9 Werkloosheid in % van 7,0 5,8 bev. 15-64 jaar Tewerkstellingsgraad - 15-64 jaar 61,0 63,1 - 15-24 jaar 37,5 39,9 -25-49 jaar 75,4 77,6 -50-64 jaar 47,7 49,4

België 1998 63,2 5,9

2000 65,2 4,3

∆ +2,0 -1,6

57,3 26,0 76,8 36,7

60,9 30,3 81,0 39,2

+3,6 +4,3 +4,2 +2,5

Bron : New Cronos - LFS (Arbeidskrachten Survey)

Volgens de cijfers in tabel 2 werd deze doelstelling bereikt in 2000 en werd ze stevig ondersteund door een sterke conjuncturele groei. Er moet worden beklemtoond dat deze belangrijke stijging van de tewerkstellingsgraad verdeeld is over alle leeftijdscategorieën. De meest spectaculaire evolutie is echter de stijgende tewerkstelling in de jongste bevolkingsgroep. 3. Sterke stijging van de investeringen leidt tot hoger productiepotentieel… Sedert 1995 nemen de investeringen in de Europese economie opmerkelijk toe, wat zorgt voor een stijging van de investeringsgraad van 19,8% tot bijna 21,5%. Dit is nogmaals een aanwijzing dat de toename van de Europese economie diep geworteld zit in het verbeteren van binnenlandse grondbeginselen, wat onder meer het gevolg is van efficiëntere arbeids- en productmarkten. Zoals blijkt uit figuur 2 is de stijging van de investeringen in België nogal aanzienlijk. De investeringsgraad bereikte 21,7% in 2000, een veel hoger niveau dan begin jaren ’90. Figuur 2 : Investeringsgraad (in % van het BBP) 22 21,5 % of GDP

21 20,5 20

EU 15 Belgium

19,5 19

19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00

18,5

Bron : New Cronos, Eurostat.

Nieuw materieel is de meest gebruikelijke manier om nieuwe technologieën in bedrijven, vooral in KMO’s, te verspreiden en te integreren. De investeringsgolf tijdens de tweede helft van de jaren ’90 droeg waarschijnlijk veel bij tot de verbetering van processen en producten en tot de stijging van het productiepotentieel van de Europese economieën, door het bevorderen van een sterkere, niet-inflatoire groei. ICT is tegenwoordig één van de meest krachtige manieren om productieprocessen te verbeteren. Zowel in België als in de meeste Europese landen stegen de investeringen in ICT veel sneller dan de totale investeringen tijdens de jongste jaren. In 1995 waren de investeringen in ICT in België goed voor 10% van de totale niet-residentiële investeringen. Men schat dat ze in 2000 dicht bij de 14% liggen. De investeringen in ICT liggen nu boven de 2,2% van het BBP, vergeleken bij 1,5% in 19953.

3

Deze gegevens zijn uitgedrukt in waarde, wat betekent dat de reële groei nog groter is.


Pagina 4

4. … en meer gebruik van ICT? Het Cardiff-verslag van vorig jaar verduidelijkte dat België ten opzichte van de andere Europese landen onderaan de ladder staat voor wat ICT-gebruik betreft. De situatie is nu wat aan het verbeteren: België is ergens in het midden gerangschikt tussen de Europese landen, maar ligt nog steeds ver achter de Scandinavische landen, Nederland en het VK. Figuur 3: Uitgaven voor informatietechnologie in % van het BBP4 7 6 5 4

1999

3

2000

2 1 0 E U15

BE

DE

FR

NL

Bron : Eurostat – New Cronos

Over het algemeen blijven de uitgaven voor ICT in % van het BBP net onder het Europese gemiddelde (cf. figuur 3). Volgens verscheidene bronnen gaat de verspreiding van ICT in de Belgische gezinnen er goed op vooruit, hoewel de evolutie in de bedrijven trager verloopt. In 2000 bleef het relatieve aantal bedrijfspc’s lager dan het Europese gemiddelde en de penetratie van e-commerce leek moeilijker. Zoals blijkt uit de Europe-maatstaven voor 2002 (sept. 2001), is de penetratiegraad van breedband in België momenteel een van de hoogste in Europa (16% van alle aansluitingen en groeicijfers van 53% per kwartaal en 500% op jaarbasis. De cijfers bevatten zowel kabel- als ADSL-aansluitingen). Tabel 3 : ICT-indicatoren Aant. PC’s per 1000 inw. (2000) Aant. bedrijfspc’s per 100 werknemers (199) Aant. Internetgebruikers per 1000 inw. (2000) B2C e-commerce – in % kleinhandel (1999) % verkoop via het internet in de bedrijfssector – 1999 % KMO’s dat via het internet verkoopt – 2001 Secure web servers per 1 mln inw.(2000)

België 402,4 65

EU 360 67

Duitsland 372,6 62

Frankrijk 369,4 64

NL 468,3 80

36,1

33,4

28

18,1

75,3

0,16

n.v.t.

0,3

0,14

0,34

1,97

n.v.t.

2,31

1,62

3,01

13

n.v.t.

30

7

25

26,2

44,2

45,8

21,9

34,2

Bronnen : IMD, EITO, OESO

Doeltreffende financiële markten, een sterk innoverend vermogen, goed opgeleide werkkrachten en geen overmatige administratieve last worden erkend als belangrijke structurele factoren om de nieuwe economie en de bedrijfsconcurrentie aan te moedigen. De Belgische financiële markten doen het goed omdat grote vooruitgang is geboekt op het vlak van vernieuwing, onderwijs en administratieve lasten.

4

De vergelijking betreft de volgende landen: Be (België), De (Duitsland), Fr (Frankrijk), Nl (Nederland).


Pagina 5

5. Innovatiecapaciteit neemt toe, maar dan vooral in enkele grote bedrijven Gemeten op basis van het aandeel van O&O in de uitgaven van de bedrijven, nam de innovatiecapaciteit van in België gevestigde bedrijven toe in de tweede helft van de jaren negentig. Het O&O-aandeel voor de bedrijven bereikte naar schatting 1,42 % van het BBP in 1999, vergeleken met 1,23 % in 1995. De reële groei overschreed jaarlijks 6%. Niettemin ligt het O&O-aandeel in de Belgische bedrijven ver achter op de VS, Finland en Duitsland. De uitgaven voor O&O lijken geconcentreerd te zitten in een klein aantal sectoren en in een handvol grote bedrijven. Volgens een Europees onderzoek dat in de tweede helft van de jaren negentig werd uitgevoerd, lijkt het aantal innoverende firma's naar verhouding laag in de Belgische industrie : 34% vergeleken met 51% in de EU. Het opleidingsniveau van de arbeidskrachten draagt beduidend bij tot de innovatiecapaciteit van een land. De toestand in België is contrastrijk : vergeleken met het Europese gemiddelde hebben verhoudingsgewijs minder mensen een getuigschrift hoger middelbaar, maar volgden meer mensen hoger onderwijs. Wanneer men echter kijkt naar het aantal studenten dat hoger onderwijs volgt in een gespecialiseerde wetenschappelijke richting, dan blijkt België ver verwijderd van het Europese gemiddelde. In België heeft de laag opgeleide bevolkingscategorie een overaandeel in de actieve leeftijdsgroep. Globaal bekeken haalde ongeveer 39% van de leeftijdsgroep 25 tot 59 jaar geen hoger middelbaar, terwijl dit voor Europa gemiddeld minder dan 35% is. Een onvoldoende scholingsniveau is een van de grootste problemen waarmee werklozen te kampen hebben, vooral wanneer het om het oudere gedeelte van de bevolking gaat. Voor de categorie 25-34 jaar laten de cijfers een veel hoger scholingsniveau zien: 37,4% had een diploma hoger onderwijs in 2000. Tabel 4 : Bevolking volgens leeftijdscategorie en behaald opleidingsniveau - % voor 2000 EU 25-34 Geen hoger secundair onderwijs 25,9% Hoger secundair onderwijs 49,1% Hoger onderwijs 25,1%

25-59 34,4% 43,5% 22,1%

België 25-34 24,0% 38,5% 37,4%

25-59 39,1% 32,3% 28,6%

Bron : New Cronos, Eurostat

6. Administratieve lasten nog steeds te zwaar In 1998 werden de administratieve lasten van de bedrijven op 2,2% van het BBP geschat, vergelijkbaar met het cijfer van talrijke OESO-landen. Volgens een nieuw onderzoek uitgevoerd in 2000 bedraagt dat cijfer 2,6%. Ook al kunnen de twee resultaten niet direct met elkaar vergeleken worden, toch laat de nieuwe schatting evenmin vermoeden dat de administratieve lasten in de afgelopen twee jaar werden verlicht. Het onderzoek spitst zich voornamelijk toe op administratieve lasten in verband met tewerkstelling, fiscale verplichtingen en milieuwetgeving. Er wordt geen rekening gehouden met de stappen die nodig zijn om een bedrijf op te richten of zich als zelfstandige te vestigen, en dat zijn er in België heel wat. Het aantal dossiers dat in dit geval moet worden samengesteld, is een van de hoogste in Europa. Uit gegevens van DG Ondernemingen blijkt dat men in België 32 werkdagen nodig heeft om een bedrijf te laten registreren, wat meer is dan in de meeste Europese landen. Er worden momenteel grote inspanningen geleverd om de administratieve lasten te verminderen. De situatie zou de komende maanden moeten verbeteren (zie blz. 10). 7. Verbeterde toestand op financiële markten In 2000 bereikte de kapitaalomzet op de Belgische aandelenmarkten (figuur 4) bijna 3% van het BBP, d.i. een van de hoogste cijfers in Europa (het Europees gemiddelde wordt sterk beïnvloed door de


Pagina 6

Nederlandse prestatie, die 15% van het BBP benadert). Ondertussen steeg het risicokapitaal bestemd voor beginfazen (figuur 5) verder in % van het BBP. De goede prestaties op de aandelenmarkten kunnen te danken zijn aan het groeiend aantal marktoperatoren (zoals pensioen- of beleggingsfondsen), wat tot gunstigere financiële omstandigheden kan leiden. Zoals in het gedeelte over de financiële markten aangetoond wordt, zijn de transactiekosten blijkbaar gedaald dankzij een grotere efficiëntie. Een betere dienstverlening van de banken op het vlak van investment banking kan ook tot de gestegen vraag bijgedragen hebben. Figuur 4 : Kapitaalomzet op aandelenmarkten in % van het BBP 5 4.5 4 3.5 3

1998

2.5

1999

2

2000

1.5 1 0.5 0 BE

DE

FR

UK

E U15

Bron: Internationale Federatie van Effectenbeurzen (IFE).

Figuur 5 : Risicokapitaal - Beginfazen (in % van het BBP) 0.12 0.1 BE 0.08

DE

0.06

FR NL

0.04

E U15 0.02 0 1998

1999

2000

Bron: Europese Vereniging voor Risicodragend Kapitaal.

8. Prijsvoordelen voor consumenten na hervormingen nutssector blijven vooralsnog beperkt a. Telecommunicatie Volgens de recentste beschikbare internationale cijfers (zie tabel 5) werd de Belgische telecommunicatiesector in 2000 nog steeds gekenmerkt door gemiddeld5 zeer hoge prijzen in alle segmenten van de vaste telefonie, terwijl de prijzen voor mobiele communicatie laag waren ten opzichte van andere landen. De gezinnen en bedrijven betaalden voor vaste telefonie nog steeds 25% tot 50% meer dan in de buurlanden (met inbegrip van internationale gesprekken en oproepen naar mobiele netwerken). De kloof met de gemiddelde prijzen in Europa is vergeleken met 1998 aanmerkelijk groter geworden.

5

Deze prijzen weerspiegelen de aantrekkelijkste voorwaarden van de markt niet.


Pagina 7

Tabel 5 : Gesprekskosten 2000 Samengestelde korf van privégesprekken* - Totaal bedrag in USD op basis van de KKP6 Samengestelde korf van zakelijke gesprekken* - Totaal bedrag in USD op basis van de KKP Korf van mobiele gesprekskosten voor consumenten - Totaal bedrag in USD op basis van de KKP Korf van kosten voor nationale gesprekken via geleasde lijn voor 1,5/2,0 Mbits/s - In USD op basis van de KKP

België

EU

F

D

NL

641,9

515,4

498,9

508,5

437,3

1476,8

1092,1

1076,1

1177

851,9

298,8

318,7

421

354,9

278

2783935

3734262

2124016

2137956

2823415

Bron: OESO, EG * inclusief internationale gesprekken en oproepen naar mobiele netwerken

Niettemin verbeterden de prijscondities afgelopen jaar aanzienlijk nadat tijdens de eerste acht maanden van 2001 gemiddeld een aanzienlijke prijsdaling werd vastgesteld voor telefoon- en faxdiensten (9,2% vergeleken met de vorige periode). De daling lijkt vooral danken te zijn aan tariefverlagingen die de dominante operator eind vorig jaar in de meest competitieve segmenten van de markt toepaste. De kosten voor internet-aansluitingen daalden in 2000 bovendien met 37%. Figuur 6: Geharmoniseerd indexcijfer der consumptieprijzen voor communicatie (1996=100) (jaarbasis) 110.0 105.0 100.0 95.0 90.0 85.0 80.0 75.0 70.0

EU 15 BE DE FR NL 1997

1998

1999

2000

2001 (1-8)

Bron : Eurostat (New Cronos)

De prijsdalingen zullen wellicht aanhouden, aangezien zich momenteel positieve veranderingen voordoen : ten eerste werden, na maatregelen van de regulator, de interconnectieprijzen verlaagd voor het mobiele netwerk (-21%) alsook voor het vaste netwerk (ongeveer -20% volgens de tijd), en ten tweede introduceerde de betrokken operator per 1 juli een nieuwe tariefstructuur voor geleasde lijnen in die nu door de wetgever wordt bestudeerd. b. Elektriciteit en gas De liberalisering van de energiemarkten is aan de gang, maar komt traag vooruit. De elektriciteitsprijzen voor gemiddelde gebruikers (zowel gezinnen als industriële gebruikers) bleven de laatste drie jaar min of meer stabiel. Een gedeelte van de toegepaste prijsverminderingen ging teniet door toegenomen productiekosten als gevolg van hogere gasprijzen. Aardgas is (samen met kernenergie) een van de belangrijkste bronnen voor de opwekking van elektriciteit in België.

6

Koopkrachtpariteit


Pagina 8

De Belgische prijzen voor openbare distributie liggen relatief hoog vergeleken met die van de omringende landen. Zoals in een recent WEFA-verslag7 wordt gesuggereerd, zou dit vooral te verklaren zijn door een groot aandeel van kernenergie samen met hoge kapitaalkosten (passend voor een privé-bedrijf), wat leidt tot hoge opwekkingskosten. Ook het gebrek aan concurrentie lijkt de potentiële invloed van lagere Duitse prijzen op de Belgische markt te beperken. Voor de consumenten liggen de Belgische tarieven gemiddeld 10% tot 20% hoger dan in Nederland, Duitsland of het VK (zie tabel 6). Dat geldt voor alle soorten consumenten, behalve voor consumenten met een groot huishoudelijk verbruik tegen nachttarief. Figuur 7 : Elektriciteit : prijzen voor openbare distributie (BEF cts/kWh aangepast naar 30kV) 250

BEF cts/kwh

200 150

1st Jan 1st July

100 50 0 BE

DE

FR

UK

NL

Bron: WEFA - DAFSA

Tabel 6: Elektriciteitsprijzen : Huishoudelijke eindverbruikers/10kVA 3500 kWh 1300 kWh 's nachts - BTW exclusief - sept 2000 België Index 100 Prijswijziging mei-september 3,4% 2000

F 96,3 0%

NL 76,3 0,1%

D 84,0 -1,2%

VK 91,5 18,1%*

Bron: WEFA-DAFSA * sterk beïnvloed door de evolutie van de wisselkoersen

Vorig jaar werden maatregelen genomen om het tarief voor vaste elektriciteitsverbruikers te verlagen (totale factuur naar schatting 0,2 miljard euro lager) en zo in 2002 prijsverschillen met de omringende landen te verminderen alsook het verschil tussen de tarieven van de kleinste en van de grootste verbruikers te verkleinen. Tussen januari 1999 en januari 2001 nam de verhouding tussen de hoogste en de laagste prijs af van 2,5 tot 2,1 voor gezinnen en van 3,6 tot 2,9 voor industriële verbruikers. Zo daalden bij de industriële gebruikers de prijzen voor de kleinste verbruikers in de loop van de laatste twee jaar met 14% terwijl de prijzen voor de grootste verbruikers met 6% toenamen. Deze door Eurostat gepubliceerde tarieven geven niet de prijzen weer die deze grote verbruikers momenteel zouden kunnen verkrijgen. Op de aardgasmarkt, die volledig op invoer is aangewezen, is er door de liberalisering voor de meeste verbruikers van aardgas niets veranderd (het marktaandeel van nieuwe gasleveranciers vertegenwoordigt minder dan 5% van het aanbod). Men stelde aanzienlijke prijsstijgingen vast, die in België groter waren dan in alle omringende landen behalve Duitsland. De aardgasprijzen voor de gezinnen stegen in België tussen januari 1999 en januari 2001 met ongeveer 45%. In de meeste omringende landen bedroeg deze stijging ongeveer 10% en het EU-gemiddelde bedroeg minder dan 30%. De aardgasprijzen voor de industrie stegen in dezelfde periode met 80% in België, tegenover een stijging van ongeveer 70% voor Frankrijk, Nederland en het EU-gemiddelde. In België is de grensprijs een van de belangrijkste elementen in de totale verbruikersprijs voor gas. Hij werd sterk beïnvloed door de stijgende beweging van de olieprijzen.

7

Vergelijking van elektriciteitsprijzen in geselecteerde Europese landen - WEFA-DAFSA – mei en september 2000.


Figuur 8 :

Pagina 9

Gasprijzen in euro per gigajoule voor de gemiddelde gezinsverbruiker (83,7 GJ) exclusief BTW en taksen

12 10 8

1999

6

2000

4

2001

2 0 BE

DE

Bron : Eurostat

FR

NL

UK

EU 15


Pagina 10

B. BELGISCHE PRIORITEITEN VOOR MARKTHERVORMINGEN 1. Verdere inspanningen om de tewerkstellingsgraad te verhogen De inspanningen van vorig jaar om de doelstellingen van de Europese Raad te halen, zullen worden voortgezet op het vlak van tewerkstellingsbeleid, op fiscaal vlak en op het vlak van opleiding en onderwijs. De inspanningen zullen gericht worden op de jonge en oude leeftijdscategorieën van de actieve bevolking, waar het werkgelegenheidscijfer veel lager ligt dan in de omringende landen, en op de groep van laaggeschoolden. Wat het tewerkstellingsbeleid betreft, zorgt de wet van 5 september 2001 voor specifieke maatregelen om het tewerkstellingscijfer van de oudere groepen van de actieve bevolking te verhogen. Ondertussen nam de Regering maatregelen om de belangrijkste obstakels voor arbeidsmobiliteit weg te werken en de arbeidsmarktflexibiliteit te verbeteren (voor meer details, zie bijlage 5). Er werden specifieke maatregelen genomen om de band tussen werk en levensomstandigheden (verkorte werktijd, opleidingsfaciliteiten) te verbeteren en oudere werknemers aan te moedigen om op de arbeidsmarkt te blijven (met financiële stimulansen voor het aanwerven van oudere werknemers, een outplacement-procedure voor mensen die hun job verliezen, speciale werktijdverkortingen enz.). Er komen betere fiscale maatregelen: • In 2002 wordt er 0,25 miljard euro extra uitgetrokken om de bijdragen voor sociale zekerheid te verminderen, met de klemtoon op jonge mensen en werknemers van meer dan 50 jaar. • De hervorming van de inkomstenbelastingen zal een grote invloed hebben op de inkomens van 2002 en zal de last van de belasting op arbeid verlichten: de "crisisbelasting" gaat verder omlaag, de marginale belastingdruk wordt beperkt, er zullen meer beroepskosten kunnen afgetrokken worden, en er komt een terugbetaalbaar belastingkrediet voor lage inkomens. Beter geschoolde arbeidskrachten zijn, zoals gezegd, van doorslaggevend belang voor de Belgische arbeidsmarkt. Volgens LFS nam in België 8,3% van de actieve bevolking deel aan bijscholingscursussen, terwijl dat cijfer voor Nederland, Zweden, Denemarken, of het VK bijna 20% bedraagt. De sociale partners hebben besloten aanzienlijk meer middelen ter beschikking te stellen voor permanente opleiding, die in 1999 een aandeel van 1,3% in de loonkosten had. In 2004 zou de "onderwijsinvestering" 1,9% van de loonkosten moeten uitmaken. Eind 2002 zou deze reeds de 1,6% moeten benaderen. Er worden zowel op federaal als op gewestelijk vlak initiatieven genomen om het activiteitspercentage van de oudere werknemers te verhogen, bijscholing te stimuleren en mobiliteit te bevorderen. Zo startte de Vlaamse Regering een specifiek actieprogramma om firma's ertoe aan te zetten procedures uit te werken voor het opnemen van oudere werknemers. De Waalse Regering breidde het aantal bevoegdheidscentra uit om bijscholingsprogramma's binnen ieders bereik te brengen. Het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest creëerde centra voor beroepsreferenties. De mobiliteit van werklozen is een thema waaraan door de drie Gewesten tegelijk wordt gewerkt met het oog op de bestaande regionale verschillen. De Gewesten zijn erg actief op het vlak van bijscholing en permanente vorming, zowel voor werkenden als voor werklozen.

2. Een beter ondernemingsklimaat Het aantrekken van meer buitenlandse investeerders en het stimuleren van de ondernemingszin en van de ontwikkeling van KMO's zijn twee van de topprioriteiten van de Regering. Drie soorten maatregelen zullen tot een verbetering van het ondernemingsklimaat bijdragen.


Pagina 11

Ten eerste kondigde de Regering op 9 oktober een aanzienlijke verlaging van de bedrijfsbelasting aan. De basisvoet wordt verlaagd van 39% naar 33%, een peil dat vergelijkbaar is met wat door de meeste EU-partners wordt toegepast. De hervorming zal in begrotingstermen neutraal zijn, aangezien tegelijk het belastingstelsel wordt vereenvoudigd en bepaalde uitkeringen wegvallen. Bovendien wordt het reglementeringsstelsel hervormd naar Nederlands voorbeeld. Reglementeringsprocedures zullen voor alle ondernemingen opengesteld worden en onder controle van het Parlement staan. Door de publicatie van alle akkoorden wordt transparantie gewaarborgd. De specifieke belastingvoet voor KMO's (met een winst van minder dan 25.000 euro) wordt verlaagd naar 24,25%, vergeleken met 28% nu. Ten tweede moet administratieve vereenvoudiging de rapportering voor firma's beduidend vergemakkelijken. De volgende initiatieven staan de komende maanden op de agenda: • De elektronische BTW-aangifte zou voor eind dit jaar mogelijk moeten zijn. • Ook de elektronische tewerkstellingsaangifte is voor eind 2001 gepland. • De installatie van een "Universele-berichtgevingssysteem" waarmee alle gegevens over bedrijven worden samengebracht, die dan voor alle ministeries beschikbaar zullen zijn, wordt voor eind 2001 verwacht. Op 1 januari 2002 zal een belangrijke stap gezet worden in de richting van een vereenvoudiging van administratieve procedures. Op die dag gaat het E-government platform van start (zie pagina 14 voor meer details over E-government implementatie). De Belgische Regering heeft ook besloten de vele bestaande (momenteel negentien) tewerkstellingsprogramma's te rationaliseren die de werkgevers recht geven op verminderde sociale bijdragen. Al deze plannen zullen worden geharmoniseerd en geïntegreerd. De vermindering zal ook automatisch worden toegekend, zonder specifieke aanvraag van de werkgevers. Tot slot worden op federaal en gewestelijk vlak talrijke initiatieven genomen om KMO's te ondersteunen die (1) het menselijk kapitaal en de management-capaciteiten verbeteren, (2) de ondernemingszin versterken, (3) innovatie stimuleren, (4) de toegang tot oprichtings- en vooral risicokapitaal vergemakkelijken.

