More on Belgium #4regions in @lesoir tonight: plus.lesoir.be/367939/article…
There isn’t an answer that doesn’t have inherent problems – with #4regions there will have to be a federal level, there will have to be inter-entity co-operation on culture, education and other things.
Then the questions of cash arise again – not just the question of tax revenue across entities, but also solidarity between regions. Will a move away from inter-regional solidarity be overtaken by increasing EU fiscal consolidation? #4regions
My unexamined gut feel is in favour of smaller entities with high solidarity, combined with a federal level that’s powerful on strategy and rule setting but doesn’t deliver much – combined with multilingualism in politics and public services.
But the state reform more than anything is about balancing different political priorities rather than technocratically perfect solutions. That’s why it’s interesting that the proposals start from a citizen engagement exercise.
Originally posted as a thread of 5 tweets on Twitter on 22 April 2021. View the original thread.