Flemish government bans use of subsidies to sue the region

Organisations that receive subsidies from the Flemish government will no longer be allowed to use that money to file legal actions against the region. The decision was announced on Monday by Flemish Finance and Budget minister Ben Weyts.

According to Weyts, subsidies should be used exclusively for the purposes for which they were granted, not to pay lawyers, bailiffs or court costs in cases against the government. Allowing that, he said, leads to “absurd situations” where the Flemish authorities end up defending themselves in court against lawyers funded by their own money.

The new rule does not prevent organisations from taking legal or administrative action against the Flemish government, but they must now do so at their own expense. “Subsidised organisations can still go to court as much as they like, just not with taxpayers’ money”, Weyts said.

“The subsidy culture has swung too far”

He added that the decision fits into a broader effort to rein in public spending. “The subsidy culture has swung too far”, he said. “We’re already cutting 210 million euros directly from subsidies, and we’ll keep tightening how this money is used.”

^{#FlandersNewsService | Flemish Minister for Finance and Budget Ben Weyts © BELGA PHOTO ZENO DRUYTS}