3. Kwaliteitsverbetering van de overheidsdiensten Een andere prioriteit van de Federale Regering is de modernisering van de openbare besturen. Na de goedkeuring van de reeds in het vorige verslag beschreven hervormingsbeginselen door de Regering in april 2000 begon de tenuitvoerlegging ervan. Tijdens de laatste maanden van 2000 werden de basisprincipes van de nieuwe benadering van het human resources management vastgelegd. De nieuwe algemene structuur van de federale overheid werd bepaald : dezelfde voor alle afdelingen van openbare diensten. Begin 2001 keurde de Regering het mandaatsysteem voor leidinggevende ambtenaren goed. Op dat ogenblik ging de modernisering van een eerste groep afdelingen binnen de nieuwe overheidsdiensten van start, wat het begin betekende van de praktische uitvoering van de hervorming. Een van de hervormingsbeginselen is het creëren van een nieuwe band tussen de politiek en de administratie door de omvang van de ministeriële kabinetten aanzienlijk te beperken. Dit zou eind 2004 verwezenlijkt moeten zijn. De Eerste Minister, de Minister van Ambtenarenzaken en Modernisering van de Openbare Besturen en de Minister van Begroting hebben dit principe reeds in de praktijk gebracht. Er werd een wervingscampagne voor leidinggevende ambtenaren gestart die gericht was op zowel interne als externe mensen. De aan de gang zijnde selectieprocedures hebben reeds topmanagers van twee overheidsdiensten de diensten van de Eerste Minister en ICT - voortgebracht. Na zijn aanstelling zal elke topmanager zijn overheidsdienst hervormen, parallel met de uitvoering van e-governmentprojecten.


Pagina 12

4. Een betere milieubescherming door middel van een adequaat economisch beleid Verscheidene fiscale maatregelen en precieze reglementeringen werden aangewend sinds de uitvoering van het Nationaal CO2-programma in 1994. Bijlage 1 verduidelijkt de vele verschillende daartoe gebruikte instrumenten en hun impact op milieu- en fiscaal vlak. Voor het eind van 2001 wordt de goedkeuring van een Nationaal Klimaatplan verwacht. Dit Plan zal de te nemen maatregelen bepalen voor de verwezenlijking van het Belgische aandeel in de overeenkomst over de gedeelde Europese verplichting inzake de beperking van de uitstoot van gassen (-7,5% onder het niveau van 1990 voor de periode 2008-2012). De Gewesten hebben hun actieplannen daaromtrent reeds ontwikkeld. Verschillende maatregelen werden voorgesteld, zoals bijvoorbeeld meer economische steun voor milieubeschermende investeringen of een beperking van het energieverbruik. Momenteel zijn er twee milieuvriendelijke maatregelen in voorbereiding, in het bijzonder met betrekking tot de luchtkwaliteit. Deze zullen van kracht worden in 2002: • Om het gebruik van minder vervuilende voertuigen aan te moedigen, zal de belasting op de inverkeerstelling worden verminderd voor voertuigen die op LPG rijden en auto's die conform de Europese norm Euro 4 zijn. Ook zal deze belasting worden verhoogd voor bepaalde types zeer vervuilende tweedehandswagens. • De jaarlijkse verkeersbelasting zal worden afgestemd op de graad van vervuilende uitstoot. Daarenboven heeft de Regering beslist vanaf 5 november 2001 de accijns van minerale oliën aan te passen aan het zwavelgehalte. De recente hervorming van de personenbelasting bevat tevens een ecologische ondertoon. Naast verschillende maatregelen ter bevordering van een duurzame mobiliteit door het pendelgedrag te wijzigen zal een belastingvermindering worden toegestaan voor belastingbetalers die bepaalde energiebesparende investeringen verwezenlijken. Tot slot maakte de Regering recent bekend dat de komende maanden een wetsvoorstel zal worden ingediend inzake de ontmanteling van kerncentrales die ouder zijn dan 40 jaar.


II.

Pagina 13

EVALUATIE VAN DE WERKING VAN DE MARKT EN DE STRUCTURELE HERVORMINGEN

A. PRODUCTMARKTEN 1. Openstelling van nieuwe markten voor mededinging en stimulering van economische integratie a. Aanpassing van het wettelijke en administratieve kader i. Uitvoering van richtlijnen betreffende de eenheidsmarkt

Tussen mei 2000 en mei 2001 daalde de omzettingsachterstand van België van 3,1% tot 2,4%. Maar na de in 2000 geboekte vooruitgang, voornamelijk in de afname van laattijdige omzettingen, is het aantal richtlijnen met vertraging niet opmerkelijk afgenomen. Het laatste verslag van de commissaris bevoegd voor de coördinatie van omzettingen, dat de toestand op 22 juni 2001 weergeeft, spreekt van 123 overtredingen (41 gevallen van laattijdige omzetting en 82 betwiste gevallen). In 2000 werden reeds een aantal maatregelen ten uitvoer gebracht om het omzettingsproces te verbeteren. De versterking van logistieke steun voor omzetting werd voortgezet in 2001, waarbij een betere communicatie en een informatieverspreiding tussen de betrokken actoren bijzondere aandacht kregen, met name door het creëren van een centrale databank. Deze inspanningen moeten in de komende maanden ongetwijfeld zorgen voor een vermindering van de omzettingsachterstand. 2. Overheidsbeleidslijnen die de werking van de markt beïnvloeden a. Mededingingsbeleid Twee soorten autoriteiten zijn belast met mededingingstoezicht: de Raad voor de Mededinging die een transversale bevoegdheid uitoefent en een groep sectorale regulerende autoriteiten die specifieke markten controleren. De Regering is van plan de betrekkingen tussen de Raad voor de Mededinging en de sectorale regulerende autoriteiten voor het eind van dit jaar te formaliseren. De hervorming beoogt een versterking van de samenhang binnen het regulerende kader. Vooreerst moeten de regulerende rol en het toezicht op alle niveaus worden gescheiden. Ten tweede dienen de betrekkingen tussen de mededingingsautoriteiten en de diverse sectorale regulerende instanties beter georganiseerd te zijn, terwijl de procedures efficiënter moeten worden opgezet. De Raad voor de Mededinging is een administratief en onafhankelijk rechtscollege met beslissingsbevoegdheid op het gebied van beperkende mededingingspraktijken en toelaatbaarheid van concentraties. De Raad is tevens een adviesorgaan voor algemene vraagstukken inzake mededingingsbeleid. Het orgaan is samengesteld uit 20 leden waarvan 4 voltijdse (voorzitter, vice-voorzitter en twee andere). Een Afdeling Mededinging met een recent versterkte staf (42 voltijdse medewerkers) voert onderzoeken uit en waakt over de uitvoering van beslissingen. Het toezicht op financiële dienstenmarkten wordt uitgeoefend door drie autoriteiten: de Commissie voor het Bank- en Financiewezen, de Nationale Bank en de Controledienst voor de Verzekeringen. Momenteel staat een hervorming van deze structuur ter discussie (zie deel II.B.) Daarvoor werd op federaal vlak een onafhankelijke regulator voor energiemarkten opgericht (de CREG). In de post- en telecommunicatiesector is de regulering nog steeds gecontroleerd door een met de Minister van Telecommunicatie verbonden structuur


Pagina 14

(het BIPT), maar de Regering heeft een akkoord bereikt om een echt onafhankelijke structuur op te zetten. De geplande hervorming van het spoor-en luchtvervoer houdt eveneens de oprichting van een specifiek regulerend orgaan in dat belast is met het toezicht op transportsectoren. b. Staatssteun Tijdens de periode 1997-1999 bedroeg de Belgische staatssteun gemiddeld 1,4% van het BBP, dit is iets hoger dan het EU-gemiddelde (1,2% van het BBP). Twee derde van de Belgische staatssteun gaat naar de transportsector, vooral de spoorwegen (0,9% van het BBP, tegen een EU-gemiddelde van 0,4%). Wanneer men de steun aan de landbouwen transportsector uitsluit, beloopt de Belgische staatssteun dus slechts 0,4 % van het BBP, vergeleken bij het EU-gemiddelde van 0,6%. Sedert de periode 1995-1997 daalde de gemiddelde staatssteun (exclusief de steun voor de landbouwen transportsector) met 15%, van 946,5 miljoen euro voor de periode 1995-1997 tot 800,4 miljoen euro voor 1997-1999. Het grootste deel van de overheidssteun voor de industrie- en dienstensector is gericht op horizontale doelstellingen (0,3% van het BBP): onderzoek en ontwikkeling, milieu, KMO's, handel, energiebesparing, ...), terwijl het aandeel van de regionale steun 0,1% van het BBP vertegenwoordigt. Horizontale steun wordt hoofdzakelijk door de regio's gecontroleerd. In 2000 voerde Wallonië een onderzoek uit naar de impact van economische steun aan bedrijven. Dit moet leiden tot een herziening van de toewijzingscriteria evenals een herziening van de administratieve procedure. Figuur 9 : Staatssteun in % van het BBP (gemiddelde 1997-1999) State aid in % of the GDP (mean 1997-1999) 1,60

1,43 1,40

Belgium 1,21

European Union

1,20

1,00

0,80

0,59

0,60

0,36

0,40

0,26

0,22

0,18

0,20

0,10 0,00

Totaal

Totaal-landbouw-vervoer

Horizontal objectives

Regional aid

Bron : Negende rapport over staatssteun in de EU - COM(2001)403 c. Belastingvraagstukken die een invloed hebben op productmarkten Drie belangrijke kwesties die in het eerste deel worden vermeld, zijn: • De recent geplande hervorming inzake vennootschapsbelasting. • Het uitdiepen van het beleid betreffende de vermindering van de socialezekerheidsbijdragen. • Een milieubewust belastingsysteem dat de luchtkwaliteit verbetert, de afvalberg doet afnemen en de mobiliteit bevordert. d. Overheidsopdrachten Sinds vorig jaar worden grote inspanningen geleverd om aanbestedingsprocedures te vereenvoudigen en de nodige infrastructuur te ontwikkelen voor het sluiten van overheidscontracten langs elektronische weg. Ongeveer 30 % van de overheidsopdrachten worden reeds openbaar gemaakt, wat aanzienlijk hoger is dan in de meeste Europese landen.


Pagina 15

Cardiff-verslag 2001 - 28/01/02

Pagina 16

Figuur 10: Aantal bekendgemaakte overheidsopdrachten t.o.v. het totale aantal overheidsopdrachten

Bron : DG Markt, Eurostat e. Administratieve vereenvoudiging en ondernemerschap Door de interne en externe betrekkingen van overheden radicaal te wijzigen maakt ICT het mogelijk beleidsvoering en openbaredienstverlening te optimaliseren. De aanwending van deze technologieën bij overheidsactiviteiten - doorgaans e-government genoemd - is een essentiële stap voor de verbetering van de bedrijfswereld. E-government houdt niet alleen de ontwikkeling van een adequaat technologisch kader in, maar ook een drastische structurele reorganisatie van overheidsinstanties. Daarom lopen deze twee operaties parallel. De ontwikkeling van de technische middelen werd toevertrouwd aan de nieuwe horizontale overheidsdiensten: FEDICT. De voornaamste elementen van deze ingewikkelde, in opbouw zijnde infrastructuur zijn : •

•

• •

De invoering van een snel, beveiligd netwerk voor elektronische gegevensuitwisseling tussen overheidsdiensten (naar het model van het reeds bestaande netwerk tussen de socialezekerheidsdiensten) en een "Universal Messaging Engine" voor het beheer van die gegevensuitwisseling. De ontwikkeling van twee elektronische portalen – één voor de ondernemingen en één voor de burgers – die de geïntegreerde toegang tot administratieve informatie, procedures en diensten mogelijk maken. De ontwikkeling van een uniek identificatiesysteem voor elke entiteit (ondernemingen en burgers). De ontwikkeling van infrastructuur voor elektronische handtekeningen.

De Gewesten implementeren eveneens hun eigen e-governmentstrategieën. Ze hebben reeds eigen portaalsites ontwikkeld die informatie verschaffen over hun diensten en downloadbare sollicitatiebrieven. Er worden voortdurend inspanningen geleverd om de samenwerking te verbeteren en de interactiviteit te verhogen. Die projecten zijn gebaseerd op de technische middelen ontwikkeld op federaal niveau. Op

16


Pagina 17

basis van een samenwerkingsakkoord worden de Gewesten en de Gemeenschappen betrokken bij de uitwerking van een technisch e-governmentplatform. Dit belangrijke achtergrondwerk zal weldra voor de eerste tastbare resultaten zorgen. Hoewel een volledig elektronisch aanbod van overheidsdiensten slechts op 1 januari 2003 beschikbaar zal zijn, zal het egovernmentplatform reeds bepaalde online-procedures mogelijk maken in het begin van 2002 (zie I.B). Naast dit omvangrijke structurele vereenvoudigingsproject hebben de federale besturen zich de laatste twee jaar meer toegelegd op doelgerichte vereenvoudigingsprojecten, gecoördineerd door de Federale Dienst voor de Administratieve Vereenvoudiging. Vijfentwintig van deze projecten werden reeds uitgevoerd (zie bijlage 5 voor details). Er worden tevens verschillende initiatieven bestudeerd om het ontwerp van regulerende en administratieve teksten te verbeteren. Alle nieuwe belastingen socialezekerheidsformulieren zullen worden onderzocht door een centrale dienst die gespecialiseerd is in leesbaarheid. Alle ambtenaren zullen een leesbaarheidsvorming moeten volgen en de burgers zullen worden aangemoedigd om voorstellen te doen in verband met administratieve formulieren. De verbetering van de bedrijfswereld is tevens één van de doelstellingen van de fiscale en regulerende maatregelen, die de Regering onlangs aankondigde en die in Deel I worden voorgesteld. Tot slot dienen verschillende geplande procedure-aanpassingen te worden vermeld die worden aangewend in geval van bedrijfsinsolventie (gerechtelijk akkoord en bankroet). Het gerechtelijk akkoord zal toegankelijker worden gemaakt voor kleine firma's en vertrouwelijker worden. De negatieve gevolgen van bankroet zullen worden beperkt voor zover er geen ernstige beheersfout wordt aangetoond.

3. Voorzieningen en netwerkindustrieën (zie bijlage 2 voor details) a. De telecommunicatiemarkt Volgens officiële gegevens, gepubliceerd door internationale organisaties, bleven de prijzen voor telecommunicatiediensten in 2000 gevoelig hoger in België dan in de rest van Europa. Toch moeten verschillende positieve veranderingen in 2001 worden aangestipt: de telefoon- en faxprijzen daalden; kosten voor internetaansluitingen werden verlaagd en tarieven voor onderlinge verbinding tussen mobiele en vaste telefoontoestellen vertonen een dalende trend (cf. I.A). Wat de openstelling van de markten betreft, dienen er drie belangrijke gebeurtenissen te worden onderstreept die op ruime schaal zullen bijdragen tot de openstelling van de markt voor nieuwe operatoren. Vooreerst werd een akkoord bereikt over het ontbundelen van de lokale toegang: sinds mei 2001 is de toegang tot de "laatste km" voor nieuwe operatoren opengesteld. Niettemin blijft het aantal ontbundelde lijnen tot nu toe zeer laag. Het BIPT/IBPT zet dan ook een begeleidingsproces op via het bevorderen van de gemakkelijkste manieren voor colocatieruimtes, zoals de comingling (alternatieve operatoren mogen aan de dominante operator vragen waar diens apparatuur staat om ADSL aan te bieden en daar hun eigen toestellen naast plaatsen). De draadloze lokale toegang vormt een interessant alternatief voor het vaste netwerk. Tijdens de eerste negen maanden van 2001 werden er vijf nationale vergunningen verleend. Een tweede proces werd gestart voor de toekenning van drie extra vergunningen, daar er blijkbaar niet aan de vraag werd voldaan. Om de ontwikkeling van die technologie in België aan te moedigen, werd meer capaciteit vrijgemaakt op het

17


Pagina 18

nationale frequentieplan: het koninklijk besluit van 16 juli 2001 verleent de machtiging om die nieuwe capaciteiten te gebruiken voor het draadloze aansluitnetwerk. In maart 2001 werden er drie vergunningen toegekend voor de derde generatie mobiele telefoons. Elk van de operatoren betaalde een toegangsprijs van 150 miljoen euro. De markt van de mobiele communicatie wordt steeds toegankelijker: 55% van de markt is in handen van Belgacom Mobile en zijn aandeel is snel gedaald, terwijl de andere twee operatoren het overblijvende deel van de markt delen. Zoals vermeld zijn de prijsvoorwaarden op die markt veel gunstiger voor de Belgische consumenten. Zoals het verslag van verleden jaar reeds in grote lijnen weergaf, is de rol van de nationale regulator zeer belangrijk en moeilijk in een open markt die gedomineerd wordt door een historische operator. De regulerende overheid zal worden hervormd. De huidige structuur zal drastisch worden veranderd. De voorbereiding van de wetgeving zal worden overgeheveld naar de Regering, terwijl de regulerende autoriteiten zullen worden belast met de follow-up van het beleid, de aanbevelingen aan de politieke autoriteiten en de controle van de markten. De onafhankelijkheid ervan ten opzichte van de overheid en van de sector zal worden gegarandeerd en de daartoe aan te wenden middelen, voornamelijk personeel, zullen worden uitgebreid. b. De energiesector Zoals vermeld in het Cardiff-verslag van verleden jaar werd de openstelling van energiemarkten opgevoerd, vergeleken met de voorzieningen van de wet van 1999 betreffende de organisatie van de energiemarkten. Wat elektriciteit betreft, werden de aanvaardbaarheidsdrempels herzien en werd de timing versneld. De recentste voorwaarden bepaald op federaal niveau zijn de volgende: • Alle eindgebruikers met een elektriciteitsverbruik van 20 GWh of meer komen nu in aanmerking; • Eindgebruikers met een elektriciteitsverbruik van 10 GWh of meer zullen uiterlijk op 31.12.2002 in aanmerking komen; • Alle verbruikers zullen op 1 januari 2007 vrij kunnen kiezen. In België zijn de gewestregeringen belast met het beleid inzake elektriciteitsdistributie (≤ 70 kV) en met de bevordering van duurzame energie. De Gewesten hebben eveneens hun eigen kalender bepaald voor de openstelling van de markt voor elektriciteitsverdeling (zie bijlage 2). De op regionaal niveau bepaalde drempels stroken niet volledig met de federale. Momenteel verloopt de liberalisering vlugger in de gewesten dan op federaal niveau, maar hun respectieve kalenders zouden moeten samenvallen nu de liberalisering een feit is. De voorwaarden voor een meer open en competitieve markt worden stap voor stap tot stand gebracht (zie bijlage 2). Niettemin zijn de resultaten van de liberalisering tot nu toe maar in beperkte mate zichtbaar. Electrabel en SPE, die 96% van de Belgische elektriciteitsmarkt bevoorraadden, verloren verschillende grote verbruikers, die ten minste 3% van de totale markt of 10% van de beschikbare markt vertegenwoordigen. De prijzen betaald door in aanmerking komende verbruikers zijn tot nu toe niet gekend. Voor andere verbruikers worden de prijzen bepaald via de toepassing van een dubbel systeem: de meerkostenregels, gebaseerd op de reële productiekosten met inbegrip van een distributiemarge, en de regels inzake prijslimieten, opgesteld om de kloof met de buurlanden te dichten.

18


Pagina 19

In de nabije toekomst zal de marktstructuur een verandering ondergaan: buitenlandse elektriciteitsmaatschappijen zullen onafhankelijke elektriciteitscentrales bouwen op het Belgische grondgebied en zelfstandige elektriciteitsproducenten zullen verschijnen. Alle recent genomen beslissingen zullen binnenkort op de juiste manier moeten worden geïmplementeerd. Een van de belangrijkste punten om het welslagen van de liberalisering te waarborgen, zal bestaan in de efficiëntie en de doorzichtigheid van de vervoerskosten en distributiemarges. Op 8 oktober werd een belangrijke stap gezet toen de Regering de onafhankelijke transportoperator benoemde. De gemeenten en Electrabel/SPE zullen de nieuwe operator elk voor 30% in handen hebben; de overblijvende 40% zal voorlopig in het bezit zijn van Electrabel en dan binnen twee jaar op de beurs worden verkocht. Ook op regionaal niveau is de ontbundeling bezig: het beheer van het distributienetwerk en de productie- en verkoopactiviteiten zullen wettelijk worden gesplitst. Regulatoren zijn sinds verschillende maanden operationeel. Een van hun voornaamste taken zal erin bestaan de commerciële voorwaarden voor transport en distributie te onderzoeken en goed te keuren. De federale en regionale wetten legden de overheidsdiensten vastgelegd drie verplichtingen op: bescherming van het leefmilieu, bescherming van verbruikers met een laag inkomen en bevoorradingszekerheid. Wat betreft de eerste verplichting, werden er maatregelen genomen voor het opmaken van groene certificaten om de bevoorrading van "groene" elektriciteit verder te ontwikkelen. Met dit systeem moet het aandeel van de elektriciteitsverkoop afkomstig van hernieuwbare energie door de elektriciteitsverdelers worden verhoogd (8% in 2010 in Wallonië (3% in 2004), 5% in Vlaanderen, 6% op federaal niveau). Wat betreft de tweede verplichting, werd op federaal niveau beslist het sociaal tarief voor personen met een laag inkomen uit te breiden en vaste tarieven voor gezinnen progressief af te schaffen. Op regionaal niveau wordt er gewerkt aan een beleid om een minimumbevoorrading aan de gezinnen te waarborgen. De bevoorradingszekerheid kan worden bereikt door een toenemende liquiditeit van de geliberaliseerde markt, de invoering van indicatieve stelsels op lange termijn voor de elektriciteits- en de gassector en de opvoering van de energiebesparing, de hernieuwbare energie en de cogeneratie (warmtekracht). Verschillende maatregelen zijn op dit gebied reeds geïmplementeerd of moeten nog tot uitvoering worden gebracht en de Belgische wetgeving moet worden gewijzigd wat betreft de organisatie van de elektriciteitssector om de cogeneratie te bevorderen. In juli 2001 werd de gaswet geamendeerd om de aanvaardbaarheidsdrempels te verlagen tot 5 miljoen kubieke meter per jaar (voordien 25 miljoen kubieke meter). 58% procent van de totale markt komt nu in aanmerking. Alle verbruikers zullen reeds in oktober 2006, in plaats van in oktober 2010, een vrije keuze kunnen maken. Niettemin blijven de veranderingen op de gasmarkt zeer beperkt. Nieuwkomers leveren minder dan 5% van het in aanmerking komende volume. Potentiële nieuwe leveranciers nemen een voorzichtige houding aan omdat belangrijke elementen voor de toegang tot het netwerk (tarieven, vervoervergunningen, …) en voorwaarden voor de levering aan mogelijke verbruikers (leveringsvergunningen) nog steeds ontbreken. Een andere reden voor de trage openstelling van de markt is te wijten aan het feit dat een aantal mogelijke gaskopers gebonden zijn aan contracten op halflange termijn met de huidige operator. Onmiddellijke prijseffecten ingevolge het liberaliseringproces kunnen enkel worden verwacht voor verbruikers die hun leverancier vrij kunnen kiezen en niet gebonden zijn aan contracten op halflange termijn. Voor deze verbruikersgroep worden echter geen prijsstatistieken gepubliceerd. De prijzen voor andere grote verbruikers worden hoofdzakelijk bepaald door de grensprijs, terwijl de grensprijs en de distributie- en kleinhandelskosten voor de gewone verbruiker nagenoeg even belangrijk zijn. Daar contracten op lange termijn de gasleveringsportefeuille verder zullen domineren om de zekerheid van de gasleveringen te waarborgen, wordt niet verwacht dat het liberaliseringproces een grote

