At last Thursday’s municipal council, the Ecolo-Groen group voted against the 2025 budget and the Policy Orientation Note for the next three years. The group’s eight members expressed their disagreement with a plan they see as lacking ambition and unfit to meet the municipality’s current challenges.

This opposition is not an impulsive stance but the result of a thorough analysis of the uncoordinated documents submitted by the municipal majority, enriched by the discussions held in the finance committee.

The Ecolo-Groen group regrets the complete lack of anticipation and reaction to the federal government’s measures that are weakening local public services. They particularly highlight a 12% drop in operating costs in just one year and the failure to implement effective financial measures that could generate new revenues, reflecting a lack of long-term vision.

Caroline Joway, Ecolo-Groen group leader, calls for housing to be made a priority for Etterbeek. She proposes several concrete measures:

• Promote the energy and quality transition of Etterbeek’s building stock through targeted support (renovation, energy-saving, and insulation grants).
• Systematically require urban development compensations in kind for the community in exchange for permission to build large projects.
• Increase the resources and capacity of the social rental agency.

Caroline Joway also emphasizes the need to make well-being at school a “municipal emergency priority.” Among her proposals:

• Provide all children with healthy, high-quality, and affordable meals, sourced from organic or sustainable farming.
• Expand the availability of immersion classes and continue the greening of schoolyards.
• Strengthen homework support in schools and increase the number of affordable extracurricular activities for everyone.

Pieterjan Vanden Boer, Groen municipal councillor, highlights the importance of public space projects that promote greater social interaction and resilience in the face of climate challenges, particularly concerning cleanliness and tree planting. He calls on the municipal executive to:

• Strengthen penalties for cleanliness-related offenses.
• Hire additional street sweepers who are familiar with their neighborhood and have a role in fostering social ties.
• Develop a comprehensive plan to green Etterbeek’s streets, aiming to ensure a green space within 300 meters of every resident, 30% of the municipal territory covered in greenery, and three trees visible from every home.

The entire Ecolo-Groen group calls on the municipal majority to wake up. To preserve its living environment and social cohesion, Etterbeek must rally around a strong, clear, and ambitious strategy. The day-to-day management without clear priorities proposed by the majority in its Policy Orientation Note addresses neither today’s societal challenges nor the expectations citizens have of a modern and forward-looking municipality.