|
|
|
| Partners | Contact | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
Project: The impact of the Belgian state reforms on the Flemish department of Administrative Affairs (2007-2011)
FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH ISSUE Since 1970, Belgium experienced a continuous change in the way the competences were divided between the central government and the regional governments with the five state reforms as milestones. These reforms are not the end of Belgium's institutional reform because since the elections of 2007 a sixth state reform is put on the political agenda as a priority. A sixth state reform will certainly take place, the only question one can ask is when this will take place and how structural these reforms will be. This potential extensive competence reshuffle following out of the sixth state reform will have an important consequence in the field of the change dynamics within the Flemish government. This project wants to provide an overview of all necessary success factors which are important in the change management process which is a consequence of the state reform. The central research questions of this project are:
These research questions are answered by analyzing past competence transfers. These cases are constructed through document analysis and are tested during interviews with former important actors. These cases are divided according to the policy steps in the policy cycle: agenda-setting, policy formulation, decision-making, implementation and evaluation and are tested along the principles of change management. In 2007 the impact of the state reform on the statistical policy in a decentralized system is analyzed. International statistical data are gathered mostly from the federal (Belgian) level. Flanders has no real competence in this area and therefore lacks international exposure. The dynamics of the state reforms offer opportunities for the Flemish statistics policy. Therefore the operational research question is: How can state reforms help to optimize the Flemish statistic policy? To answer this question an international comparative case is developed. There will be a focus on Québec, a comparable region in a federal constitution. This case study will result in fail- and success factors and conclusions for the Flemish statistics policy. In 2008 the competence transfer agriculture after the fifth and last state reform will be analyzed. How did agriculture appeared as a potential regional competence on the political agenda, how was the policy formulated, what were the decisions, and especially important, how did they implement and integrate the competence within the Flemish administration. Finally, all of these phases are evaluated and a round up is given of all necessary conditions one has to take into account when dealing with future transfers. Important points of attention are: organizational structure, staff, housing, logistics, ICT and budget. In 2009, the same research is done for the competence transfer of foreign trade. In 2010 the aim is to analyze other cases of competence transfers after the fifth state reform (regulation on local and provincial governance and develepment cooperation) and to analyze the first and second package state reform of 2008. In 2010, this project will also analyze the success factors for the internal Flemish state reform which is currently discussed. In 2011 a limited survey will be organized amongst several transferred federal and receiving Flemish civil servants. The results will be valorized on two levels. The first level is formed by the results of each sThe results will be valorized on two levels. The first level is formed by the results of each separate research. Based on case studies, the fail and success factors are analyzed in a report. KU Leuven, Public Management Institute
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
With support of the Flemish Government | Copyright © KU Leuven | Realisation: Anita Van Gils | Last change: December 19, 2006 | http://www.steunpuntbov.be |
|