19


Pagina 20

invloed zal hebben op de grensprijs van gas, die in ruime mate afhangt van de olieprijzen. De recente evolutie van de petroleummarkt heeft de gasprijzen dan ook de hoogte in geduwd en dit in grotere mate voor de ondernemingen dan voor de gezinnen. Tot nu toe is er geen sprake van een belangrijke neerwaartse druk op vervoers- en distributiekosten. In de nabije toekomst moeten er geen grote veranderingen worden verwacht op de gasmarkt: er blijven te veel hindernissen bestaan om een effectieve marktopening te bespoedigen. Er dient vooruitgang te worden geboekt inzake de toegang tot het netwerk, de verticale integratie tussen de huidige operator en de verdelers en de nauwe band met de dominante operator op de elektriciteitsmarkt, die 20% van de huidige gasverkoop vertegenwoordigt. c. Spoorvervoer Duurzame, milieuvriendelijkere mobiliteit is één van de voornaamste doelstellingen van de Regering. Er werden verschillende voorstellen ingediend om dit doel te bereiken, met inbegrip van een hervorming van de spoorwegsector. Het vervoer per spoor zou aanzienlijk moeten stijgen om te voldoen aan een groeiende vraag naar mobiliteit. Er werden kwantitatieve doelstellingen vastgelegd: in 2010 moet de spoorsector in staat zijn nieuwe diensten te verlenen voor 50% meer passagiers, alsook voor 50% meer goederen. Er werden tevens kwalitatieve doelstellingen vastgelegd inzake veiligheid, stiptheid en kwaliteit. De op federaal niveau genomen maatregelen steunen op drie pijlers: • Een herziening van het wettelijke kader dat de betrekkingen regelt tussen de maatschappij en de Staat, met inbegrip van algemene principes voor de beheersstructuur van de maatschappij. • Een herziening van het beheerscontract, waarbij hoofdzakelijk voor de overheidsdiensten de doelstellingen en hulpmiddelen worden bepaald. • Een nieuw investeringsplan voor de volgende 12 jaar om de nieuwe doelstellingen te verwezenlijken. De wet tot vaststelling van het nieuwe wettelijke kader werd goedgekeurd door de Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers; de goedkeuring ervan door de Senaat is gepland voor eind november. Die wet introduceert een boekhoudkundige en operationele scheiding tussen de beheersinfrastructuur en de vervoersactiviteiten overeenkomstig de Europese reglementering. Nieuwe structuren zullen worden ingevoerd en onderworpen aan de nieuwe regels inzake bedrijfsbeheer (inzonderheid meer doorzichtigheid in het gebruik van fondsen). Het nieuwe investeringsplan zou moeten voorzien in de nodige middelen ter ondersteuning van het investeringsbeleid voor de volgende 12 jaar: 17 miljard euro zal worden aangewend ter uitbreiding en verbetering van de bestaande structuur, die lijdt onder een gebrek aan capaciteit, voornamelijk in bepaalde knelpunten en voor rollend materieel. Wat de openstelling van de markt betreft, zullen de Europese richtlijnen (2001/12, 13 & 14) tegen maart 2003 worden omgezet naar nationaal recht, zoals de richtlijn vereist. Er werden fiscale impulsen gegeven voor inkomsten vanaf 2001 om minder vervuilende vervoermiddelen aan te wenden, zoals het spoor dat aantrekkelijker wordt gemaakt voor de passagiers: er kwam een grotere belastingsaftrek voor die vervoermiddelen en de terugbetaling van spoorwegabonnementen door de werkgever wordt niet langer als een voordeel in natura beschouwd en is vrijgesteld van belastingen. d. Postdiensten

20


Pagina 21

De liberalisering van de postsector is nog steeds beperkt tot brieven en pakjes van meer dan 350 g. Een tweede reeks openstellingen wordt verwacht in 2003, wanneer de mededinging voor brieven van meer dan 100 g zal toegelaten zijn. De voornaamste begunstigden van de huidige liberalisering zijn de grote gebruikers. De voorwaarden voor de kleine gebruikers zijn niet veranderd; de posttarieven zijn reeds verschillende jaren stabiel gebleven. Alhoewel de historische operator nog steeds de belangrijkste is, wordt het aantal actieve firma's in competitieve postdiensten op bijna 400 geschat. In 2000 werd het voorheen autonome overheidsbedrijf omgevormd tot een statutaire maatschappij met beperkte aansprakelijkheid en er werd een holding opgericht (Belgian Post Group) om een aantal dochtermaatschappijen te controleren. In 2001 waren de werkzaamheden ervan in de eerste plaats gericht op de versteviging van de mededingingspositie en op de verzekering in de toekomst universele diensten te kunnen aanbieden binnen passende termijnen. Er werden belangrijke investeringen gepland voor de volgende vijf jaar om de uitrusting en de netwerkinfrastructuur te moderniseren. Intussen kan het postnetwerk worden opgesplitst in twee business units : post (brieven) en kleinhandel (postkantoren). e. Maatregelen om de invloed van de liberalisering van de energiemarkten op het milieu te beperken Er werd een nieuwe reeks stimulansen in het leven geroepen. In oktober 2000 besliste de Federale Ministerraad om, via belastingvermindering, het rationeel energieverbruik in de residentiële sector te bevorderen. Er werd een lijst opgemaakt van investeringen voor rationeel energieverbruik. Twee percentages werden vooropgesteld (15% en 40%) overeenkomstig de investeringen. De belastingvermindering zal ingaan in 2004 (investeringsuitgaven van 2003) en beperkt worden tot 500 euro per gebouw. In het verleden gingen van het Fonds voor Rationeel Energiegebruik financiële stimulansen uit voor een doeltreffende elektriciteitsopwekking en -distributie. De financiële middelen waarover de fondsen beschikken, werden verleden jaar verhoogd en belopen nu 25 miljoen euro. De fondsen zullen worden overgeheveld naar de Gewesten. Zoals vermeld, omvatten de wetten en decreten betreffende de organisatie van de elektriciteitsmarkt specifieke regelingen voor de bouw van offshore-windmolens langs de Belgische kust, voor hernieuwbare energie en voor een markt van groene certificaten voor elektriciteit. Voor drie projecten werd reeds een vergunning aangevraagd voor de bouw van een offshore-park in de Noordzee. In Wallonië komen de klanten die hun elektriciteit kopen van hernieuwbare bronnen (RES) onmiddellijk in aanmerking. Tenslotte hebben de federale en de regionale regeringen de noodzaak erkend van een groencertificatensysteem waarbij een groeiend aandeel van de elektriciteitsverkoop door elektriciteitsleveranciers (i.e. distributiemaatschappijen) moet worden geproduceerd uit hernieuwbare energiebronnen. Elektriciteitsleveranciers die aan deze doelstelling niet voldoen, betalen boetes om de regionale energiefondsen te stijven.

4. Bevordering van een op kennis gebaseerde maatschappij a. O&O en vernieuwing Op het vlak van O&O, vernieuwing en ICT-verspreiding presteerde België dikwijls middelmatig tot slecht. Toch werd het niveau van de arbeidsproductiviteit, dat gedeeltelijk wordt beïnvloed door de technische vooruitgang, steeds tot één van de hoogste ter wereld gerekend. Dit komt omdat vernieuwing en technische vooruitgang voornamelijk tot uiting kwamen in nieuw materieel en bepaald werden door investeringen.

21


Pagina 22

Tijdens de voorbije jaren verbeterden de prestaties, hoewel ze meestal nog niet het niveau bereiken van onze drie buren. Dit kan erop wijzen dat de vernieuwingscapaciteiten worden ontwikkeld in een groter aantal firma's, terwijl de vernieuwingssystemen worden versterkt op federaal en regionaal vlak.

Tabel 7 : O&O-indicatoren België Overheidsuitgaven in % van het BBP – 0.59 1999 BBUOO in % BBP –1998 1,9 UOOO in % BBP – 1998 1,35 Octrooien per 10 000 inwoners - 1997 0,89

EU 0,75

Duitsland 0,82

Frankrijk 0,99

NL 0,79

1,81 1,15 2,49

2,31 1,57 5,5

2,19 1,36 2,3

1,95 1,06 1,61

Bron : DWTC/SSTC BBUOO : Bruto Binnenlandse Uitgaven voor O&O. UOOO : Uitgaven voor O&O van de Ondernemingen)

Zoals reeds vermeld in het verslag van het voorbije jaar, steeg het bedrag van de overheidsmiddelen bestemd voor onderzoek en vernieuwing tijdens de voorbije vijf jaren aanzienlijk. In reële termen werd er tussen 1995 en 2000 een groei van 25% genoteerd. De cijfers van 1999 voor België tonen aan dat de stijgende trend in de BBUOO en de UOOO zich voortzette: de UOOO zou 1,42 % van het BBP hebben bereikt, terwijl de totale O&O-uitgaven in de buurt van 2% van het BBP liggen. Wat het beleid betreft, waren de acties vooral gericht op de verbeterde werking van vernieuwingssystemen, bijvoorbeeld: • Overheidsgeld wordt meer en meer besteed aan sleuteldomeinen waarin een reëel potentieel bestaat voor wetenschappelijke en industriële ontwikkeling en waarin onderzoeksteams een voldoende omvang kunnen bereiken om te worden geïntegreerd in Europese onderzoeksnetwerken. Op federaal niveau werden programma's uitgewerkt om tot die doelstelling bij te dragen, zoals de Interuniversitaire Attractiepolen en de nieuwe expertisenetwerken. • Meer netwerken en duurzaam partnerschap tussen firma's en met onderzoekscentra worden aangemoedigd, vooral via groeperingsbeleid. Eind 2000 werden er in Wallonië vijf technologische pilootgroepen opgericht, waarbij firma's, onderzoekscentra en universiteiten werden samengebracht. • Verspreiding en overdracht vormen vandaag nog steeds een probleem, vooral wanneer het om KMO's gaat : de diverse door tussenpersonen aangeboden vaardigheden en diensten moeten beter zichtbaar worden en de behoeften van de firma's moeten beter gekend zijn. In Vlaanderen werd het KMOvernieuwingsprogramma gelanceerd. Bovendien werden specifieke maatregelen voor de vereenvoudiging van de subsidiestructuur, ter ondersteuning van technologische vernieuwing in de KMO's, goedgekeurd als onderdeel van een breder vernieuwingsconcept. • Het ter beschikking stellen van fondsen voor vernieuwing komt steeds vaker ter sprake ; initiatieven worden genomen om risicokapitaal aan te moedigen, contacten tussen klanten en leveranciers te vereenvoudigen, het risiconiveau eigen aan zeer vernieuwende projecten te verminderen, enz. Op regionaal niveau werden Business Angels Netwerken opgericht. Sommige ervan krijgen financiële steun van de Gewesten, zoals de 4 BANs in Vlaanderen die subsidies krijgen voor de helft van hun werkingskosten. • Zowel bij de firma's als bij de bevolking moet het bewustzijn worden vergroot : zo worden er nu regelmatig acties gestart op regionaal niveau ter bevordering van wetenschappelijke studies. Overeenkomstig het programma goedgekeurd door de staats- en regeringshoofden tijdens de tops van Lissabon, Feira en Stockholm vormt het Gemeenschapsoctrooi momenteel de topprioriteit van het Belgische voorzitterschap binnen het kader van de industriële eigendom. Het voorzitterschap heeft tot doel tegen eind 2001 een politiek akkoord te bereiken over de belangrijkste punten van het voorstel, met name

22


Pagina 23

taalgebruik, financiële regeling, gerechtelijk apparaat, rol van Nationale Octrooidiensten, eerbied voor de "communautaire verworvenheden" en toetreding van de EG tot de Europese Octrooiverdrag. b. Vooruitgang van de informatiemaatschappij Het wettelijke kader voor het ICT-beheer krijgt geleidelijk aan vorm. De wet tot regeling van het wettig gebruik van elektronische handtekeningen werd in oktober laatstleden goedgekeurd en gepubliceerd. Wat de elektronische handel betreft, worden de wettelijke bepalingen (gebruiksbeveiliging, enz.) nog steeds besproken en zouden ze voor het einde van het jaar moeten worden goedgekeurd. Er zijn verschillende initiatieven op komst wat betreft de invoering van een doeltreffend e-government (zie sectie II.A.2). Op alle niveaus werden er aanzienlijke inspanningen geleverd om de scholen multimedia-uitrusting en internetverbindingen te bezorgen (zie Cardiff-verslag 2000 - Bijlage 2). Het is de bedoeling om die initiatieven te volgen en de scholen bij te staan met het onderhoud en de bijwerking van die uitrusting. Op verschillende niveaus worden er tevens vormingsprogramma's gestart voor leraars en studenten. Er wordt meer en meer aandacht besteed aan permanente vorming op het gebied van ICT, vooral voor leraars. Om ICT toegankelijker te maken, neemt het Vlaams Gewest initiatieven ter ontwikkeling van de ICTtoegang via kabelnetwerken. In het Waals Gewest zal de invoering van materiële contactpunten, die verspreid zijn over het territorium en vrije cyberruimtes verschaffen, bijdragen tot de oprichting van een virtueel eenheidsloket. Het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest zal starten met de ontwikkeling van hoogtechnologische, telematische kiosken op een breedbandnetwerk in alle metrostations om telematische egovernmentdiensten aan te bieden aan de burgers.

Tabel 8 : ICT-gebruik België Computers per 100 leerlingen – 2001 8,6 Computers aangesloten op het internet per 100 3,5 leerlingen – 2001

EU 8,6 4,1

Duitsland Frankrijk NL 4,9 9,5 12,5 2,5 3,8 3,6

Zweden 15,3 11,6

Bron : gegevens verzameld door het Federaal Planbureau (zie te verschijnen FPB 2001).

23


Pagina 24

B. KAPITAALMARKTEN EN FINANCIELE DIENSTEN 1. Wettelijk, regulerend en controlekader a. Wettelijke acties : groepspensioenplannen (tweede pijler) en werknemersdeelname in het kapitaal van hun onderneming In 2001 waren de reeds overeengekomen of geplande wettelijke acties erop het aanbod van risicokapitaal te stimuleren. In de eerste plaats werd er een akkoord gesloten tussen de sociale partners en de Regering over een wetsontwerp betreffende de zogenaamde tweede pensioenpijler, met name aanvullende groepspensioenen via kapitalisatie op sectoraal en ondernemingsniveau. Die wet, die evenwel nog moet worden gestemd door het Parlement (verwacht begin 2002), zou in 2003 van kracht kunnen worden en belangrijke ontwikkelingen met zich brengen wat betreft die tweede pijler. Uit de verklaring van de sociale partners en de Regering blijkt dat het bevorderen van aanvullende groepspensioenen een zo groot mogelijk aantal werknemers wil bereiken. Momenteel geniet slechts een derde van de werknemers een dergelijk pensioenplan. De nieuwe wet zal vooral de invoering van "sociale" pensioenfondsen op sectoraal niveau mogelijk maken en aanmoedigen met de bedoeling om tot een zekere solidariteit te komen op dit niveau. Er kunnen ook pensioenplannen worden opgemaakt op ondernemingsniveau. Om bepaalde voordelen, met inbegrip van belastingvrijstellingen, te kunnen genieten, moeten die sectorale fondsen worden opgericht bij collectieve overeenkomst om te garanderen dat alle werknemers die ervan afhangen, gedekt zijn door het pensioenplan. Die fondsen zullen onder het toezicht staan van de CDV (Controledienst voor de Verzekeringen) en onder de leiding van twee nieuwe comités die respectievelijk samengesteld zijn uit vertegenwoordigers van de Regering en de CDV, en van de sociale partners, gepensioneerden en pensioenorganisaties. Samen met de door de Europese Commissie gevraagde aanpassing van de eis dat de pensioenfondsen een minimumpercentage zouden beleggen in Belgische aandelen om belastingvoordelen te genieten, zal die wet de impuls vormen voor de ontwikkeling van pensioenfondsen in België, een sector die nog steeds onderontwikkeld is in vergelijking met andere Europese landen. Ten tweede werd de wet die de werknemersdeelname in het kapitaal van hun onderneming en in de winsten toelaat, aanvaard en van kracht in 2001. Dakzij de wet van 22 mei 2001 betreffende de systemen van werknemersdeelname in het bedrijfskapitaal en de winsten kunnen ondernemingen, binnen een zeer gunstig fiscaal kader aandelen toekennen aan hun werknemers en werd de verhouding van de aandelenparticipatie van de werknemers in het kapitaal van hun onderneming verhoogd. De filosofie achter dit doel is te benadrukken dat de werknemersdeelname belangrijke voordelen moet kunnen bieden. Het garandeert dat de betrokkenheid van alle werknemers een dominant motief zal vormen in de firma's. De betrokkenheid van het personeel draagt bij tot de verbetering van de prestaties in de onderneming, waardoor ze beter het hoofd bieden aan de druk ingevolge de groeiende openstelling van de Belgische economie. Aangezien de werknemersdeelname de betrokkenheid van de werknemers bevordert, is ze tevens een middel om het verwervingsdynamisme en de informatieverspreiding te stimuleren. Participatie zal ook de betrokkenheid van de werknemer bij het ondernemingsbeleid verhogen. Derhalve is de werknemersdeelname in ondernemingen een passend antwoord op de economische en sociale evolutie.

24


Pagina 25

Dit is het eerste, algemene, wettelijke kader om de verschillende participatievormen aantrekkelijk te maken voor alle in België gevestigde ondernemingen en hun werknemers. Participatie zal minder streng worden belast, vooral wanneer het in de vorm van kapitaal gebeurt. Om die voordelen te genieten, moet het participatieplan worden goedgekeurd bij collectieve overeenkomst of inschrijving. Het verband met de resultaten van de onderneming moet duidelijk zijn en de participatie kan geen vervangmiddel zijn voor lonen; het betreft een bijkomend inkomen. Er werd in speciale regels voorzien voor kleine en middelgrote ondernemingen (KMO's) om te vermijden dat hun stichters niet langer beslissingen kunnen nemen, terwijl ze nog steeds van het systeem profiteren : de werknemersparticipatie neemt de vorm aan van een speciale lening waarop dezelfde – voordeligere - belastingsvermindering van toepassing is als een participatie in het kapitaal. b. Maatregelen ter bevordering van de financiering van kleine en middelgrote ondernemingen (KMO's) De zelffinanciering van de KMO's wordt in de geplande fiscale hervorming aangemoedigd, daar zij een gedeeltelijke belastingsvrijstelling op opnieuw geïnvesteerde winsten krijgen, maar er werd recent heel wat aandacht besteed aan de financiering van de KMO's in het algemeen. Om verschillende maatregelen ter vereenvoudiging van de financiering aan te moedigen, werd een Task Force opgericht onder de auspiciën van de Minister van Financiën. c. Herziening van controlestructuren De controle van het financiële systeem wordt geïmplementeerd door de Commissie voor het Bank- en Financiewezen (CBF) in samenwerking met de Nationale Bank (NBB). De hervorming zet de filosofie en de aanbevelingen van het eindverslag van het door Baron Lamfalussy voorgezeten Comité der Wijzen over de regelgeving op de Europese markt (goedgekeurd door de Europese Raad van Stockholm op 23 en 24 maart 2001) om in Belgisch recht in verband met de regelgeving over de effectenmarkten in Europa. Bovendien houdt ze rekening met - en loopt ze soms zelfs vooruit op - bepaalde voorstellen voor richtlijnen (betreffende financiële markten en diensten) en met de meest recente rechtspraak, voornamelijk die van het Europees Hof van Justitie. Structurele veranderingen tijdens de voorbije jaren als gevolg van concentratiebewegingen, maar ook de opkomst van nieuwe onderhandelingsplatforms en de duidelijke evolutie van technische mogelijkheden inzake transacties hebben een grote invloed uitgeoefend op de aandelenmarkten. In het buitenland werden de laatste jaren tevens gekenmerkt door overwegingen op verschillende vlakken en door hervormingen om de controlestructuren van de markten, soms aanzienlijk, uit te breiden. De Europese en internationale context heeft uiteraard gevolgen voor de institutionele architectuur die de markten en financiële instellingen in België controleert. Het hervormingsproject is gebaseerd op vier belangrijke punten, voorgesteld in chronologische volgorde van optreden van de regulator, en betreft kredietinstellingen, investeringsmaatschappijen en de sectoren van overdraagbare effecten: -

reorganisatie van de bevoegdheden tussen de overheid belast met de verschillende aspecten van marktcontrole en de verschillende financiële dienstverleners.

25


Pagina 26

Na de toekenning van het privaatrechtelijk statuut aan de Brusselse Beurs, duidelijk geïmplementeerd in de "Euronext Law", zal de Regering het huidige systeem van wettelijke of statutaire marktoprichting vervangen door een goedkeurings- en controlesysteem (op advies van een onafhankelijke overheid, de CBF) voor elke marktonderneming die in België gevestigd is en één of verschillende gereguleerde markten in het leven wil roepen. Anderzijds, overeenkomstig dezelfde logica inzake marktcontrole, dient de naleving van reglementeringen van openbare orde te worden toevertrouwd aan een extern controleplatform, dat onafhankelijk staat van de betrokken markt. Vanuit hetzelfde standpunt beoogt het wetsvoorstel de herdefiniëring van de regels die worden toegepast voor transacties met financiële middelen, de eraan verbonden gedragsregels en de misbruiken aangaande dominante marktposities. -

Veranderingen in de beslissingsmethode en een gepast beheer van de belangenconflicten binnen de CBF. Beroep tegen CBF-beslissingen. Institutionele verbinding tussen de beleidscontrole-eenheid/eenheden en het beheer van de centrale bank en de human resources. De institutionele verbinding van bankcontrole-eenheden met de nationale bank is een systeem dat in Europa veelvuldig wordt aangewend en is het meest verspreide systeem in vele lidstaten betrokken bij de Economische en Monetaire Unie. Er zijn slechts twee lidstaten van de eurozone waar de nationale bank niet rechtstreeks en operationeel betrokken is bij de bankcontrole. In de andere landen van de eurozone houden de centrale banken zich ruim of zelfs exclusief bezig met beleidscontroletaken.

Vanuit institutioneel standpunt werd er in verschillende wettelijke wijzigingen voorzien om te komen tot een architectuur die efficiënt kan evolueren overeenkomstig de bereikte resultaten op het vlak van beleidscontrole en financiële markten in de Europese Unie.

2. Marktontwikkelingen a. Ontwikkelingen in de marktinfrastructuur : Euronext Brussel De integratie van de beurzen van Brussel, Parijs en Amsterdam in Euronext werd vervolgd. In juni werd een overeenkomst gesloten tussen Euronext en de beurs van Lissabon om zo hun activiteiten beter op elkaar af te stemmen. Sinds eind oktober worden de noteringen via een algemeen systeem georganiseerd. Volgens een studie, uitgevoerd in 2000 door Institutional Investor magazine, zijn de transactiekosten van de Euronext-partners bij de laagste : Parijs is tweede na de beurs van New York, terwijl België en Nederland respectievelijk op de 4de en de 6de plaats staan. Blijvende integratie en het gebruik van een algemeen computersysteem zouden moeten leiden tot verdere kostenvermindering. Voor wat controle en toezicht betreft, zijn de drie financiële autoriteiten overeengekomen om hun respectievelijke bevoegdheden te coördineren. De overeenkomst betreft enerzijds de reglementering en het toezicht van door Euronext beheerde markten en anderzijds het toezicht over de clearingactiviteiten. Euronext heeft recentelijk een participatie van 51% genomen op de LIFFE-beurs van Londen. Op hetzelfde vlak moet worden vermeld dat de Easdaq-activiteiten nu worden uitgevoerd door de Nasdaq in een vernieuwde structuur met de naam Nasdaq Europe.

