Flemish Home Affairs Minister Bart Sommers (Open Vld) is examining whether an ethics committee can be set up in all local authorities. He said this in the Flemish Parliament.
In 2021, Audit Flanders received a record 89 complaints of potential abuse in local authorities. “Today, one in three municipal councils in Flanders already has an ethical affairs committee,” Summers said. “In this way, deontology automatically becomes a topic of regular discussion, so that abuse is dealt with preventively. I want to see how we can install this machine in all our cities and municipalities.”
However, CD&V does not believe in the ethics committee as a solution to checking wrongdoing by politicians and sees Audit Flanders as a better partner.
A politically constituted ethical committee. “The majority could simply vote for a critical opposition there,” Brecht Warnes said. “The audit of Flanders, on the other hand, is independent and this is essential. Every report must receive a credible investigation. Thousands of representatives and civil servants work hard for their population. We must not put them in a bad light.”
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