26


Pagina 27

b. Herstructurering van de sector banken/verzekeringen Het consolidatieproces binnen de Belgische banksector won aan belang tijdens de tweede helft van de jaren ’90. Alle belangrijke banken waren betrokken en deze fusie en verwerving vond niet enkel plaats tussen Belgische banken maar was ook grens- en sectoroverschrijdend. Als gevolg daarvan is de concentratiegraad, zoals geïllustreerd in tabel 9 bij de Herfindahlindex en het marktaandeel van de vijf grootste instellingen, de laatste zes jaar sterk gestegen. Er wordt verwacht dat de concentratiegraad nog meer zal stijgen in de komende maanden wanneer de fusie tussen Dexia en Artesia Banking Corporation een feit wordt. Over deze fusie werd in maart 2001 een akkoord gesloten, net op het moment dat het tempo van de nationale fusies en verwervingen zou verminderen. Dit is een operatie op grote schaal waarbij, berekend volgens hun totale balans, respectievelijk de derde en vijfde grootste banken betrokken zijn. De nieuwe groep zal de tweede plaats innemen in de sector van banken en verzekeringen. Deze operatie bezit alle eigenschappen van de hedendaagse concentratiegolf : verscheidenheid van bedrijfstakken, van banken tot verzekeringen (oprichting van banken&verzekeringen-groepen) en stijging van het aantal cliënten. Nadat er enige tijd werd besteed aan een succesvolle implementatie van deze fusies, kan men voorzien dat er een volgende concentratiegolf kan plaatsvinden, ditmaal op Europees niveau. In deze context hebben de Belgische banken zich in een voordelige positie geplaatst; vele onder hen hadden al supranationale eigenschappen. Tabel 9 : consolidatie in de Belgische banksector (situatie aan het einde van het jaar, tenzij anders vermeld) 1992

1995

1998

2000

Juni 2001

Juni 20018

578 791 835

637 893 800

909 1146 962

1506 1572 1393

1579 1664 1466

1739 1743 1546

49,0 57,4 60,1

51,2 62,6 58,8

63,0 73,3 65,9

75,1 77,0 72,5

77,1 77,0 73,6

79,0 79,2 76,4

9

Herfindahl index

Totale balans Schuldvorderingen op de klanten Verbintenissen t.o.v. klanten Marktaandeel van de vijf grote instellingen Totale balans Schuldvorderingen op de klanten Vorderingen van klanten

e. Maximumrentevoet op overdispositie In 2001 werd een nieuwe wet gestemd die een maximum rentevoet voor overdispositie vastlegt op een universele rekening. Dit plafond staat in verband met de rentevoet op kredietlijnen tot en met 50.000 BEF (1.239 euro) en heeft een onbepaalde vervaldatum. Waar het maximum toegelaten debet is overschreden, beperkt de wet de boete tot 10% van de rentevoet.

8

Rekening houdend met de fusie tussen Dexia en Artesia BC (aangekondigd in maart 2001 maar nog niet effectief).

9

De Herfindahl-index komt overeen met de som van de vierkantswortels van de marktaandelen uitgedrukt in percentages van elke kredietinstelling. De index kan dus theoretisch variëren tussen 0 en 10.000.

27


Pagina 28

ANNEX 1: POLICIES TO PROTECT AND IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT. I.

Climate Change

A.

THE POLICY INSTRUMENTS

A.

NATIONAL CO2 PROGRAMME OF 1994

At the Federal level the first key document in order to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions was the National CO2 Programme of 1994. This programme included many diferent kinds of instrument : direct regulation (command and control), fiscal measures (taxes and subsidies), instruments of communication (education and information) and voluntary agreements. The extend to which the different measures have been implemented varies. Tabel 3 sums up the 14 sets of measures and gives an indication of their degree of implementation. For every measure corresponds the use of a policy instrument. This is indicated in the last column of the tabel. The instruments are not always clearly specified in the National Programme.

TABEL 1 The 14 set of measures in the National Programme for the reduction of CO2emissions (1994) Technical file

Measures to be taken by the federal government

Realisa tion

Energy: residential and tertiary sector 1.Better heat insulation in new buildings

Instrument TABEL 1 -

•

(only regional competence)

2.Greater use of natural gas, more performant heating • Negotiate with natural gas distribution companies to give a and warm water installations permanent status to premiums on their use. • Negotiations in the EU framework for EU legislation warm water installations. 3. Promotion of high performance household and • Negotiations in the framework of the EU for labelling of lighting equipment household appliances. • Negotiations for a sectoral agreement for the distribution of high performance lamps. 4.Discourage use of direct electrical heating • Negotiations for a sectoral agreement in which a prohibition is equipment set for publicity for the promotion of electrical heating appliances

none

Fiscal

busy

Command & Control (C&C) Communicative (Com) Voluntary agreement (VA) VA

busy none none

Transport 5.Company mobility plans

•

• 6.reduced access to the city centre for private vehicles • 7.Other measures in favour of public transport • 8.Reduction of road transport of goods

• •

9.Fiscal policy for transport

•

Construction of a legal basis needed for making transport plans busy compulsory to companies. Organisation of a round table. none Intensification of the fight against illicite parking. none Special attention for the enhancement of the use of public city busy transport. Organisation of consultations to enhance combined transport. busy Negotiations on EU level for harmonising taxes on road transport. busy Review of the system for determining a tax on the introduction none of a new vehicle on the road and road taxes so they become more

C&C

C&C ? Com Fiscal Fiscal

28


10.Greater control on speed limits

Pagina 29

• •

proportionate to the use of the car. Development of a policy for moduling speed limit regulations. busy More control, especially for lorry traffic. busy

C&C C&C

29


Pagina 30

Energy: industry 11.Possibilities of audits and energy accounting

•

(regional competence, except for the production of electricity, see file 13)

Energy: electricity 12.Promotion of renewable energy 13.Plan for electrical equipment 14.Promotion of Combined Heat and Power

B.

• • •

Commitments for promoting renewable energy Negotiations of a sectoral agreement between producers. foresee conditions for enhancement of combined heat and power: -Establishment of an independent organ for promotion of combined heat and power. -Definition of technical, economical and financial standards and of costs for connection to the grid.

busy none

Fiscal VA

none

Regulatory C&C

busy

THE FIRST FEDERAL PLAN ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Federal sustainable development plan has been adopted by the Government in July 2000. Energy consumption of households is set to be reduced by 7,5% in 2010 under the 1990 level. More generally, energy consumption is set to be reduced by the same amount. However, this figure can change after technological and economic assessment has been made. Targets are set for increasing the use of renewable energies above 2% by 2010. In the transport sector, an indicative target was set of a reduction of emissions in 2010 of 5% below the 1990 levels. All these targets are indicative and will be qualified with due consideration of associated costs. The plan foresees that measures in the future National Climate Plan should be based on the results from technico-economic energy models and other research results financed by the Federal office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural affairs. This would mean that measures would be chosen according to their costeffectiveness. The introduction of a unilateral CO2/energy tax is however conditional upon the safeguard of the competitive position of certain exposed energy-intensive sectors. The construction of a legal and institutional framework for use of the Kyoto mechanisms is also foreseen. The Plan also provides for reductions in the favourable VAT treatment of CO2-intensive energy sources (such as coal). Minimum quota for renewable electricity production are proposed too. These should amount to 3% by the year 2004. This would be combined with the introduction of a system of green certicifates. In the transport sector, the Plan foresees shifting the tax burden from the posession of cars to their use. Fiscal measures should also stimulate the use of LPG vehicles and discourage high consumption vehicles. The fees that retired people, children (up to 12 years old) and handicapped people could pay for the use of the public transport system could be reduced. b.bis The second Flemish Environmental Policy Plan (1997-2002 )

The Second Flemish Environmental Policy Plan includes a large range of measures to lower energy consumption and consequently to lessen emissions of carbon dioxide. A Flemish Institution for Rational Use of Energy (VIREG) was created. Measures were taken to support electricity production from renewable sources. Methane emissions from gas leaks are also dealt with, greenhouse gases from agricultural activities are tackled by the Fertiliser Action Plan as part of the Environmental Policy Plan. The monitoring of the use of CFCs and further actions aiming at a total ban on the use of these

30


Pagina 31

products were taken. An action plan regarding methane originating from waste dumps was implemented. The Second Flemish Environmental Policy Plan also organises the coordination among the various sector oriented policies and other plans such as transportation plans, energy plans as far as environmental issues are concerned. It also organises the cooperation between different concerned authorities at regional and local level with regard to environmental issues. C.

THE FORTHCOMING NATIONAL CLIMATE PLAN

In the context of the Kyoto Protocol, the main policy objective in the new plan will be for Belgium to respect it’s part of the European burden sharing agreement. This agreement sets the emission reduction target for a set of 6 greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFC, PFC, SF6) to 7.5% below the level of 1990 during the commitment period of 2008-2012. The forthcoming National climate plan should make an enhanced use of market based instruments. This will most likely imply using the instrument of international emissions trading for achieving part of the national emission reduction target. Construction of a national legal and institutional framework for sectoral emissions trading is also possible. The regions favour the use of voluntary agreements for certain key sectors. The federal government proposed the introduction of a national energy tax if no agreement can be reached at the EU level. However this introduction should be combined with a parallel reduction of labour costs in order to create a shift of taxation on labor onto taxation on energy. A number of regulatory and communicative measures would be necessary to enhance the performance of the economic instruments. It is nevertheless too early to make any definite suggestions on the contents of this plan. c.bis

The Regional Climate Plan

As from 2001 the Flemish government started to give clear guidance towards a regional climate change policy. In a first phase Flanders commits itself to a stabilisation of the total CO2-equivalent emissions in the year 2005 compared with the 1990 baseline. This means a reduction of 10% in comparison with the year 2000, 9% compared with 1999 and 8% compared with 1998. The Flemish government decided that a cost-effective emission reduction policy in Belgium implies the need for a burden sharing agreement between the Belgian regions. A first measure was the immediate creation of the taskforce “climate policy for Flanders“. This taskforce will create a Flemish Climate Plan and pursue a pro-active and integral climate policy. The taskforce “climate policy for Flanders “ enables a total, co-ordinated and co-operative approach of all the concerned administrations and institutions in Flanders. This integration will lead to a Flemish climate plan. The plan will be completed in the spring of 2002. The Flemish administration for environmental, natural, land and water management and the department for energy and natural resources are responsible for the coordination of the climate plan. In July 2001, a climate action plan has been adopted by the Walloon Government. In strict conformity to the national target, the region has decided to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to 7.5% below the level of 1990 during the commitment period of 2008-2012. Audits have been already launched at

31


Pagina 32

industrial level in order to identify the investments needed to reduce emissions especially from large companies.

32


D.

Pagina 33

MEASURES INFLUENCING BEHAVIOUR THROUGH THE PRICE MECHANISM

In what follows, we analyse in more depth what market-based measures have been taken on the Federal level since 1994. -

The levy on energy

The law of 22.07.1993 installed a levy on energy. It came into force on August 1st, 1993. The rate of the levy is calculated according to the principle of equal taxation per energy unit in proportion to the calorific value and in relation to the taxation level for heating oil. The products subject to the levy and the rates to be applied are indicated in tabel 2.. Industrial and commercial consumers were exempt from the tax, as well as low income households eligible for preferential energy prices. TABEL 2 -

Levy rates for different energy vectors (law of 22.07.1993) Product Motor fuels - leaded and unleaded petrol - kerosene used as motor fuel - Gas-oil used as motor fuel - Liquid Petroleum gas used as motor fuel - Others Fuels for heating purposes - Heating gas-oil for domestic use - Paraffin oil used for heating purposes - Heavy fuel oil Natural gas - tariffs for domestic and thereto assimilated use - tariffs for non-domestic uses ND1 and ND2 and tariffs for Associated Authorities - tariffs for non-domestic use ND3 Liquid petroleum gas - butane - propane Coal Others Electricity - Low voltage tariff - High voltage tariff

Unit

Rate

1000 litre at 15°C 1000 litre at 15°C

550 BEF 550 BEF 0 BEF 0 BEF 0 BEF

1000 litre 1000 litre

340 BEF 520 BEF 0 BEF

1 megajoule

0,01367 BEF

1 megajoule

0,01367 BEF

1000 kg

690 BEF

1000 kg 1000 kg

690 BEF 700 BEF 0 BEF 0 BEF

1 MWh

55 BEF 0 BEF

From: Pittevils (1998): “Measures integrating environmental objectives in federal tax policies in Belgium”, Federal Ministery of Finance

33


Pagina 34

Income taxes The law of 10 august 2001 which reformed the personal income tax system included several tax provisions to make the use of cars less attractive and the use of the others means of transport, in particular public and collective transport, more attractive.

Since 1993, professional expenses in connection with the use of cars, with the exception of fuels, are in principle, only deductible up to 75%. The deduction for commuting expenses by car was limited to 0,15 euro/km. The new law intends to discourage the use of cars for professional reasons. From the 2001 incomes, all means of transport, including by foot, are concerned by the deduction for commuting expenses. The fiscal deduction is fixed at 0,15 euro/km, whatever the means of transport used, even if the effective costs are not so high. A maximum distance of 50 km (round trip) is set. This distance might be increased, within the limit of the budget allocated to this measure (62.5 millions of euros). Moreover, by the law of 10 July 2001, the part of the commuting costs by public transport paid by the employer is now totally free of tax. Finally we can recall that, for a long time, the taxation of the private use of company cars is determined according to the fiscal power of the car. The rates start at BEF 5,94 per km driven for a car of 4 HP (horse power) or less, up to BEF 16,29 for cars of 19 HP and more. Since 1993, the annual private use of a company car is deemed to be no less than 5.000 km. On the company side, from the 2001 incomes too, a 100% exemption is granted for the costs (investments and other expenses) of firms organising collective transport for their employees. Other taxes

Some fiscal measures favourable to environment and especially to air quality will come into force in 2002 : •

Tax on the entry into service: in order to encourage the use of less polluting vehicles, up to 2005, the tax paid by purchasing a new car will be reduced for vehicles running on LPG and cars satisfying European standard Euro 4. In the same time the registration tax on the most polluting second hand cars will be increased.

•

Annual road tax : will be modulated according to polluting emissions.

•

Eurosticker : As a contribution to the harmonisation of the taxation of road transport at the European level, the Eurosticker was introduced on January 1, 1995. This tax is levied as a duty for the use of the road network by heavy vehicles intended of the transport of goods. In 2001 a new law introduced a modulation of the Eurosticker according to polluting emissions.

Investment allowances for environmentally friendly investments

For a long time, investment allowance enables an enterprise to deduct from its tax base part of the cost of energy saving investments. The deduction amounts to 13,5% of the cost incurred.

34


Pagina 35

Recently, the above-mentioned tax reform introduced tax cuts for energy saving works done in a house. For the replacement of old boilers and the installation of solar water heating or photovoltaic cells, the tax cut amounts to 15% of the expense. In the case of double glazing, roof isolation, thermostats and energy audits, the tax cut is 40%. The maximum tax cut has been initially fixed at 1.000 euros per house, but this amount could be increased if the available budget (BEF 1 bn) is not used up. This measure will not come into force before tax year 2004. Promotion of “green electricity” and energy efficiency in the framework of the liberalisation of the electricity market The Federal Law on the organisation of the electricity market (law of 29.04.1999) contains several articles in support of the regional policies on the rational use of energy (RUE). The Federal Government will take measures to guarantee minimum prices for electricity from renewable energy sources. It will also supports the regions in the elaboration of a system of green certificates. Electricity suppliers would have to cover 3% minimum of their supply with these certificates. Combined heat and power (CHP) is stimulated through favourable tax rates on natural gas. Small clients with an efficient CHP installation get a rebate of 0,4956 euros/GJ of natural gas, while the larger clients (consumption > 33500 GJ/year) get a rebate of 0,2131 euros/GJ. The company Distrigas, which owns the gas distribution network, gets financial support for financing CHP installations. A budget is foreseen of 9,9157 Million euros over a 5 year period. From 1995 onwards, a financial support of 0,025 euros/KWh is given to the production of renewable electricity put on the grid. This amount was increased with another 0,025 euro/KWh in 1998 for wind energy and hydropower. The effect of this measure will be assessed in 2003.

B. Environmental and fiscal impacts of the policy instruments Excise duties on motor fuels have also risen over the last couple of years. These were also intended to generate extra revenue and had little effect on total emissions. Differentiated excise duties were applied to leaded and unleaded petrol. This resulted in a shift from 1989 to 1996 in the share of unleaded petrol in the total consumption increased from 13% to over 75%. After that period, leaded petrol was slowly phased out. The price differentiation was a measure targeted to reduce air lead concentrations. The use of catalytic converters, however, increased emissions of N2O. Between 1990 and 2012, in a BaU scenario emissions of N2O are estimated to increase by 54%. A large portion of this increase comes from road traffic. Estimates of Tabel 3 shows the evolution in the level of excise duties for motor fuels.

35


TABEL 3 -

Pagina 36

Evolution in taxes on energy products

Date Leaded Petrol (in BEF/ 1.000 litres) before 01.01.1993 01.01.1993 30.12.1996 Unleaded petrol (in BEF/ 1.000 litres) before 01.01.1993 01.01.1993 30.12.1996 Kerosene used as motor fuel (BEF/1.000 l) before 01.01.1993 01.01.1993 30.12.1996 Gasoil used as motor fuel (BEF/1.000 litres) before 01.01.1993 01.01.1993 01.12.1993

Excise

Special excise

Total

8.960 11.900 11.900

9.190 6.250 10.360

18.150 18.150 22.260

8.960 9.900 9.900

6.240 5.300 10.010

15.200 15.200 19.910

8.960 11.900 11.900

9.190 6.250 10.360

18.150 18.150 22.260

4.300 8.000 8.000

7.000 3.300 3.700

11.300 11.300 11.700

From: Pittevils (1998): “Measures integrating environmental objectives in federal tax policies in Belgium”, Federal Ministery of Finance

C. Impacts of other policies on the achievement of the policy objectives As we have seen, the price diffrentiation that is maintained between leaded and unleaded petrol resulted in increased emissions of N2O. This cas be seen as a negative spillover of a policy aimed at reducing ambient lead levels on the climate objectives. Another example of a possible spillover is the planned phase-out of nuclear energy. The Council of Ministers decided that nuclear plants would be closed down after 40 years of useful life. The first reactors are due to close by 2014. If these plants are replaced by plants running on fossile fuels, one can expect severe negative spillovers on the achievement of the climate policy objectives for the second and subsequent commitment periods. To prevent this from happening, the phase-out should be accompanied by sufficient demand side management measures and investments in renewable energy sources. The second Federal Report on Sustainable Development will appear by the end of 2002. In this report, the Task Force on Sustainable Development of te Federal Planning Bureau will look for links between policy areas. Several positive and negative spillovers will become apparent from this analysis.

36


Pagina 37

II. WATER QUALITY AND WATER SCARCITY Existing measures at federal and regional levels Wallonia

• • •

Brussels Region

•

Flanders

• • • • •

III.

Tax on industrial waste water disposal (360 BEF/unit of pollutant load) and on household waste water disposal (16 BEF/m3 and soon 22 BEF/m3) Tax on groundwater withdrawal (3BEF/m3) Setting up of a public company for water management (purification department, protection of catchments) Tax on the disposal of non-household waste water (concerns the enterprises employing more than 7 people, tax according to pollutant load and volume of waste water. If the pollutant load happens to exceed 20.000.000 pollutant units, analyses are to be carried out in approved labs) ; Household waste (14F/m3) Levy on industrial waste water disposal and on household waste water disposal (1.016 BEF/unit of pollutant load for tax year 2000) Levy on groundwater withdrawal (Tax for withdrawal > 500 m; Tax depends on the activity where the groundwater will be used for tax year 2000) Multi-annual programmes for waste water treatment of supra-municipal infrastructure Municipal subsidy programmes (75% for the construction of separate sewerage systems)

Solid waste and recycling

Existing measures at federal and regional levels Wallonia

• • •

Brussels Region

• • • • • •

Flanders

• •

• • • • •

Adoption in 1998 of a waste plan for 2010 for the avoidance, recoveringrecycling of waste and rational waste disposal Setting up of a follow-up committee for the waste avoidance and management Flat-rate fee on household waste (1000 BEF/household) and differentiated taxes on other types of waste No waste dumping or waste incinerating taxes Subsidies to Terre and ‘Les petits riens’ for collecting textile and leatherwear Subsidies to communities that plan establishing container parks Fost-Plus contribution (‘Green Dot’) for packaging Recupel contribution for electric and electronic appliances Although those contributions are collected by private organizations, they can be considered as a kind of waste collection and waste treatment tax Taxes on landfilling and incineration of waste Environmental agreement: subsidies to communities that take measures for prevention of municipal waste (sensibilisation actions ), reuse of consumer goods (reuse centres), selective collection (paper, glass, textile,…) and for a successfull exploitation of container parks Subsidies to communities for the building of container parks Fost-Plus and Val-I-Pac contribution for packaging Recupel contribution for electric and electronic appliances Bebat contribution for small batteries Subsidies to associations and companies that take measures for the prevention of waste and emissions (PRESTI)

37


IV.

Pagina 38

Others

Existing measures at federal and regional levels Wallonia

Brussels Region

Flanders

•

Introduction of an environmental licence including all environmental aspects (operating licences, licences for waste water disposal and water catchments, waste, explosives,...) • R&D programme "Clean technologies” • Subsidy for environment-renewable energy investments • Public aid for job creation within the framework of environmental projects in enterprises • Public aid for training in enterprises Legal initiatives and instruments for the enterprises and the environment • The environmental licence is an administrative authorization that contains the technical requirements the licensee has to respect in all environmental fields. • The Brussels Region grants its own label “ecodynamic enterprise” . The aim is to encourage the enterprises from Brussels to launch, on a voluntary basis, a citizen move, a springboard for the norms such as EMAS or ISO 14000 • A department of the Brussels Environment Administration publishes brochures, folders, periodicals and information on the web to inform the enterprises and make them aware of the environmental problems. • ECOBRU window: direct aid to enterprises asking for administrative or technical support in order to improve the environment. • Department Economic Expansion: grants subsidies to enterprises using technologies that make it possible to surpass the requirements of the environmental norms. • For the follow-up of the actions and environmental performances in the region, see : http://www.ibgebim.be/obs/ODE/default.htm • Communities, non-commercial organizations and some branches of industry can be granted subsidies for doing energy audits and for taking energy-saving measures. • Subsides are also granted to demonstration projects on innovating technologies. • Subsidies are also granted to persons/families of the Brussels Region for installing solar boilers. •

Introduction of an integrated environmental licence including water quality, air, waste treatment (reuse, recycling, recovery, disposal) • R&D programme "Clean technologies” • Information by brochures, folders, periodicals and information on the web to inform enterprises and make them aware of the environmental problems • STIP: direct aid and support in order to stimulate prevention of waste related issues (http://www.stip.ovam.be) • For the follow-up of the actions and environmental performances in the region, See: http://www.ovam.be and http://www.milieuwinst.be Support to enterprises • Economic support for investment protecting the environment and investment saving energy • Positive discrimination for SMEs

38

Cardiff-verslag 2001 - 28/01/02 •

Pagina 39

Technological advises regarding investment protecting environment

39


Pagina 40

ANNEX 2: REFORMS OF NETWORK UTILITIES I.

ELECTRIC UTILITIES

1. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 1.1

Access conditions to the market

1.1.1 State of the legislative process At the federal level, Belgium has implemented the EU electricity Directive through primary legislation the 29 April 1999 (1999 Electricity Law). However, full implementation is not completed yet. Until October 2001, Belgium had still failed to adopt a major decree concerning the nomination of the Transmission Grid Operator. In connection with that situation, the European Commission has reported the Belgian government to the European Court of Justice on September 26, 2001, for failing to enforce the creation of an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO). Following the launching of these legal proceedings, the Belgian government has nominated the TSO on October 8, 2001 so that Belgium is now in a position to complete the implementation of the EU electricity Directive. Nevertheless, since the 1999 Electricity Law was implemented, the federal regulator has begun to work and the following major decrees of application were adopted: • The Royal Decree of October 11, 2000 accelerating the pace of the opening-up of the electricity market (new eligibility criteria) • The Royal Decrees of October 11, 2000 relative to the authorisation procedure for the construction of new generation capacity and new direct transmission lines; • The Royal Decree of April 4, 2001 setting the general tariff structure and the basic principles and procedures as regard to transport tariffs; • The Royal Decree of June 27, 2001 establishing the technical rules for the management of the electricity transport network On July 16, 2001, a new Law has been adopted completing and amending some provisions of the 1999 Electricity Law. At the regional level10, the Decrees relating to the organisation of the electricity market were approved on July 17, 2000 for the Flemish region and on April 12, 2001 for the Walloon region. As to the region of Brussels-Capital, the Council of Brussels-Capital approved the ordinance on the liberalisation of the electricity market on July 13, 2001. The federal Law focuses on those aspects of the EU Directive that are of federal competence (i.e. production and transport (> 70kV) of electricity, tariffs, long term planning and competition issues). The regional Decrees deal essentially with electricity distribution (≤ 70 kV), and the promotion of sustainable energy.

10

The three regions in Belgium are also involved in the energy markets, they are responsible for electricity and natural gas distribution, and for the promotion of renewables and the rational use of energy

40


Pagina 41

1.1.2. Access to the network According to present legislative provisions, all consumers of more than 20 GWh per year have the choice of their electricity supplier since December 31, 2000; this represents a market opening of 45%. The eligibility criteria will then be reduced to 10 GWh from December 31, 2002 on, leading to a market opening of 50%. Finally, all consumers will have the freedom of choice as of 1st January 2007. The Belgian Electricity Law creates a regulated access to the electricity transmission network: eligible customers have the right to access the network at approved and published tariffs. For electricity transits and the internal transport of large volumes, a negotiated access is applied. According to the regulated TPA11system, the TSO shall submit for approval to the independent regulator (CREG) its network access tariffs. Waiting for the nomination of the independent TSO, Elia, the previous grid operator has published the main commercial conditions for providing access to its network to eligible consumers. The Regions have also fixed their own calendars for the opening-up of the electricity distribution market, i.e. for the access to the electricity network with a tension lower than or equal to 70 kV: • The Flemish Decree specifies that all end-users with a consumption of more than 20 GWh are immediately eligible; all end-users with an annual consumption above 1 GWh will become eligible as of January 1, 2002; all high tension users, eligible as of January 1, 2003. Finally all end-users inclusive households will have free choice as of July 1, 2003. • The Walloon Decree indicates also that all end-users with a consumption of more than 20 GWh are immediately eligible, including the auto-producers of electricity; the users of green electricity are also immediately eligible. The other eligibility thresholds will be determined later, further to the advice of the Walloon regulator. However, end-users with an annual consumption above 10 GWh will be eligible on December 31, 2002 at the latest while high tension users will be eligible on December 31, 2004 at the latest.. • As to the region of Brussels-Capital, the pace of the opening-up of the electricity market is close to the one of Wallonia. It is worth pointing out that, at present, the regional eligibility thresholds are not completely consistent with the federal ones and that the pace of liberalisation is faster in the regions than at the federal level. 1.1.3. Unbundling The federal Electricity Law foresees the legal unbundling of the management of the transport grid and production and sales activities in order to ensure non-discrimination between different network users, and especially to prevent favourable treatment being offered by the TSO to the generation and sales’ business in its own group. Up till now, Belgium has not yet translated the legal unbundling into legal terms. Since the nomination of the independent transport operator, ELIA, on October 8, 2001, the legal process in under way. The future independent transmission transport network operator will be owned for 30% by the municipalities (PubliT) and 30% by Electrabel/SPE, the remaining 40% will be hold at first by Electrabel and then sold on the stock exchange within two years.

11

Third Party Access

41


Pagina 42

Similarly, the regions have chosen to legally separate the management of the distribution grid and production and sales activities. Further to the executive decision of the Flemish government of 15 June 2001, the existing electricity distribution companies (the so-called “intercommunales12”) have to be split into two separate entities: the distribution system operator, responsible for the maintenance, the exploitation and the development of the distribution network on the one hand, and sales companies for the supply of electricity to the eligible consumers connected to the distribution grid on the other hand. Moreover, the independence of the distribution grid operator should be ensured by the obligation for electricity producers and suppliers to own no more than 30% of the capital of the grid operator. In Wallonia, the Electricity Decree of 12 April 2001 creates also distribution network operators in which public authorities (i.e. municipalities, provinces) should own the majority of the capital. In order to comply with the required separation of transport and sales activities, four pure inter-municipal distribution companies have created a commercial company ALE-Trading responsible for electricity production and sales. 1.1.4. Independent regulator Belgium has four autonomous bodies in charge of the regulation and control of the energy markets (gas and electricity): • Three independent regulators for the liberalised part of the energy markets (one at the federal level and two at the regional level); • The formerly Electricity and Gas Control Committee for the captive segments of the markets. At the federal level, an independent Regulatory Commission for Gas and Electricity, the CREG, has been established in January 2000. The board of Directors includes two electricity Directorates (one for technical and market organisational questions and one for price and accounting control) as well as two gas directorates. The CREG has both an advisory, monitoring and controlling role. It will approve the main commercial conditions, establish an indicative plan of power production means for the next ten years (or an indicative plan for natural gas supply), control the application of rules regarding refusal of access and is also the dispute settlement authority. As soon as the required implementing decrees are adopted, the CREG will approve regulated tariffs and will propose to the Minister of Energy to grant supply licenses. The Ministry of Energy will be the authority proposing transport licences after advice from the CREG. In the Flemish and Walloon Regions, independent regulators were also set up with similar functions: the VREG (Vlaamse Reguleringinstantie voor de Elektriciteits- en Gasmarkt) in Flanders, and the CWaPE (Commission Wallonne Pour l’Energie) in Wallonia. The VREG should be operational soon. The VREG will also be responsible for the management of an Energy fund for the promotion of the rational use of energy besides the renewables energy fund. Similarly, the CwaPE will be set up before the end of 2001; indeed, according to the Walloon Electricity Decree, the president and directors of the CWaPE should be appointed within six months after the entry into force of the electricity Decree. On the other hand, the region of Brussels-capital will not have its own independent regulator. The energy department of the Brussels Institute for the Environment (BIM/IBGE) will fulfil the tasks devoted to the regulator. 12

"Intercommunales" are legal entities that are created by town councils. In this way, they are cooperation between towns in the areas of electricity, gas, water distribution, etc. Some of them are purely public, others are mixed, including also private companies.

42


Pagina 43

2. PROGRESS IN MARKET OPENING The liberalisation process has led to first changes in the electricity market structure. First of all, the two main incumbents, Electrabel and SPE, which supplied 96% of the Belgian electricity market, have lost several large consumers, representing at least 3% of the total market or 10% of the eligible market. The new entrants are German power utilities and energy trading companies. The option chosen by the major entrant is to generate electricity close to the demand area (located principally near the port of Antwerp). Waiting for the construction of the new generation plants (combined-cycle gas turbines), electricity is currently imported from Germany. Moreover, Wingas, a major German gas utility company, will supply the natural gas that will be consumed in these new plants. The strategy of new entrants to produce the electricity assigned to their consumers on the Belgian territory can be explained by the rather limited available Belgian import capacities and by the absence of a wholesale electricity market in Belgium. Such wholesale markets exist nevertheless in other European countries (i.e. the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, etc.). Recent initiatives and projects were brought into light to improve the current situation: 1. Four Transmission System Operators13 decided to auction the available capacity14 between the Belgian-Dutch border and the Dutch-German border. This auction service has the advantage to provide a transparent method for dividing the cross-border electricity transfer capacity and facilitate the emergence of new market players in these countries. Capacity is allocated for three different time horizons (daily, monthly and yearly). 2. ELIA and the French TSO have started discussions for the set-up of a similar auction system at the French-Belgian border. So far, the capacity is allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis with prioritisation of long-term contracts from the pre-liberalisation era. 3. ELIA intends to create a trading hub in Belgium. In the future, this wholesale trading system would merge with the Amsterdam Power Exchange (APX); the resulting market that would be equivalent to the Spanish electricity market will increase the market liquidity, improve price transparency and facilitate access to new market players. At present, the Belgian electric utilities, Electrabel and SPE, own 96% of the electricity production capacities in Belgium, and autonomous producers slightly more than 1%15. This structure of electricity production will change with the emergence of foreign electric utilities building independent generation plants on the Belgian territory (400 to 600 MW) but also with the emergence of autonomous electricity producers. For instance, one Belgian distribution company and one international oil company plan to construct offshore wind turbines in the North Sea, totalling 200 MW; this would result in a doubling of the share of autonomous producers in the total generation capacity. Another change in the electricity market structure that can be attributed to the liberalisation process is the increase of electricity imports in the electricity supply portfolio of the main incumbent (+29% in 2000 compared to 1999). This increase is to be related to intense competition requiring price cuts in electricity supply prices. Additional electricity imports (essentially from France) aimed to compensate, at least partially, the increase in natural gas prices16.

13

The four TSOs are the Belgian ELIA, the present grid operator,, the Dutch TenneT and RWE Net and E.on Netz from Germany. 14 I.e. the overall import/export capacity reduced by the volume of long-term contracts from the pre-liberalised era 15 The remaining percentage relates to auto-producers 16 About one fourth of total electricity production is produced from gas-fired plants

43


Pagina 44

At the distribution level, initiatives have also been taken in Flanders in view of the approaching eligibility of all Flemish consumers (1st July 2003). In May 2001, five pure Flemish inter-municipal distribution companies (IVEG, PBE, VEM, WVEM and Interelectra) have transferred their electricity and gas sales activities into a new commercial company, Luminus N.V.. The consortium covers some 12% of electricity sales to the public distribution. But the majority of the distribution companies, in particular the mixed inter-municipal companies representing some 80% of electricity sales to the public distribution, are linked to Electrabel through longterm supply contracts (2007-2011). It is not clear if and how the exclusivity will be removed according to the acceleration of the liberalisation process. Entry by acquisition is another route into the Belgian electricity market. Recently, the French state-owned power company, Electricité de France, took a share of 10% in SPE, the Belgian public electricity producer, and Centrica plc, a UK based energy trading company, has bought 50% of the share of Luminus N.V..

3. QUALITATIVE ASPECT OF THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS The rather limited import/export capacities with the neighbouring countries (France and the Netherlands17) may constitute a brake to the liberalisation process in Belgium as explained in section 2. The federal and regional Electricity laws include provisions for the protection of the environment (promotion of renewable power production technologies, rational use of electricity), the protection of consumers with low levels of income and the security of electricity supply (the so-called Public Service Obligations). One major provision in the regional decrees concerns the creation of green certificates18 to develop further the supply of “green” electricity. According to this system, increasing shares of electricity sales by electricity suppliers (i.e. the distribution companies) should be produced from renewable energies (or in combined heat and power plants in Wallonia). Electricity suppliers who will fail meeting the target will pay penalties that will feed the regional energy funds. In this perspective, inter-municipal distribution companies have already constructed several “green” power plants (mainly wind turbines) in order to comply with the above system. As the second is concerned, an enlargement of the social tariff has been decided at federal level for lowincome consumers as well as a progressive elimination of fixed fees for households. At regional levels, policies are developed in order to ensure minimum supply to households. The security of supply is to be reached by a growing liquidity of the liberalised market, the establishment of indicative long term plans for the electricity and gas sector and the enforcement of energy savings, renewable energy and cogeneration. Several provisions have been or are to be implemented in that field as well as a modification of the Belgian law organising the electricity sector to promote cogeneration. Finally, the Electricity Law gives the possibility to the Government to impose the construction of new power plants under a system of international call for tender.

4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS AND OTHER USERS

17

There is no direct connection between Belgium and Germany A similar system is under discussion at the federal level that is competent for offshore wind power investments in the North Sea.

18

44


Pagina 45

The government has taken the decisions in April 2000 to reduce quickly and significantly captive endusers prices so that present price differences with neighbouring countries are eliminated in June 2002. The price falls can be considered as direct effects of regulatory reform in electric industry although they do not occur as a result of increased competition19. The price reductions take three different forms: • Changes in price calculation formula; • Temporary reductions of 500 BEF in 2000 and 2001 for all consumers connected to the low voltage grid; • 500 kWh free of charge annually for consumers benefiting of the social tariff. According to the Electricity and Gas Control Committee20, the above measures should allow reducing price differences with neighbouring countries by more than 50%. At the end of 2001, the Committee will elaborate additional measures to eliminate the gap completely; they will be implemented from 1st January 2002 on. The costs of the above measures are supported by the public electric utilities (production and distribution) and financed according to productivity gains. Part of the above price reductions were nevertheless counterbalanced by an increase in production costs resulting from high natural gas prices. Changes in electricity prices are indeed strongly influenced by the developments in fuel prices but not to the same extent in each country; the changes reflect the underlying technology of electricity generation and the resulting mix of primary energy sources. The Belgian city-gate prices are at relatively high levels compared to those of neighbouring countries. As suggested by a recent WEFA report21, the main explanatory factors could be the combination of the high nuclear role and a high cost of capital (appropriate for a private company) which results in high generating costs. The lack of competition appears also to reduce the potential influence of lower German prices on the Belgian market. At consumer level, Belgian prices are on average 10% to 20% higher than in Netherlands, Germany or in the UK (see table 6). This is the case for all kinds of consumers except those with large domestic use with a strong night consumption. Nevertheless, there are categories of domestic consumers, in particular those consuming less than 1200 kWh22 per year, for which electricity prices have decreased by more than 10%, reflecting the social focus of the reform of electricity tariffs. Figure 1: Electricity: city-gate prices (BEF cts/kWh adjusted to 30kV level) 250

BEF cts/kwh

200 150

1st Jan 1st July

100 50 0 BE

DE

FR

UK

NL

Source: WEFA - DAFSA

Table 1: Electricity prices: Domestic end-users/10kVA 3500 kWh 1300 kWh at night Vat excluded - Sept 2000 Belgium France

Netherlands

Germany

UK

19

See “Price effects of regulatory reform in selected network industry”, European Central Bank, March 2001 Responsible for the captive segment of the market 21 Comparison of electricity prices in selected European countries - WEFA-DAFSA - May and September 2000. 22 The proportion of households consuming less than 2500 kwh is 46%; 26% consumed from 2500 to 4500 kwh and 28% consumed more than 4500 kwh. 20

45


Index Price change May-Sept 2000

100 3.4%

Pagina 46

96.3 0%

76.3 0.1%

84.0 -1.2%

91.5 18.1%*

Source: WEFA-DAFSA * strongly influenced by the evolution of the exchange rate

Similarly, electricity prices for industrial consumers23 have increased slightly in Belgium (+1.8%) when they have decreased in almost all Member States. So far, the opening-up of the electricity market has not brought Belgian electricity prices to the EU average; electricity prices for (non-eligible) Belgian industry remain higher than those supported by its European competitors. Besides price reductions, liberalisation brought benefits in terms of energy services offered to the different categories of consumers. As far as industry is concerned, several energy services are proposed (against payment) in combination to electricity sales. These are essentially targeting a more rational use of electricity (energy audits, technical consulting, etc.). There were also initiatives to improve the quality of services to the customers of the distribution companies (e.g. energy advice, information on the more efficient electric appliances, faster intervention in case of power failure, etc.).

II.

GAS UTILITIES

1. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 1.1. State of the legislative process The EU Gas Market is officially opened since August 10, 2000, which is two years after the EU Gas Directive entered into force (i.e. on 10 August 1998). The Gas Law implementing the EU Gas Directive (98/30/EC) has been adopted on April 29, 1999. Royal Decrees were adopted on May 3, 1999 and September 21, 2000 bringing into force the main provisions of the 1999 Gas Law. A Royal Decree was adopted on January 23, 2001 on modalities applicable to the definition of eligible consumers. On July 16, 2001, a new Law has been adopted amending the 1999 Gas Law regarding, among others, the eligibility thresholds, the access to the network, the unbundling and the financing of Public Service Obligations. Royal Decrees are still awaited in order to guarantee that the EU Directive is fully implemented, regarding: • • • •

Authorisations to supply natural gas Authorisations to transport natural gas Code of Good Conduct regarding access to the network for license holders General transport tariff structure, basic principles and procedures related to tariff

In the Regions, which have power to regulate gas distribution, the legislative work is also progressing. In Flanders, the Decree implementing the liberalisation of the gas distribution market was adopted on July 6, 23

Industry is here defined as having an annual electricity consumption of 2 GWh

46


Pagina 47

2001. In Wallonia, a draft Gas Decree is in preparation, while in the region of Brussels-Capital, a draft text is only expected in 2002.

1.2. Access to the network The amended Gas Law (July 16, 2001) reduces the present eligibility threshold of consumers connected to the transport network to 5 million cubic meters per year equivalent to an opening of 58% of the entire market (the eligibility level in the 1999 Gas Law was 25 million cubic meters per year equivalent to an opening of 47% of the entire market). It allows freedom of choice to all consumers connected to the transport grid as of October 1, 2006 instead of October 10, 2010. Distribution will also be fully eligible by October 1, 2006; however, gas distribution companies are already eligible to purchase gas for its own eligible customers. In Flanders, all customers of distribution companies consuming more than 1 billion cubic meters per year and CHP plants will become eligible as soon as the Gas Decree enters into force. The eligibility of other categories of consumers will be decided later further to advice from the VREG, the Flemish gas and electricity regulator. According to the new system, the gas transport system operator shall submit for approval to the gas regulator (CREG) its tariffs for connection to and use of the transport network and LNG infrastructure, and for ancillary services. The proposed tariffs should meet several principles (non-discriminatory, transparent, based on real costs, etc.) Up to now Distrigas publishes its main commercial conditions on its web site for negotiated access to its transport network to eligible consumers. However, these tariffs are indicative only as they have not been approved yet by the CREG.

1.3. Unbundling The government decided in July 2000 to strengthen the separation between gas transport and trading activities within Distrigas: beyond the unbundling of internal accounts (operational since 1st January 2001) required by the Gas Law, gas transport and trading activities are to be managed in separate buildings and use separate IT systems. Regarding gas distribution, the Flemish Gas Decree makes provision for a mandatory legal separation between network operations and gas sales to eligible consumers. The Walloon region and the region of Brussels-Capital still need to define the necessary legal provisions for the unbundling of distribution and sales activities.

1.4. Independent regulator See electricity.

2. PROGRESS IN MARKET OPENING 2.1. Natural gas sales There have been so far very limited changes to the gas sales market. The eligible gas market is still dominated by the incumbent utility Distrigas. There are several reasons for that. First, the implementation of the EU Gas Directive in Belgium is still at an early stage and is not finalised yet. Major pieces are still missing regarding access to the network (tariffs, transport licenses, etc) and supply conditions to eligible consumers (supply licenses). The resulting uncertainty leads new potential suppliers to adopt a cautious attitude. As a consequence, new gas suppliers have made limited inroads on the Belgian gas market so far.

47


Pagina 48

Although 58% of the Belgian gas market is open to competition, one can estimate the market share of new gas suppliers at less than 5% of eligible volume24. Other reasons for the low pace in market opening include: • The fact that a number of eligible gas buyers are locked into medium term contracts with the incumbent. Consequently, only those with short-term supply contracts with the incumbent can renegotiate the terms of their contract (in the form of price reductions for instance) or switch to a new supplier; • The vertical integration between the incumbent and distributors. The ultimate shareholder of Distrigas, Suez has interests in the majority of the distributors through Electrabel; • The link between the gas buyer/importer Distrigas and the main electric utility company Electrabel through a common ownership structure (i.e. the French company Suez); Electrabel represents about one fifth of Distrigas’ sales in Belgium; • The lack of quality conversion services between the high and the low calorific gas grids leading to the impossibility for high calorific gas suppliers to access the low calorific gas grid (in the North East of Belgium). This situation puts a great deal of customers out of reach; • No access so far to Distrigas’ gas storage facility. Notwithstanding the low progress in market opening, initiatives from distribution companies have already taken place in view of their forthcoming eligibility as it is the case for instance in Flanders with Luminus N.V The consortium covers 8% of gas sales to the public distribution. This shows that the emergence of new players has already begun at the distribution level. Besides the above initiative, the majority of the distribution companies signed new supply contracts with Distrigas in 2000. The new contracts represent the remaining 92% of total sales to the distribution sector and run until September 2006. This timescale is consistent with the current federal eligibility timetable for distribution companies (i.e. 1 October 2006). However, in case the new EU Gas Directive is adopted, which foresees that all end-users have free choice from 1st January 2005 on, it is not clear whether distribution companies will have the possibility to terminate their contract earlier and benefit from their eligibility.

2.2. Natural gas supplies One major development with regard to the Belgium gas market concerns the management of the gas supply portfolio. On top of long-term gas purchases, gas companies in general and Distrigas in particular can buy short-term gas volumes at the Zeebrugge hub, which is so far the only spot market on the European continent to be structurally supported by a hub services provider (Huberator) and a standard contract for spot gas trading. Short-term opportunities are an additional instrument to make prices more competitive. Gas companies can exploit price differences in the supply costs of gas and offer price reductions to eligible consumers (see section B.4 below).

3. QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS One may fear that productivity policies25 operated by the gas utility company in regard to network operations and construction activities are made at the expense of safety and the environment. However, so far, the liberalisation process has had no negative impact on the safety and quality of gas supply, nor on 24

I.e. about 0.4 billion cubic meter to be compared to Distrigas’ natural gas sales in Belgium of some 15 billion cubic meter in 2000 25 In the interest of competitive pricing in transit services and TPA

48


Pagina 49

the environment. The transport system operator took several initiatives to ensure safety and environmental protection, namely, • Development of an integrated safety management system since 1999, which copes with all aspects of health and industrial safety at work; • Regular inspection of the gas infrastructure to identify elements which may present a safety risk in future; • Launching of an environmental action programme in 2000; • Introduction of an environmental quality insurance system covering all aspects of permit applications early in 2000. Belgium has a well-developed gas infrastructure network. The transport and distribution networks continue to be modernised and to develop so that an increasing number of consumers can have access to the gas network. The gas transport grid has sufficient available capacity to cope with increases in gas demand. Moreover, the broad geographical coverage, the many entry points on the border and sufficient transit capacities give good access to the territory for new entrants. The only but temporary exceptions are access to Distrigas’ storage facility and access to the low calorific gas grid (see above). Finally, the awaited implementing decrees of the Gas Law will impose to the holders of transport licences public services obligations in terms of extension of the existing infrastructure, and to the holders of supply licences public services obligations in order to ensure a regular and qualitative gas supply to all consumers.

4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS AND OTHER USERS First of all, it is worth pointing out that the opening-up of the gas market is only one year old (August 2000) and that direct price effects resulting from the liberalisation process can only be expected for customers that are free to choose their supplier. However, price statistics are not published for this category of consumers. One expected benefit from market liberalisation comes from reductions in consumer gas prices. The extent to which price reductions occurred effectively depends on the cost structure of gas and on the evolution of the different cost elements, namely border price, transport/wholesaling/storage costs and distribution/retailing costs. The border price is on average the largest element of the total price for large consumers, while border price and distribution/ retailing costs are almost equally important for domestic consumers26. The liberalisation process of gas industry is not expected to affect significantly the border price of gas, at least in the years to come. Indeed, there is no evidence of a fundamental move away from gas pricing according to its market value (oil price indexation). In the short period since market opening, oil prices were high compared to the period prior to the liberalisation. Consequently, the border price of gas increased and so all consumers gas prices. The price increase was higher for industry than for households due to the more important role of border prices in the price structure of the latter category of consumers. Nevertheless, the development of short-term gas markets gave some scope to reduce the average gas import price27. The resulting price reductions were passed on to the gas price to keep or to attract eligible customers. There is evidence that consumers having switched to a new gas supplier have benefited from price reductions compared to the price offered by the incumbent. However, these consumers represent no 26

Around 40% each of total price excluding taxes The possibility for Distrigas and other potential gas suppliers to buy significant volumes of competitively priced short-term gas on the Zeebrugge spot market had a beneficial effect on the average gas import price

27

49


Pagina 50

more than 5% of the eligible volumes. It is also most likely that eligible consumers in a position to renegotiate their contract with the incumbent have gained price reductions. The beneficial effect of short-term gas supply markets should remain limited in Belgium because long term contracts will continue to dominate the gas supply portfolio in order to ensure the security of gas supply. Finally, it is worth underlying that given the present tariff structure the majority of the non-eligible consumers cannot benefit from reductions in average gas import prices. Indeed, their gas prices are determined on the basis of the import prices of long-term supply contracts (the G parameter). So far there has been no significant downward pressure on transport and distribution costs. The Royal Decree setting up the general structure of the transport costs still need to be adopted and implemented. As soon as this will be achieved, it can be envisaged that regulated and published transport tariffs will lead to price reductions. Further to governmental decisions taken in July 2000 in the perspective of the accelerated liberalisation of the Belgian gas market and in the context of sharply increasing fossil fuel prices, gas price reductions for captive users were implemented in January 2001. Price cuts apply mainly to domestic consumers with low levels of income. The figures below show the evolution of gas prices in Belgium and in the neighbouring countries for two categories of captive consumers: households with an average annual consumption of 83.7 GJ, and an industrial customer with an average annual consumption of 41860 GJ. Figures are also compared to the EU average. In view of the short period over which the gas markets have been open, price trends must be analysed with caution, and the extent to which major differences across countries can be attributed to market liberalisation is all but straightforward. In all countries, prices rose between January 1999 and January 2001 as a result of the increase in oil prices. Moreover, for countries in the EURO zone, the increase in gas prices was amplified by the exchange rate between the Euro and the US dollar. Nevertheless, price increases for the selected categories of consumers are higher in Belgium than in all neighbouring countries except Germany, and than the EU average; the gap is also more important for household than for industry. Gas prices28 for households increased by some 45% in Belgium between January 1999 and January 2001 while the increase was around 10% in most neighbouring countries and less than 30% for the EU average. Gas prices for industry increased by 80% in Belgium over the same period to be compared to increases of some 70% in France, the Netherlands and for the EU average, 86% in Germany and only 25% in the UK. Figure 2: Gas prices in euro per gigajoule, VAT and taxes excluded For medium household user (83,7 GJ) For medium industry users (41 860 GJ) 9

12

8

10

7

8

1999

6

6

2000

5 4

4

2001

3

2001

1

0

VAT and BE energy DE taxes FRexcluded NL

2000

2

2 28

1999

0

UK

EU15

BE

DE

FR

NL

UK

EU15

50


Pagina 51

Source: Eurostat.

From the above analysis it can be concluded that in general the Belgian non-eligible gas consumers have not benefited much from the liberalisation of the gas market and comparatively less than their neighbours. On the other hand, there is evidence that eligible gas consumers have benefited from the market liberalisation in terms of price reductions, although the latter applied only to a slight proportion of the eligible market. Finally, there is no evidence so far that large gas buyers have benefited from other expected advantages in terms of new products and services such as shorter-term contracts, greater flexibility or SWAP.

5. STUDIES AND REPORTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Electrabel, annual reports 1999, 2000 Distrigaz, annual reports 1999, 2000 Inter-Régies, annual reports 1999, 2000 Comité de Contrôle de l’Electricité et du Gaz (CCEG), annual report 2000 Report for the European Commission: Results from opening the Gas Market, DRI-WEFA, July 2001 Price effects of regulatory reform in selected network industry, European Central Bank, March 2001 Gas and electricity prices for EU industry and households, Eurostat, Statistics in focus

III.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

1. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 1.1 Access conditions to the market In Belgium, between June 2000 and September 2001, 14 new licences for public networks were awarded. In the field of broadband Internet, some cable operators offer telecommunication service. Currently, six of them have been authorised to make such offers.

1.2 Network access tariffs The objective of the legal and regulatory framework about interconnection is to allow new entrants to connect their own network to this of the incumbent at competitive conditions. One of the most important roles of the Belgian regulatory authority (IBPT/BIPT) is to verify that the legal framework is respected and to control the annual Belgacom's Reference Interconnection Offer (BRIO). For 2001, this offer was approved on December 19, 2000. Following the cost oriented principle, a new decrease of the main interconnection prices was decided: collecting prices decreased by 16% and terminating prices by 20% (peak hours). On the mobile market, by October 2000, Belgacom Mobile SA was judged for the first time as having Significant Market Power (SMP) for the national interconnection market (owning more than 25% of the market share). This SMP status obliges Belgacom Mobile SA to base its tariffs for call termination on actual costs, consequently lowering tariffs. Waiting for a suitable cost model to be developed, the IBPT/BIPT has adopted in February a transitional arrangement in order to slightly diminish current tariffs.

51


Pagina 52

The “peak duration” price (load proportional to the call duration during peak hours) was decreased twice (on 15/02/2001 and 01/10/2001) for a total of 21%.

1.3

The Belgian Regulatory authority

The Belgian regulatory authority is the Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications (IBPT/BIPT) which role was defined in the Law of March 21, 1991. In order to set up a fully independent regulator, the Minister has started a review of the BIPT/IBPT, which will concentrate on its statutory position and its organizational structure. The department in charge with the preparation of the legislative work will become part of the Administration. The remaining departments in charge with recommendations to the political authorities and the control of the market will constitute a regulator independent from the authorities and from the operator. The law could be effective in 2002. Furthermore, a Royal Decree of August 31, 2001 authorises the IBPT/BIPT to increase its staff by 22 units.

2. PROGRESS IN THE LIBERALIZATION PROCESS In the past, the last mile of the fixed network, owned by Belgacom, worked as a bottleneck for fixed telephony. In 2001, the Belgian authorities developed two paths to go beyond it: the unbundling of the local loop and the Wireless local loop. Moreover, UMTS licences have been sold and operators should be operational in the course of 2003.

2.1 Number of operators in the market: Table 2: Number of operators Operators owning a licence for public network Operators of leased lines Operators owning a licence for vocal telephony Operators for mobile telephony network

01/06/00 32

31/12/00 39 19

30 3

3

15/09/01 46 24 31 3

Source: The Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications (IBPT/BIPT)

2.2 The unbundling of the local loop The unbundling of the local loop offers the ability for operators to provide customers with direct access to their services via another operator’s (Belgacom) access. Following the Royal Decree of December 12, 2000, the incumbent, Belgacom, was now forced to make its infrastructure in the homes and enterprises available to other operators in submitting a commercial proposal for the negotiation procedures before 01/01/2001. The Belgacom's Reference Unbundling Local Loop Offer (BRUO) has been published on December 31, 2000. On February 28, 2001, the Minister of Telecommunications approved the advice of the IBPT/BIPT that obliges Belgacom to modify its offer. Harsh negotiations have taken place between Belgacom and the other licensed operators about Belgacom's offering for the unbundling of the local loop. Belgacom expected to have to unbundle 30.000 local loops in 2001. Although the BRUO offer exists for a few months, very few services are currently offered based on it (a few hundreds of connections). Consequently, the IBPT/BIPT developed an accompanying process promoting among other things easier ways for operators to install their equipments in Belgacom’s buildings.

52


Pagina 53

2.3 Wireless local loop As a major alternative for bridging the last mile, the setting up of a wireless loop will greatly contribute towards opening up the market to new operators. During the first nine months of 2001, five national licences have been awarded for offering Wireless local loop. A second process to offer three more licences has been launched. The operators were greatly interested. In order to encourage the development of this technology in Belgium, some more capacity was liberated in the national frequency plan: the Royal Decree of July 16, 2001 gives the authorisation to use these new capacities for the Wireless local loop.

2.4 Mobile telephony and UMTS The market of mobile communications is increasingly open: the market share of Belgacom has declined from 65% in 1999 to 55% today. At the same time, the number of users has been rapidly growing (+60% in 2000) which could mean that new users are more disposed to take new operators. (a) Figure 3: Number of mobile telephony users by operators 8000000 7000000 6000000 5000000 4000000 3000000 2000000 1000000 0

KPN Orange M obis tar Belgac om M obile

1999

2000

2001

Source: Belgian Institute for Postal services and telecommunications (IBPT/BIPT), De Financieel Economische Tijd.

Licensing procedure for the third generation of mobile phones was launched in 2001. By March 15, 2001, three operators bought a licence. They paid an entrance fee of 150 Mio Euro.

2.5 Leased lines By July 1, 2001 Belgacom submitted a new structure of tariffs for leased lines. The Belgian regulator is currently analysing these tariffs in order to verify their conformity with the regulatory framework.

3. INDICATORS OF QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS The Belgian regulatory authority annually publishes a report concerning the respect by the incumbent operator of the universal service obligation. General interest obligations are organised by a management contract between the Belgian authorities and Belgacom. This contract fixes among other things the supplying of Internet connections to schools, libraries and hospitals. Compared to other countries in Europe, Belgium has a middle-sized fixed telephony infrastructure. Last years, the incumbent, Belgacom, put huge effort in digitalising a significant part of the network. In the area of new communication technology infrastructure, Belgium is performing well: mobile telephony is important and the network is mostly digitalised; cable infrastructure is widely implemented; Belgium has a comparatively dense network of optical fibres.

53


Pagina 54

4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS AND OTHER USERS According to the last available figures (table 2), the Belgian telecommunications sector was still characterised on average29 by high prices in all segments of the fixed telephony. Last year, most of the households and the business sector paid 25% to 50% more than their neighbours for fixed communications (including international calls and calls to mobile networks). The gap with average prices in Europe has increased substantially compared to 1998. On the contrary, prices for mobile communications were low compared to other countries. Table 3: Communication prices 2000 Composite basket of residential telephone charges* - Total charge in USD based on PPP Composite basket of business telephone charges* - Total charge in USD based on PPP Basket of consumer mobile telephone charges - Total charges in USD based on PPP Basket of national leased line charges for 1.5/2.0Mbits/s - In USD based on PPP

Belgium

EU

France

Germany

NL

641.9

515.4

498.9

508.5

437.3

1476.8

1092.1

1076.1

1177

851.9

298.8

318.7

421

354.9

278

2783935

3734262

2124016

2137956

2823415

Source: OECD, EC * inclusive international calls and calls to mobile networks

Figure 4. Harmonised index of consumer prices Communications (1996=100)

2000 (1-8)

NL

FR

DE

2001 (1-8)

BE

EU 15

100.0 95.0 90.0 85.0 80.0 75.0 70.0

Source: Eurostat (New Cronos).

Several positive evolutions that occurred in 2001 can be pointed out: - Prices for phone and fax services have dropped by more than 9% following the tariff revision of the incumbent operator in October 2000; - Internet connections charges have been reduced by 37% in 2000; - Interconnection prices have been reduced for the mobile network (- 21%) as well as for the fixed network (around -20% according the time), following an intervention of the regulator; - A new structure for leased lines cost has been established on the 1st of July by the incumbent operator and is now under review by the regulator.

29

These prices do not reflect the most attractive conditions offered on the market.

54


Pagina 55

IV.

POSTAL SERVICES

1. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK The decision to transform the Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications (IBPT/BIPT) into a completely independent regulator has followed a motivated advice of the European Commission addressed to Belgium by August 2001, requiring notably to watch over the total independence of the national regulatory authority towards the public postal operator. The scheduled transformation should be finished and the new structure operational in the current of year 2002 (see section III about Telecommunications).

2. PROGRESS IN THE LIBERALIZATION PROCESS In 1997, the postal services market was open to the competition for mail of more than 350 grams. For the moment, the historic operator of the postal services (La Poste/De Post) is still the most important actor on the market. According to estimations, there are currently about 400 active companies on the competitive segments of the Belgian market. In Belgium as at an international level, express delivery mail companies are very active. By September 2001, La Poste/De Post announced a progressive liberalisation following the European conditions confirmed at the last Council: in 2003, the threshold will be reduced to 100 grams and to 50 grams in 2006. At that time, more or less half of the Belgian postal incumbent activities (based on the turnover) should be open to competition compared to 34% today. On 1st March 2000, the historic operator was transformed from an autonomous public company into a statutory limited liability corporation. The Belgian postal services acquired a new Board of Directors and a top manager coming from the private sector. By the second half of 2000, the coordinating holding company ‘Belgian Post Group’ (BPG) created new subsidiaries such as “eXbo Services”(documents treatment) or “Vicindo” (direct marketing). La Poste/De Post announced that it would invest more than 550 millions euros in order to remain competitive in a liberalized framework. The objectives are to improve the postal services, to increase the commercial force and to adapt the cost-structure. One of the most important projects is to split the large postal network into two high-performance business units: Mail (letters) and Retail (post offices). Mail will be responsible for collection, logistic processes, sorting centres and distribution offices. Retail will handle commercial activities in the sales outlets. To make this possible, working methods are being radically restructured and improved.

3. INDICATORS OF QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS La Poste/De Post was legally designated as supplier of the universal service. In conformity with the management contract existing between the Belgian authorities and La Poste/De Post, the regulatory authority IBPT/BIPT oversees some quality criteria of the mail. The obligations will increase with the further opening of the market.

4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS AND OTHER USERS

55


Pagina 56

Currently, big consumers are taking much more advantage of the liberalistaion process than private consumers. The most important change for the small consumer is that La Poste/De Post is becoming more customer-oriented.

56


Annex 3:

Pagina 57

Recent policy reforms to ensure the sustainability of pension systems in Belgium

The fundamental challenge is maintaining and developing the quality of our pension systems. The federal government has adopted a broad perspective on pensions, one that ensures that the long-standing social objectives of pension systems are fully taken into account when preparing for demographic ageing.

THE INCOME GUARANTEE FOR THE ELDERLY The government organised a thorough modernisation (in operation since June 2001) of the financial safety net for the elderly, to fight poverty among the older generation more efficiently (called “IGO” in Dutch and “GRAPA” in French). The major adaptations are: easy access to benefits, higher benefits, less weight of other incomes in the means test and equal treatment of man and woman.

THE SILVERFUND (A DEMOGRAPHIC RESERVE) Belgium is facing, along with the rest of the European countries, the effect of the demographic evolution. In order to meet the inevitable budgetary consequences of ageing, the Silverfund was established in 2001. The objective of this fund is to build up reserves, which will allow us to pay for the extra expenditures in the period between 2010 and 2030 of the various statutory pension schemes (namely the overall pension scheme of employees, the self-employed, and the pension schemes to the account of the general expenditure budget) as a result of ageing. The Silverfund is thus intended to build up a demographic reserve for pensions. The receipts of the Silverfund can be provided by a surplus of social security, by budgetary surpluses, non-recurrent non-fiscal receipts and the proceeds of investments. In order to enable a structural financing of the Silverfund, we need to pursue a budgetary policy that is aimed at achieving social security and budgetary surpluses. By doing so, we can realise an accelerated cut in debt. The Silverfund thus acts as an instrument for budgetary discipline: it allows budgetary policy to structurally take into account the consequences of ageing in the years to come. This way, cutting down debt includes the specific task to guarantee pensions can be paid, without jeopardising social protection. The reserves built up by the Silverfund can only be touched in the period between 2010 and 2030 in order to pay for the extra expenditures of various statutory pension schemes as a result of demographic ageing, and not before the debt has reached a level of less than 60 % of GDP. In the framework of this Silverfund, every year the government has to draw up a Silvernote which is effected in three phases. In the first, scientific phase, the Research Committee will draw up a report with regard to the ageing problem that examines the budgetary and social consequences of ageing. This Research Committee, where a crucial role will be played by the Federal Planning Bureau, was established in the framework of the High Finance Council.

57


Pagina 58

In the second, advisory phase, the section “Financing Requirements of General Government” of the High Finance Council will take into account the report of the Research Committee on demographic ageing in his yearly-published report on budgetary policy. The third phase is the policy phase, when the government draws up the Silvernote and delineates policy. framework, the social partners, who are consulted via the Central Board for Business and the National Labour Council, are strongly involved. The guidelines of the Silvernote will be part of the budget as submitted to the Parliament. The Silvernote thus lays the foundation for the functioning of the Silverfund: on the basis of the recommendations included in the Silvernote, it is decided which means will be assigned to the Silverfund, and which means the Silverfund will assign to the various statutory pension schemes. The Silverfund is important not only for the current and the future pensioners – by ensuring that pensions can be paid – but also for young people: the gradual spread in time by the capitalisation of reserves can guarantee the intertemporal neutrality of budgetary policy. In other words, we are avoiding to end up in a situation where we would only have a couple of good years, followed by a long period of lean years.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SECOND PILLAR The statutory pensions can remain (e.g. by means of the Silverfund) to be considered as the foundation of social protection for the elderly. Yet, a crucial role is to be played by the second pension pillar. In the private sector, our first pillar pensions offer an income on retirement that is decent, yet considerably lower than the salary granted just before retiring, since they are calculated on the basis of average salaries over the pensioners' whole career. Second pillar pensions can significantly contribute to reducing that loss in income as such. They answer to the aspirations of increasing numbers of people when it comes to retirement, nowadays retirement is often the starting point for projects people did not realise during their working lives. Second pillar pensions reform will make it possible to realise those new aspirations but it should be a privilege of the many, not the few. On July 12, a breakthrough was reached in the promotion of supplementary pensions as part of our pension policy with the signing of a joint statement by the Belgian government and the trade unions and employers’ organisations. On June 30 2001, a bill for supplementary pensions was adopted by the Council of Ministers. Apart from creating a level playing field for all supplementary pensions, this act also has three other main objectives: - Firstly: providing supplementary social protection, - Secondly: making the second pillar more democratic in order to make it accessible to the entire active working population, - Thirdly: increasing the level of solidarity in the second pillar. In the framework of supplementary social protection, every pension scheme will be obliged to offer a turnover in terms of a pension when lump sum is being paid out, with a neutral taxability. The government made sure that the long-term security is put first, so that any improper use is out of the question. In order to protect employees from financial risks, a minimum interest guarantee∗ with regard to investments is being included in the pension schemes where the employer is only responsible for making a contribution. In order to guarantee transparency, pension institutes will have to draw up a yearly report.

∗

This is no yearly guarantee but an average guarantee that starts when the deposit of the contribution is made, and ends when leaving the pension scheme.

58


Pagina 59

The second objective is to make the second pillar more democratic, which will be achieved by means of industry-wide pension schemes. These schemes are based on industry-wide collective labour agreements which have been reached in a joint committee by the representative employers’ and employees’ organisations of the industry. Employees are considered here as full partners. For the first time, these sectorial systems are able to introduce on a large scale supplementary systems in sectors that contain a lot of SME’s. For the first time now, workers are able to access the second pillar. Next to the industry-wide pension schemes Belgium has a wide range of second pillar pension schemes at an enterprise level. The contributions for building up supplementary pensions are getting preferential fiscal treatment as long as the built-up pension – including the statutory pension – expressed in terms of interest, is not higher than 80 % of the last earned yearly gross salary. Pension schemes that wish to develop solidarity mechanisms by introducing coverage in the pension build-up for illness, disablement, unemployment…, that include all the employees in the pension scheme via a collective labour agreement, that are jointly managed, reduce the costs and redistribute all profits between the affiliates, are given a special statute: the “social” pension schemes. These schemes enjoy an additional fiscal advantage: they don’t have to pay the 4,4 % insurance tax on paid contributions, contrary to current pension schemes. These schemes can also be assigned above the maximum wage growth allowed in Belgium. These three legislative initiatives are backed up by measures to increase the employment rate in general, and the employment rate of older workers in particular. An economically active society is a necessary condition to honour the implicit pension debt of the first pillar, but it is also a necessary condition to guarantee the rights created in the second pillar without undue strains on intergenerational income distribution. Indeed, for the second pillar to be rewarding, the economic activity of the population must ensure sufficient return on the capital built up.

59


Pagina 60

ANNEX 4: Policies to improve the Internal Market as a dynamic environment for business start-ups, entrepreneurship and new technologies. A. Introduction Many factors influence entrepreneurship and its various aspects such as the setting-up of companies, the growth of existing companies and innovation. The economic reforms aimed at improving markets integration, the quality of basic infrastructure and the conditions under which companies have access to this infrastructure, the quality of the legislative, regulatory and fiscal environment, the functioning of financial markets as well as the working of the research and innovation system are traditionally followed up within the framework of the Cardiff process. The measures to increase the availability of skilled labour are carefully examined within the framework of the Luxembourg process. Finally, the supportive measures for the creation and the financing of companies as well as those for the development of an entrepreneurial culture are specifically followed up within the framework of the BEST procedure. Annex 4 provides a brief analysis of all these factors and goes through the main measures taken in that context. Additional information can be found in the reports specific to each procedure. B. Main framework conditions and policies to improve entrepreneurship B.1. Markets integration As stated in part I.A of the report, the Belgian economy is highly integrated into the rest of Europe, particularly into three neighbouring countries. In 2000, intra-EU trade (imports + exports /2) accounted for 56.1% of GDP. Total trade integration is also high and represents 77.6% of GDP. Foreign direct investments (inflows as well as outflows) represented more than 40% of GFCF30 in 199831. As a consequence, Belgian prices are on the whole comparable to the EU average indicating a high level of competition in most sectors. The reforms that have recently been implemented and planned in order to improve the functioning of competition and regulatory authorities and to open the telecom and energy markets should again improve the competition and integration level of the economy. B.2. Infrastructure quality and accessibility Transport infrastructure is highly developed in Belgium. In terms of tons transported, the port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe. Brussels National Airport is the fifth biggest cargo airport in Europe. A very dense road and railway network covers the Belgian territory32. Sustainable mobility constitutes one of the main priorities of the Belgian Government. Rail transport supply should be massively increased in order to satisfy a growing demand for mobility. Quantitative objectives have been decided: in 2010, the rail sector must be able to provide new services for 50% more passengers as well as for 50% more goods.33

30

Gross Fixed Capital Formation Source: UNCTAD - World Investment Report 2000, 2001. 32 Benchmarking the framework conditions – A systematic test for Belgium, Federal Planning Bureau, 2001 (http://www.plan.be). 33 See II.A.3 for details 31

60


Pagina 61

As indicated in Annex 2, energy prices for industrial consumers remain higher than those paid by European competitors. It is also the case for telecommunications prices. Nevertheless, in terms of evolution, some progress has been made. There is evidence that eligible gas consumers have benefited from the market liberalisation in terms of price reductions, although the latter applied only to a slight proportion of the eligible market. Prices for phone and fax services have dropped by more than 9% following the tariff revision of the incumbent operator in October 2000. Internet connections charges were reduced by 37% in 2000 and interconnection prices have been reduced for the mobile network (-21%) as well as for the fixed network (-16%), following an intervention of the regulator. The current reform process of network industries34 should (rapidly) lead to a thorough improvement of infrastructure access. B.3 Legislative and administrative environment As stated in point I.B of the report, administrative burdens remain excessive in Belgium. In 1998 the administrative burdens of enterprises were estimated at 2.2% of GDP, a level similar to various OECD countries. A new survey carried out in 2000 showed 2.6%. Even if the two results cannot be directly compared, the new estimate does not suggest that administrative burdens have been achieved in the last two years. The 2000 survey covers mainly administrative burdens related to employment, fiscal obligations and environmental legislation. It does not include all the steps needed to create a company or to become self-employed, which are rather tedious in Belgium. The number of files to be completed is one of the highest in Europe. Data from DG enterprises indicate that 32 business days are needed in Belgium to register a company, which is more than in most European countries. Numerous efforts are now being made in order to reduce administrative burdens.

By transforming radically internal and external relations of public administrations, the NICT optimise policy implementation and public services provision. The use of these technologies in work processes of public administrations – commonly called e-government – is an essential step towards improving business environment. The development of the technical tools has been devoted to the new horizontal public services: FEDICT. The main elements of this complex infrastructure, currently under construction, are: • The setting-up of a high-speed secured network for electronic data exchange between public services (on the model of the one already in place between social security services) and a “Universal Messaging Engine” managing this data exchange. • The designing of two electronic portals – one for enterprises and one for citizens – allowing an integrated access to administrative information, procedures and services. • The development of a unique identification system for each entity (enterprises and citizens) and the creation of a enterprises register. • The development of an electronic signature infrastructure. This important background work will soon yield its first tangible results. Even if a complete electronic supply of public services will only be available on 1 January 2003, the e-government platform will already allow some online procedures at the beginning of 2002, notably the electronic VAT declaration and the electronic employment declaration. The drawing-up of a single and multifunctional declaration of data relating to wages and working time is scheduled for 1 January 2003. 34

See Annex 2 for a broad description of current reforms.

61


Pagina 62

The Regions are also implementing their own e-government strategies. They have already developed their own portal sites providing information on their services and downloadable application forms. Continuous efforts are dedicated to improve conviviality and to increase interactivity. In Flanders, the different contact points for companies35 will be incorporated into a single counter for “companies”. Interactivity will little by little be increased to lead to the development of on-line administrative services. Some applications are already interactive. After having answered an electronic questionnaire, companies can get personalised information on requested help and authorisations. The Walloon Region has a portal site36 that gives access to administrative forms arranged by subject. Some of these forms can be filled out electronically as online assistance is provided to guide users in this process. Currently, companies still have to transmit forms by post, but eventually they will be authorised to send them by e-mail. The Brussels Region also has a single counter37 that centralises and disseminates information on public measures and services to companies. All these projects are standing on the technical tools developed at federal level. On the basis of a cooperation agreement, Regions and Communities are involved in the elaboration of the e-government technical platform. Besides this wide-ranging structural simplification project, federal and regional administrations have undertaken more targeted simplification projects in the last two years under coordination of the Federal Agency for Administrative Simplification. 25 of these projects have already been implemented. The Federal Agency for Administrative Simplification has also made a global assessment of the problems linked to the starting-up of a company, not only regarding the registration of a new company, but also regarding the authorisation needed to set up an activity. This assessment will shortly lead to a concrete simplification of projects. With e-government complete online operations will eventually be possible.

The Agency also deals with the establishment of a system to assess legislation. Tools will be developed in order to evaluate not only scheduled legislation, but also existing legislation. Several initiatives are also under study in order to improve the drafting quality of regulatory and administrative texts. All the new fiscal and social forms will be examined by a central office specialised in readability. Readability training will be generalised for all civil servants and citizens will be encouraged to make suggestions about administrative forms. We could finally mention several scheduled adaptations of procedures applying in case of corporate insolvency (compulsory settlement and bankruptcy). The compulsory settlement will be made more confidential and more accessible for small firms. The negative consequences of bankruptcy will be limited as long as no serious management mistake is detected. B.4 Fiscal environment In Belgium taxes on employed labour are high, which implies relatively heavy wage costs for enterprises. In 2000 social security contributions paid by employers have been further reduced at the low end of the

35

http://vlaanderen .be/economie, http://kmoloket.be, http://ondernemen.vlaanderen.be and the site of IWTVlaanderen. 36 http://www.wallonie.be 37 ECOBRU

62


Pagina 63

wage scale. An extra 0.25 billion euros will be earmarked in 2002 to further reduce social security contributions, in priority for young people and workers over 50. Concerning corporate taxation, the statutory rate is higher than the EU average but when looking at the effective corporate tax rate, Belgium has a lower rate than the EU average (between 1990-1996)38. Nevertheless, in order to make this fact more transparent for entrepreneurs, the Government announced a significant reduction in the corporate tax rate on 9 October. The basic rate will be lowered from 39% to 33%, a level comparable to those applied by most EU partners. The reform will be budgetary neutral as, at the same time, the tax system will be simplified and certain allowances removed. Moreover, the ruling system will be reformed, inspired by the Dutch system. Ruling procedures will be opened to all enterprises and will take place under parliamentary control. Transparency will also be guaranteed by publication of all agreements. The specific rate applied for SMEs (for profits below 25 000 euros) will be reduced to 24.25% compared to 28% today and self-financing of SMEs will be promoted as they will get a partial tax exemption on reinvested profits.

B.5 Financial market efficiency Compared to other European countries, Belgium enjoys a rather favourable profile concerning access to risk capital. In 2000 the capital raised on Belgian stock markets reached nearly 3% of GDP, which is one of the highest levels in Europe (the European average is strongly influenced by the Netherlands’ performance which is close to 15% of GDP). This good performance may be explained by a growing number of market operators (like pension funds or OPC) which could lead to more favourable financial conditions. In the meantime, the venture capital dedicated to early stages has continued to rise in % of GDP.39 Moreover, as given by the following table, the number of Business Angels networks in relation to the number of inhabitants is much higher than the European average: B 0.490

D 0.158

F 0.401

NL 0.127

UK 0.810

UE 0.290

Source : Eurostat, New cronos

This type of structure makes it possible to meet the individual needs of potential entrepreneurs from the first stages of the project, when the financing requirement is problematic because of the extremely risky nature of the entrepreneurial venture. Furthermore, this formula offers entrepreneurs tailor-made counselling, not only as to the financial aspect of starting up a company, but also with regard to its strategic development. The financial obstacle to the materialisation of entrepreneurship does not only consist in finding the necessary resources, but also in the availability of these means in due time. For instance, there can apparently be no shortage of resources to finance the company’s early development, but when it comes to financing the setting-up and the functioning of the company in the first couple of months, i.e. the very first stage, resources are much harder to find. This problem has been partially solved through the significant 38 39

Benchmarking the framework conditions – A systematic test for Belgium, Federal Planning Bureau, 2001. See figure 5, part I.A

63


Pagina 64

development of spin-offs. These companies are set up by an academic institution that provides them with financial and logistic support, which is most welcome in the starting-up phase. The Regions have also taken supportive measures adapted to the different development stages of start-ups. In order to encourage the formation of new enterprises by supporting innovative projects, the Walloon Government has for instance introduced "preactivity grants" (“bourses de préactivité”) enabling innovative promoters to go beyond the often-vague concept stage and create their enterprise. These grants cover a substantial part of the usual expenses encountered during the study, development and realisation stages of the project. Another initiative, the Walloon Risk Capital Fair, aims at bringing together investors and project managers. Since 2000 the Flemish Government has been supporting the development of Business Angels networks. Up to now, 4 networks have officially been recognised and can thus rely on a grant from the Flemish Government without any public interference in their management. The Flemish Guarantee Fund also has an important supportive role. B.6 R&D and innovation systems Measured as the intensity of R&D expenditures in the business sector, the innovative capacity of firms established in Belgium improved in the second part of the nineties. R&D in the business sector is estimated to have reached 1.42 % of GDP in 1999, compared to 1.23 % in 1995. Real growth rates have exceeded 6% annually. Nevertheless, R&D intensity in the Belgian business sector is far behind what is observed in the US, in Finland or in Germany. R&D expenditures appear to be concentrated in a small number of sectors and among a few large enterprises. According to a European survey carried out in the second half of the nineties, the proportion of innovative firms seems to be low in the Belgian industry: 34% compared to 51% in the EU. As already mentioned in last year's report, public resources devoted to research and innovation have increased significantly during the last five years. In real terms, a 25% growth was registered between 1995 and 2000. The 1999 figures for Belgium indicate that the upward movement registered in GERD40 and BERD41 has continued: BERD should have reached 1.42 % of GDP while total R&D expenditures have been close to 2% of GDP. As far as policies are concerned, the actions have mainly been directed towards a better functioning of innovation systems, for instance: • Public funding is more and more targeted on key areas where a scientific or industrial development potential really exists and where research teams may reach a critical size large enough to be integrated into European research networks. At federal level programmes have been designed to contribute to this objective, e.g. the Inter-University Attraction Poles and the new networks of excellence programmes. • More networking and sustainable partnerships between firms and with research centres are stimulated notably through clustering policies. At the end of 2000 in Wallonia, 5 pilot technological clusters were set up, driven by firms and gathering firms, research centres and universities. • Diffusion and transfer are still an issue today, especially as far as SMEs are concerned: more visibility of the various competences and services offered by the intermediaries as well as a better knowledge of the firms' needs must be achieved. In Flanders, the "KMO-Innovatie" programme has been launched. Moreover, specific measures aimed at simplifying the subsidy structure for supporting technological innovation in SMEs have been adopted as a broader concept of innovation. 40 41

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D Intramural business enterprise R&D expenditure

64


Pagina 65

B.7 Labour force qualification As far as the education level is concerned, the Belgian situation is quite different from the European average, as proportionally less people have a secondary degree and more people have completed tertiary education. But when looking at the number of students specialising in scientific subjects at the tertiary level, Belgium appears far below the European average. On the whole, more than 40% of the population aged 25 to 59 have not reached the secondary level, which is quite substantial if compared with the situation in the US. In Belgium, lowly qualified workers are over-represented in the working age population. The insufficient educational level is one of the main problems of unemployed people, especially as the older part of the population is concerned. The 25-34-year-old have reached a much higher educational level, as for instance 37.4% had a tertiary degree in 2000. (see Tables 4, part I.B) During the next few years, the efforts regarding lifelong training will be considerably increased. In order to provide rapidly a basic qualification for all young people, which not only gives access to the labour market, but also initiates enough aptitudes for apprenticeship, all the communities are pursuing a policy focused on a significant reduction of the number of young people prematurely leaving school thanks to the revaluation of secondary professional training and technical education, the modularisation of teaching programmes and the improvement of teaching methods and part-time courses. The ICT will play an important role in education, as they will enable Belgian schools to catch up with other countries in matters of PC availability and Internet connections. Considerable efforts will finally be made so that the supply better matches the demand for labour. It is however important to consider education as an opportunity for everybody, regardless of age, training level or professional status. The Regions and Communities have agreed to guarantee the link between initial training and continuous training thanks to common actions. Continuous training requires updating basic competences and requalification of people according to the needs of the labour market. So the unions and management committed themselves to bring the percentage of the wage bill spent on continuous training up to 1.9% by 2004. Besides, special attention is devoted to training programmes for risk groups (unskilled and old workers for example). So under the interprofessional agreement 2001-2002 the unions and management have urged the sectors to use 10% of the wage bill for these programmes. In order to guarantee the right to training centred on the knowledge society (particularly for the more vulnerable groups), language learning and ICT sensibilisation/training are priorities. The training supply should be combined with a maximum provision of information, so that both companies and individuals get a clear idea of available training courses. The Regions and Communities have undertaken to set up electronic databases on the supply of training as well as on advisory and guidance services. In order to make public and private initiatives more efficient, the authorities encourage partnerships, e.g. qualification centres that assist both the companies, in its human resources management and training policy, and the individual employee, in the steering of his or her career. The authorities have also taken steps to increase the training supply, such as extending the opening hours of services, splitting training courses into modules and developing self-training and distance training. Having young employees trained by more experienced workers meets the training needs at the workplace, as there is a direct link between the job itself and the training provided, while keeping the older ones working. Finally, mobility and active participation of all actors has to be secured. The Belgian authorities are also considering setting-up a system to validate and certify qualifications in order to use a standard system providing a consistent and generally accepted framework for the recognition of professional qualifications and skills. Financial obstacles to training have been removed by several financial and tax incentives, such as "training vouchers", training credits or the financing of holiday schemes such as "time savings accounts" or paid training holidays. Moreover, the Government will set up a single regulatory framework without

65


Pagina 66

prejudice to the implementation by the social partners, the Regions and Communities with a view to promoting block-release and immersion training. B.8 Developing entrepreneurial culture

An entrepreneurial culture has to be developed by means of an educational system. At secondary education level courses are organised to make students acquainted with the profession of entrepreneur and to give them the opportunity of setting-up and managing mini-companies during a well-determined period. The students who take a technical course go through a training period in a company. Promotion of entrepreneurship is carried on in most universities and tertiary education schools through training modules for the setting-up of companies. Various training courses for adults are organised. Different formulae meet the needs of the various target groups (beginning entrepreneurs, leaders of expanding SMEs, etc.). Basic training courses are organised for future self-employed workers who do not have the required basic management knowledge when enrolling in the trade register. Some universities and tertiary schools organise specific training courses that supply tangible and directly applicable responses to entrepreneurs' needs in such fields as financing, marketing, law, strategy, management and human resources. Training programmes are also organised by the Regions. These programmes cover all aspects of a company's life (setting-up, development, taking over of an activity). They include: • Programmes to welcome and guide aspiring entrepreneurs, who are eventually oriented towards a tailor-made training with follow-up. • Training programmes for company managers preparing them to become SME managers or selfemployed workers in various fields. • Training programmes enabling SMEs to adapt themselves to the environmental evolution. The Walloon Region awards consultancy grants to SMEs so that certified consultants can assist them in examining various aspects of their management.42 The Flemish government has set up a similar system as well as a system of training cheques. Finally, awareness campaigns are organised to arouse public interest in companies (TV programmes, open days in companies…). Several prizes and awards are regularly granted to companies in order to awaken competitiveness between SMEs.

42

During 10 days, the regions finances 75% of the fees and afterwards 50%, with a ceiling of 250 000 BEF per day. The total regional intervention cannot exceed 500 000 BEF per 12-month period.

66


Pagina 67

ANNEX V: FOLLOW-UP OF BROAD ECONOMIC POLICY GUIDELINES REGARDING PRODUCTS, CAPITAL AND LABOUR MARKETS In the Belgian chapter on the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines 2001, the European Council emphasised a number of possible improvements. For follow up purposes, the Belgian Government wishes to highlight recent policy changes in every area under consideration.

A.

PRODUCT MARKETS

INCREASE COMPETITION IN TRANSPORT AND DISTRIBUTION OF GAS AND ELECTRICITY AND SET UP INDEPENDENT TRANSPORTATION NETWORK MANAGERS IN THESE SECTORS IN ORDER TO ENSURE NON-DISCRIMINATORY ACCESS. Measures adopted since the beginning of 2001. December 2000: adoption of the Flemish decree on the organisation of the electricity market at distribution level. End January 2001: implementation of reforms and tariff reductions to the advantage of captive consumers (non-liberalised market) up to about 8 billion BEF (198.31 million EUR) on an annual basis. March 2001: adoption of the Walloon decree on the electricity market organisation at distribution level. April 2001: signature of a memorandum of understanding on the appointment of the TNM (Transport Network Manager) between the owners of the transportation network, the future public shareholders of the TNM and the Federal Government. 4 April 2001: publication of the Royal Decree on electricity transportation tariffs. 5 July 2001: publication of the Royal Decree relating to operational management of the transportation network and its access. 16 July 2001: publication of the Act modifying the Act of 29 April on the electricity market organisation (reinforcement of the regulator, acceleration of the scheduled market opening…). Adoption in the next few weeks of a decree of the Brussels-Capital Region on electricity market organisation at distribution level. Measures to be adopted Reform and increase in financial means for the rational use of energy within the new liberalisation framework. These means will be managed by the Regions and their use will be controlled at federal level. Reform and reinforcement of the promotion tools for renewable energy sources, considering the new liberalised environment, at both the federal and regional level (approval of several draft decrees). Approval of a Royal Decree concerning the public service obligations of the electricity sector, in conformity with the Electricity Act.

67


Pagina 68

Designation of the electricity transport network manager (before the end of 2001). Implementation of a new batch of reforms and price cuts for captive customers (before the end of 2001).

ENSURE THAT THE PLANNED REFORM OF THE RAILWAYS WILL INCREASE EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY OF SERVICE AS WELL AS REDUCE THE NEED FOR OPERATING SUBSIDIES. As described in the main report (p.18) the government has undertaken several measures in order to reinforce this sustainable mode of transport. Given the importance of fixed costs in railway each increase of activity generates by itself a better efficiency. Moreover the investment plan also provides for modernisation operations which will increase efficiency. A new management contract between the State and the NMBS/SNCB is on its way which will consolidate the railway company’s future performance in order to reach the mobility objective as put forward in the main report. An improvement of the railway offer is under study. The increase in rail traffic will lead to a reasonable increase in commercial revenue. management contract as well as the business plan will stipulate a control of unit costs.

The new

INCREASE THE TRANSPARENCY OF THE LINKS BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS AT THE LOCAL AND PROVINCIAL LEVEL, ESPECIALLY THE ROLE OF MUNICIPALITIES AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS IN DIFFERENT SECTORS SUCH AS ENERGY, IN ORDER TO AVOID DISTORTIONS OF COMPETITION AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

In Belgium the Regions are responsible for the electricity and natural gas distribution (≤70 Kv) and for the promotion of renewable energy and the rational use of energy. On the electricity market, the regions have chosen to legally separate the management of the distribution grid on the one hand and the production and sales activities on the other hand: - Executive decision of the Flemish Government of 15 June 2001. The existing electricity distribution companies (the so-called “intercommunales43”) have to be split into two separate entities: the distribution system operator, responsible for the maintenance, the exploitation and the development of the distribution network on the one hand, and sales companies for the supply of electricity to eligible consumers connected to the distribution grid on the other hand. Moreover, the independence of the distribution grid operator should be ensured by the obligation for electricity producers and suppliers to own no more than 30% of the capital of the grid operator. - Electricity Decree of 12 April 2001 in Wallonia. Distribution network operators in which public authorities (i.e. municipalities, provinces) should own the majority of the capital are set-up. In order to comply with the required separation of transport and sales activities, four pure inter-

43

"Intercommunales" are legal entities that are created by town councils. In this way, they cooperate between towns in the areas of electricity, gas, water distribution, etc. Some of them are purely public, others are mixed. They also include private companies.

68


Pagina 69

municipal distribution companies have created a commercial company ALE-Trading responsible for electricity production and sales. The Regions are also in charge of regulating gas distribution. They have decided to legally separate gas transport and trading activities: - Flemish Gas Decree, July 6, 2001: provision for a mandatory legal separation between network operations and gas sales to eligible consumers. - The Walloon Region and the Region of Brussels-Capital still need to define the necessary legal provisions for the unbundling of distribution and sales activities. At the distribution level, initiatives have taken place in Flanders in view of approaching eligibility of all Flemish consumers (1 July 2003). In May 2001 five pure Flemish intermunicipal distribution companies (IVEG, PBE, VEM, WVEM and Interelectra) have transferred their electricity and gas sales activities into a new commercial company Luminus N.V. The consortium covers some 12% of electricity sales to the public. More recently Luminus N.V. sold 50% of its capital to Centrica plc, a UK based energy supply Business Company. Nevertheless, the vertical integration between the incumbents and distributors remains strong. The ultimate shareholder of Electrabel and Distrigaz, Suez, has interests in the majority of distributors.

MEASURES TO REDUCE AND SIMPLIFY THE ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN ON BUSINESS At federal level The Belgian Government pays special attention to the issue of reducing the administrative burden for companies. For that purpose, two special government commissioners have been appointed in two important sectors, i.e. fiscality and social security. The first one is attached to the Minister of Finance and is specifically charged with the simplification of fiscal procedures and the second one, attached to the Minister for Social Affairs, deals with the simplification of social security. For both sectors, a specific action plan has been drawn up. Furthermore, the Federal Agency for Administrative Simplification (FAAS) has been charged by the Council of Ministers to make a quarterly progression report. The first reports show that, during the last two years, 25 simplification projects for companies have been implemented in several fields. Besides a series of simplifications in the telecom sector, the following actions have been taken: abolition of the employers’ obligation to add statistic data to their social security declaration, raising of the threshold for submitting a condensed annual accounts plan, abolition of the sales licence for dairy products and substantial reduction in the data to be mentioned in the labour cost questionnaire. Another example is the simplification of a special personnel register or documents for a number of sectors, such as the building trade and horticulture. Furthermore, as the planned portal will soon be operational, the website of the FAAS, www.vereenvoudiging/simplification.fgov.be, provides links to about 500 websites and over 200 administrative forms available online. After that, the legal and technical frameworks were further worked out in order to introduce a full egovernment environment. This environment will enable enterprises to complete many important formalities online. In this respect, the legal admissibility of the electronic signature was already approved by Parliament on 20 October 2000. Thereupon, the principles that have to be observed for the delivery and the use of such a signature were approved. A separate part of this report elaborates on the planned projects to make e-government operational.

69


Pagina 70

The table hereafter gives a brief summary of the main projects to be materialised soon with a view to alleviating the administrative burden imposed on enterprises. Target date End 2001

End 2001 End 2001 End 2001 End 2001 End 2001 July 2002 July 2002 July 2002 December 2002 January 2003

Project Operationalising the Universal Messaging Engine, through which governmental services can exchange information so that enterprises do not have to communicate the same information several times (e.g. annual accounts, certificates...) Electronic declaration of employment, resulting in the abolition of the employer’s obligation to keep a paper version of the personnel register. Abolition of multiple paper version reports of building sites and replacement by an integrated electronic declaration Electronic VAT declaration in Edifact format Simplification of fiscal formalities in the automobile sector Abolition of the obligation to certify invoices for procurement contracts Electronic application for number plates Electronic VAT declaration in XML format (internet) First version of the portal site for citizens and enterprises. Launch of the ‘Enterprises Crossroads Bank’ and registration of a single enterprise number Multifunctional electronic declaration of wages and working hours to the social security service.

The strategy of the Agency for Administrative Simplification was adjusted after an assessment of the first operating year. In addition to the necessary structural approach to simplification projects extra attention was devoted to specific files. Current structural projects include: F Further preparation of the content of the ‘Enterprises Crossroads bank ’ and the development of simplification projects in connection herewith, F Specification of the content of the planned enterprise portal, F Further simplification of the statistical environment, . Listing of all starter problems and drawing-up of a single starter form. Current concrete files include an investigation into the possible abolition of fiscal stamps, streamlining and simplification of formalities when setting up a corporation, abolition of the butcher ledger, simplification of the procedure to obtain traders’ plates, simplification of the obligations imposed on starting enterprises in the distribution, catering and construction sectors. The computer programme “Administrative Burden Assessment” was also presented. This application makes it possible – on the basis of an index of burdens – to assess the administrative burden caused by federal bodies, to follow its evolution and to establish which formalities can be simplified. Furthermore, in association with the Federal Planning Bureau, a national inquiry was organised to assess the administrative burden weighing on self-employed people and enterprises. Finally, a simplification methodology was developed by the Agency for Administrative Simplification. This methodology includes checklists for all tools (legislation assessment, introduction of tools with regard to e-government, organisational aspects, preservation policy) that can lighten the administrative burden.

70


Pagina 71

The purpose of the Government is not only to reform civil services, but also to improve the quality of legislation. To this end the Minister for Civil Service and Modernisation of Public Administration has instructed the Agency for Administrative Simplification and the Organisation and Management Bureau to set up an “Ex ante, ex nunc, ex post –assessment system” and to see what supportive instruments have to be developed. This assessment system will be used to draw up new regulations (prevention) and assess existing regulations (legislation assessment). The basic principles are a maximum responsibilisation of process owners and the assumption that legislation is a continuous management process (regulatory management). The analysis of the impact of new European regulations has been finalised and will soon be tested in cooperation with the Cabinet of the Minister attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and a few pilot services. E GOV The Federal Civil Service for Information and Telecommunication (FEDICT) was set up to develop a common e-government strategy as well as projects and services which can coordinate federal civil services and support this common strategy. The main projects in this field are: F generalised use of the national register number for natural persons; F introduction of a single company registration number; F network for electronic data interchange between (federal) civil services F creation of portal sites for target groups. The federal authorities are starting up a network for electronic data interchange between civil services. In a first stage this network will be used to interchange data concerning a number of specific fields (e.g. a certificate of enrolment in the trade register, a certificate showing that the company meets its obligations as regards social security contributions and VAT, a certificate proving that a company is not in a state of bankruptcy or not involved in compulsory settlement, a certificate of good conduct, etc.) A system assigning a single number to each enterprise has been developed to ensure a reliable information exchange. Efficient e-government requires that the entities about which information is exchanged are unambiguously identified in relations between enterprises, organisations and public services. These single enterprise numbers as well as the basic identification information are entered into a "Crossroads Bank for Enterprises". In addition to the traditional means of communication, the different public authorities will provide eservices in interaction with their different internal computer systems. Portal sites will allow enterprises to get tailor-made information and use the different e-public services in an integrated way. These portal sites will not be restricted to the federal authorities, but will be extended to other public agencies in consultation with the parties concerned and under common management. In this respect, a cooperation agreement was signed last year between the federal authorities and the Communities and Regions.

71


Pagina 72

At regional level Flanders The initiatives taken within the framework of administrative simplification aim at improving customer friendliness and efficiency in the contacts with final customers (individual enterprises) and intermediary organisations such as project promoters, organisers of sponsorship projects and the like. With regard to sponsorship projects the revision of the Flemish Government decree concerning recognition and subsidisation aims explicitly at a more efficient and less time-consuming procedure. This is the first step towards better structured, clearer and more customer friendly contacts. It is also one of the purposes of e-government. On 9 March 2001 a draft cooperation agreement was drawn up between the various federal, Communtiy and regional authorities concerning the development and exploitation of a common e-platform. At the same time an e-government strategy was developed by the EWBL department. This pluriannual strategy is linked with the development of the new economic assistance policy, which will be implemented in 2002, in accordance with the administrative simplification principles, and will thus reduce internal and external red tape. Giving small enterprises the opportunity to apply for consultancy grants online through the SME one-stop shop is a first pilot project within the framework of a broad e-government strategy worked out together with a new economic assistance policy by the Flemish Economy Department. At the beginning of March 2001 advisers, banks and other parties concerned were informed that the way to internet had been opened. In 2002 the project will be integrated into other e-government projects scheduled. The websites that will be developed in the broad e-government project of the Flemish Community will be integrated as much as possible into the organisation, offer a responsive and even pro-active satisfaction of customers users and, in any case, secure a transactional level for dealing with all kinds of customer applications. A higher level of participation in decision-making or policy implementation should be possible at a later stage. These websites will provide information on the following economic assistance initiatives : training vouchers, investment assistance, ecology aid, industrial sites and buildings, SEIN ("Subregionaal Economisch Informatiesysteem", i.e. Subregional Economic Information System or "Streek-Eigen-Informatie-Netwerk", i.e. Regional Information Network) and website Strategic Plan for Town and Country Economy. Wallonia The administrative simplification and a modernised administration totally at the service of the citizen and the company are among the ten common principles of the Future Contract for Wallonia. The Walloon normative and regulatory system is still too opaque and bothersome. To obtain results as soon as possible, the Walloon Government has chosen three main approaches: •

Structure of the virtual crossroads one-stop shop and physical one-stop shops The Walloon Region has developed a virtual one-stop shop for information called the Crossroads Portal Site.

The virtual presence of the Walloon Region on the Web is complemented by a network of local infrastructures: the Green Telephone (toll-free number), the information and welcoming centres – established in the urban fabric – and the "Mobilinfos" i.e. vehicles travelling throughout Walloon

72


Pagina 73

municipalities. They all serve the same purpose: providing physical access to Walloon Region institutions to inform citizens about the fields of regional competence and bringing them nearer to the institutions. The present Crossroads Portal Site provides: a general presentation of Wallonia and its regional institutions; an e-mail address ; the possibility to browse through Walloon legislation via direct access to the Wallex site; a search engine giving access to the Walloon Region guide; links to the sites of the different Walloon public services; finally, since September 2000, centralised and thematic access to the forms issued by the Ministry of the Walloon Region for consultation and/or printing at home. Moreover, seventeen documents are available in a user-friendly electronic version. These measures are aimed at alleviating the administrative obstacles imposed on companies and citizens. § § § § § §

•

Setting-up of an Agency for Administrative Simplification

To develop and accelerate the initiated process, the Walloon Government has decided to set up an Administrative Simplification Commissariat that will become operational by early 2002. •

E-Government

That concept has a double dimension: • Firstly, enabling a public service to fulfil its duties and supply its services to citizens through data processing and telecommunication techniques; • Secondly, enabling a public service to organise or reorganise this services supply by networking the various actors according to the needs and expectations of the beneficiaries and addressees. The purpose of all these objectives is to set up the type of Administration that we wish to have at our disposal in the IIIrd Millennium, i.e. an effective and high-quality administration at the service of all users, be they citizens or enterprises. Brussels Region The Brussels-Capital Region has launched two three-year plans to simplify administrative procedures. They aim, on the one hand, at making GIS based information systems intercompatible for a better coordination of town management and, on the other hand, at asking the municipalities to put their administrative forms online through the Brussels website and in an intelligent electronic way. All these services will be available on telematic terminals installed in the Brussels metro stations and connected with the high debit IRISnet. The Brussels-Capital Region has also opened a public procurement for the creation of a portal site that will include all information already available under the irisnet.be domain name. The Brussels-Capital Region has also entered into the e-government cooperation agreement with the federal and federate authorities.

73


B.

Pagina 74

CAPITAL MARKETS

FURTHER DEVELOP THE RISK CAPITAL MARKET BY EASING QUANTITATIVE CONSTRAINTS ON INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT IN EQUITY CAPITAL, BY ESTABLISHING A FISCAL FRAMEWORK MORE CONDUCIVE TO INVESTMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, THE LATTER TO BE ALSO ENCOURAGED BY ADJUSTING BANKRUPTCY LAWS

At federal level A working group was instructed to study the access of Belgian companies (mainly SMEs) to banking credit and stock exchange markets and submitted a report in mid-October. Several means to foster entrepreneurship and improve the investment climate have been proposed. In the context of the corporate tax reform the federal Government has also taken various measures for SMEs (quoted on the stock exchange or not). The purpose of these measures is to encourage small and medium enterprises and self-employed workers that, more than ever, play a key part in modern economy. In addition to the lowering of the corporate tax rate, the so-called SMEs tax rate - in other words the tax levied on turnovers of up to one million Belgian francs - will be reduced from 28% to 24.25%. Moreover, SMEs have insufficient means to finance their own investments. For that reason they are now authorised to deduct investment gains from corporate tax. In order to incite more people to become self-employed, the status of self-employed workers will be significantly improved. Finally, a bill on insurance in case of bankruptcy has been submitted to Parliament.

At regional level (b) Flanders (c) •

Flemish Guarantee Fund

The general survey on the economic supportive measures in 2001 raised the issue of the extent to which the present guarantee system and the functioning of the Flemish Guarantee Fund still sufficiently fit the present market situation. The assessment of the Flemish Guarantee Fund concentrated on the following subjects: -

Financing and financing problems for small and medium-sized enterprises: the causes of the financing restrictions faced by SMEs are amongst others the high financing cost for SMEs, information problems between the lender and the enterprise, the limited financing proportion, the risk.

-

Guarantee settlement ‘investment credits’: this procedure is used less frequently now. The settlement is a reasonably expensive tool at the level of both management costs and costs related to the guarantees provided. The Flemish Government Decree of 22 July 1993 concerning the functioning of

74


Pagina 75

the Flemish Guarantee Fund was amended. The key items of the new decree are the simplification of the system, the automatic guarantee and the responsibilisation of banks. -

Guarantee settlement ‘risk capital’: this new settlement is seldom used because, according to the participating companies, the value added by the settlement is minimal. The abolition of the current guarantee settlement for risk capital is desirable, considering the limited reach and the minor leverage effect. The American SBIC program and the Dutch Twinning are attractive foreign initiatives.

•

Business Angels Networks (BANs):

On 18 and 25 May 1999 the Flemish Government decided to subsidise the setting-up and the functioning of maximum 5 Business Angels Networks (BANs) in the Flemish Region. A BAN puts beginning and expanding SMEs in touch with private, informal investors (business angels) with a view to financing investment projects. A BAN does not act as an investor. The subsidy amounts to maximum 50% of the BAN’s subsidisable personnel and functioning costs, with an absolute maximum of 8,500,000 BEF for a three-year starting phase. Considering the relative size of the target group of investors and entrepreneurs, only 5 BANs are eligible for financial assistance. Eventually 4 BANs have been recognised. Wallonia §

Capital investment

On 16 June 2001 the Walloon Government approved at first reading a draft of the SOWALFIN decree, which is the final stage in the process of reorganising the PME/TPE financial tools of the Walloon Region. SOWALFIN is a tool exclusively intended for SMEs and very small enterprises in order to improve their access to financing. It will propose various financial products concerning the company's own capital and long-term debts, such as subordinated loans, capital participation, guarantees to cover bank loans… It will also provide adequate information on all public/mixed financial tools, coordinate the action of these tools and simplify administrative procedures. §

Entrepreneurship

On 10 May 2001 the Preactivity Grants Decree was adopted in order to promote entrepreneurship. Under this decree a 12,500 EUR allowance shall be granted to enable initiators of company projects to implement a business plan. This is a method to cover the conceptualisation stage of a tangible project dealing with the development of a company’s economic activity. The Walloon Government also approved a first draft of the decree introducing project creation vouchers. The purpose of this system is to grant 12.25 € worth cheques to job seekers who intend to set up a company. The number of vouchers varies according to the project. These vouchers are meant, on the one hand, to remunerate (acknowledged) consultants who have been put in charge of guiding project creators and, on the other hand, to serve as a substitution income for project creators. An annual budget of 1,785 € has been provided for that purpose.

Brussels-Capital Region (French Community Commission)

75


•

Pagina 76

Entrepreneurship

Thanks to the credits used for this competence, several initiatives were taken in order to, on the one hand, make youngsters aware of entrepreneurship and, on the other hand, to properly accompany people wishing to start up an enterprise plan and people wanting to work as self-employed. ♦ The action is directed at youngsters of the last two years of secondary education in order to encourage them to chose for a tertiary education or a vocational training that would prepare them to the management of a company. Operators that have received financial support are the non-profit association "Jeunes Entreprises – Brussels Region", that supervises the setting-up of mini-enterprises in schools, following a concept that has already proved its attractiveness in the whole world, and ICHEC-PME that develops a more selective awareness-raising programme (DREAM), but which aims at arousing motivation to participate in a mini-enterprise. ♦ For people who want to set up a company, there is a specific training and guidance plan that provides them individual supervision, but also the opportunity to communicate with other people about their experiences. All training programmes and activities organised aim at preventing premature bankruptcies. Several institutions operate in the Brussels area, e.g. the Espace Formation PME INFACINFOBO, the Espace de Commerce Solvay, the I.S.C. Saint Louis, the ORBEM… The French Community Commission has organised a Round Table to group all these institutions in a federal body. Through several jointly developed tools (guide and Internet site), the candidates are directed to the most appropriate structure according to their needs.

LABOUR MARKETS ON THE BASIS OF PAST REVIEWS, A FURTHER REFORM OF TAX AND BENEFIT SYSTEMS TO MAKE WORK ATTRACTIVE, IN PARTICULAR TO CREATE ADEQUATE INCENTIVES FOR OLDER PEOPLE TO CONTINUE TO WORK OR RE-ENTER THE LABOUR MARKET AND TO REVISE THE SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS EXEMPTING OLDER UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE (AGED OVER 50) FROM ACTIVE JOB SEARCH

At federal level

In Belgium the older workers' employment rate is lower than in the rest of the European Union.

Consequently, the latest measures logically aim at increasing the employment rate for this category of workers.

76


Pagina 77

The Employment Rate Act of 5 September 2001 comprises 5 measures in favour of old workers.

The first measure provides that people aged at least 45 years and unemployed for at least one year are eligible for recruitment under the first job scheme, which obliges employers to take on such workers when there is a shortage of young workers.

The second measure provides for a larger structural reduction in the employers' contribution that will be granted to employers who employ workers aged at least 58 years. This additional reduction will vary according to the age of the workers.

The third measure provides that workers aged at least 45 years who have been made redundant and who have at least one-year seniority are entitled to professional redeployment, commonly called outplacement.

The fourth measure grants subsidies to employers who take steps to promote the working conditions of their workers aged at least 55 years.

The fifth measure enables workers aged at least 50 years who enjoy a career interruption or who will obtain time credit as from 1 January 2002, to provide training, guidance and support to new workers in their spare time.

Moreover, workers aged at least 50 years will be entitled - without any time limit - to a career interruption of one day or 2 half days a week, or to a reduction in half-time work. The purpose is to incite older workers to keep working while enjoying a better quality of life.

Furthermore, the unemployed aged at least 45 years and the assimilated categories will be eligible for the activation of unemployment benefits, while the employers of the aforementioned persons will be granted further reductions in social security contributions.

77


Pagina 78

Finally, unemployed persons aged at least 50 have to register as job seekers again.

At regional level Flanders •

Fight against unemployment traps through day-care centres and mobility In Flanders unemployment traps are tackled by using prior conditions with a potential large influence on the employment of job seekers and jobless persons, for instance by promoting professional and geographical mobility (see (4)) and (flexible) day-care centres. For the period 2001-2004 the Flemish Government Childcare Plan provides for an extra 2,500 places a year in day-care centres. This extension will increase the number of places available in the Flemish Region per 1,000 children under 3 from 300 in 2000 to 350 in 2004.

•

Active fight against unemployment The preventive and active fight against unemployment, recommended in the European employment strategy, is materialised in the Flemish Region by the policy of the Flemish Employment Agency (VDAB) offering a tailor-made solution to the unemployed before they end up as long-term unemployed. This policy is specifically aimed at poorly qualified and young job seekers. The "Vlaams Actieplan Startbanen" is the Flemish version of the first job scheme; it includes additional measures for "opportunity groups" and provides for the active commitment of employers through sector-based protocols. The professional insertion plan for poorly qualified youth is first and foremost intended for young and poorly qualified school-leavers who are obligatorily included in the VDAB policy.

•

Keeping workers in active employment Within its own competences, the Flemish Region pursues a policy to encourage older employees to remain active and employers to take on older employees.

•

Action plan promoting the employment of older people The action plan includes a project subsidy (“zilverpas”) of approximately 12,500 EUR for about 15 enterprises that develop best practices regarding the recruitment of older people and the end of a worker’s career. The first and final job scheme further develops the formula of older experienced workers guiding younger employees. The VDAB has drawn up a recruitment plan for older job seekers (however this plan can only be implemented when the exemption status for older job seekers has been revised by the RVA/ONEM (National Employment Office).

•

Final jobs The "final job credit " or "end of the worker’s career credit" is a fixed monthly premium of maximum 2000 BEF (49.6 €) in addition to the federal allowance for employees over 50 withdrawing from the labour market on a half-time basis (with career interruption). In a first stage, these final jobs are

78


Pagina 79

intended for older employees with a career in the social profit sector (see “Vlaams Intersectoraal Akkoord voor de Social Profit-sector 2000-2005”). These final careers are a means to prevent workers from burning out and having to give up their job totally.

Wallonia •

Active approach to unemployment

In addition to the federal measures, the Walloon Region has signed a charter with the social partners in order to increase the number of the so-called "Rosetta" jobs provided for in the cooperation agreement between the Federal State and the Regions. As the rate of "young" jobs to be created amounts to 3% of the wage bill, the social partners have committed themselves to raise this rate to 4%. The Region has also committed itself to create 500 new jobs within the framework of the Professional Transition Plan, in addition to the 6,000 jobs already included in the budget on an annual basis. Besides the Rosetta Plan, the Region has also implemented a plan providing support and guidance to young job seekers during three months after they leave school. The goal of the first year of implementation (from April 2000 to April 2001) was to reach 7,500 individual contracts. The results exceeded the Government's expectations (8,500 contracts signed). However, professional insertion has been deemed insufficient as there have been few long-term contracts. The Forem, i.e. the Walloon Job Agency, instructed to apply this measure, has therefore reviewed its elements so as to steer young job seekers more adequately towards training courses leading to qualifications. As to older job seekers, the Minister for Employment and Training has reached several agreements with the trade sectors. This sector-based approach to the problems encountered by enterprises (shortage of skilled workers, for instance) includes a series of concrete actions (training, awareness campaign, etc.) and a specific measure aimed at risk categories, especially older job seekers. Additional financial means have been earmarked by both public authorities and sector funds to organise specific training courses for these risk categories. •

Older workers

Faced with the demands of the non-profit sector, the Walloon Region has, within the framework of the intersectoral agreement relating to the non-profit sector, taken a measure to favour older workers facing hard working conditions (person's care, hospital care, etc.) : instead of introducing an early retirement scheme, the public authorities propose a partial reduction in work time and/or the steering of the workers concerned towards less hard activities, once they have been trained. Moreover, the Walloon Government has approved at first reading a draft decree on financial incentives for the training of company workers. In this context, a specific guidance measure is intended for workers aged over 50 years and provides for a financial contribution of the Government to enterprises that allot some of the working hours of an older worker to the training of a young recruit in the enterprise. The contribution varies between 6 and 9 EUR per hour, with a minimal and maximal ceiling of respectively 300 and 480 hours a year per "tutor".

79


Pagina 80

Finally, in order to tackle the issues linked to the lack of employment and qualifications, the Walloon Region intends to set up a permanent structure for the promotion of the technical and manual jobs (i.e. those most affected by shortage). This structure uses various means to communicate and heighten public awareness, such as a mobile "Jobs Village" run by workers at the end of their career, whose sharing of experiences, talent and expertise will spark the interest of young people in technical education and training courses. ADDRESS THE MAIN OBSTACLES TO LABOUR MOBILITY AND ENCOURAGE SOCIAL PARTNERS TO ALLOW WAGE-SETTING MECHANISMS TO BETTER TAKE INTO ACCOUNT PRODUCTIVITY AND LOCAL LABOUR MARKET CONDITIONS, WHILE PRESERVING WAGE MODERATION At federal level As far as labour mobility is concerned, the following measures have been taken: increased tax deduction of transport costs between the workers’ home and workplace, tax deduction of investments relating to transport plans developed by companies, collective transport of workers and carpooling.

Moreover, the social partners have decided to suppress the ceiling on the employers’ contribution in workers’ transport costs.

Finally, the portfolio of competences that can encourage lifelong learning by recognising the various skills acquired by workers and job seekers will improve their employability and give them new working opportunities wherever their skills will thus be recognised.

Moreover, as to wage determination the social partners have asked - in the 2001-2002 interprofessional agreement - to consider the wage cost increase margin per working hour fixed at 6.4% as an indicative standard during sector-based and company talks. They have also asked not to exceed 7% in the sectors where performances are particularly positive. At regional level Flanders In Flanders the geographical mobility of workers is promoted through Cooperation agreements between the Flemish Region on the one hand and the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region on the other hand in order to foster job seekers’ mobility across regional borders through the exchange of language and technical traineeships. A Mobility Fund (“Rollend Fonds Mobiliteit”) has been set up within the VDAB in

80


Pagina 81

order to increase mobility of job seekers: lending of mopeds and bicycles. Besides, free driving lessons for job seekers have been organised as an experiment. Labour mobility is promoted by raising the qualification level of employees and job seekers. From 2002 on longlife training of employees will be even more encouraged through training vouchers, i.e. a simple system designed to finance the training of employees and self-employed persons, which is specifically intended for small and medium-sized enterprises. Within the framework of the Flemish Longlife Learning Plan ‘Een leven lang leren in goede banen’, a 2001 decree guarantees the individual right to longlife learning. The Flemish plan will turn the VDAB training centres into competence centres for career management. The VDAB will also launch a large-scale Basic ICT Skills Plan. The 2001-2002 Flemish Employment Agreement provides for a sector-based analysis of bottlenecks and a common approach of the Flemish Government to tackle these issues sector-wise especially through training incentives, consultants and diversity managers. To improve mobility and promote lifelong learning, the European Commission emphasises the importance of the recognition of qualifications and skills. In Flanders a working group ‘competences acquired elsewhere’ examines how this recognition of competences can be put into practice. Wallonia With regard to geographic mobility, the Walloon Region supports language learning. Several measures have already been implemented, e.g. a grant scheme for language learning in a foreign country (1,250 EUR for a 3-week training period) and a trainees exchange system based on a cooperation agreement concluded with the Flemish Community. Concerning professional mobility, the Region has made important efforts for lifelong training. These efforts have led on the one hand to a draft decree on "Financial incentives": two action plans are proposed, the first one, "training vouchers", grants 30 EUR face value vouchers for general training (logic of employability); the other one, "credit and adaptation", grants amounts from 6 to 9 EUR/hour/worker for specific training (logic of adaptability). On the other hand, the Region keeps creating competence centres, providing new technology training in specific fields such as ICT, transport/logistics, food-processing industry, car industry, metallurgy, wood, graphic arts... What makes the originality of these centres is a public-private partnership (sector funds), the links with local development, a "state-of-the-art" equipment, the opening to many beneficiaries (workers, job seekers, students and trainers). The innovation capacity is guaranteed by universities and/or other research centres. Furthermore, the Walloon Region is developing, in conformity with the Lisbon and Feira decisions, a strategy of lifelong training, also in line with one of the priorities of the future contract for Wallonia, i.e. the access for all citizens to the knowledge society. This strategy is based on various axes including access for everybody - also the poorest people - to training, a better transparency of information on the supply of training and vocational guidance, development of a pertinent and quality offer permanently adapted to the entreprise's needs, creation of a validation system of experience gathered by formal and informal learning - with legal and notoriety effects, a structural and scientific approach to the bottleneck problem and finally, a reinforcement of basic competences mainly concerning ICT. In this respect, a vast ICT awareness campaign and/or an ICT training plan will be proposed to the whole working population from January 2002 on. A decree about lifelong training is being prepared.

81


Pagina 82

CONTINUE TO ENHANCE, TOGETHER WITH THE SOCIAL PARTNERS, LABOUR MARKET FLEXIBILITY BY FURTHER RELAXING CONDITIONS FOR FIXED-TERM AND TEMPORARY CONTRACTS AND INCREASING WORKING-TIME FLEXIBILITY, WHILE ENSURING THAT ANY REDUCTION IN WORKING TIME HAS NO ADVERSE IMPACT ON UNIT LABOUR COSTS AND LABOUR SUPPLY

At federal level The following three measures increase the flexibility of working time: 1. general introduction of the 38-hour week on a voluntary basis, which leads to a reduction in the social security contributions of employers who apply this system before 1 January 2003;

2. collective shortening of the working week to less than 38 hours on a voluntary basis and introduction of the 4-day week, leading to a reduction in social security contributions for the employers concerned;

3. individual granting of time credit for workers who apply for it, without prejudice to company management.

Employers who implement these measures are not obliged to resort to compensatory recruitment.

Finally, under the 2001-2002 interprofessional agreement, the social partners have committed themselves – within the National Labour Council - on the one hand, to analyse the time-saving experiments in order to possibly create an implementary framework for this measure and, on the other hand, to examine the differences between the status of blue-collar workers and the status of white-collar workers, and to find a sustainable solution for a period of 6 years. At regional level Flanders The more flexible labour organisation is promoted by the Flemish Government in consultation with the Flemish social partners (VESOC), a.o. through the system of incentive bonuses for career interruption and part-time work. These bonuses are granted in addition to the allowances granted within the federal framework for career interruption or time credit. In 2001 these Flemish incentive bonuses have been revised and now provide five options: training credit, career’s end credit, credit for companies in difficulties, care credit, one-fifth career reduction. The purpose of this new system is to make it easier for the workers concerned to alternate periods of work, training and caretaking without obliging them to permanently withdraw from the labour market or to resume work with outdated qualifications.

82


Pagina 83

Wallonia Through two plans, the Walloon Region helps companies setting up systems for the collective reduction or reorganisation of working time, in addition to the federal measures taken in this field. The first plan provides financial support to companies so that they can offer their workers and managers a training that guarantees better skills and polyvalency within the company. It also enables companies to remain productive and competitive, despite a reduction in working time. The second plan is a subsidy system to enable companies to conduct a study prior to the setting-up of a project to reduce or reorganise working time.

83

Cardiff-verslag 2001 Pagina 0 HERVORMING VAN PRODUCTEN-, DIENSTEN- EN KAPITAALMARKTEN BELGISCH VERSLAG VOOR DE EUROPESE UNIE

Recommend Documents