The European Semester and health equity Findings from the Recovery and Resilience Plans in eight EU Member States

Home     Austria     Belgium    Finland    France    Italy    Lithuania    Spain    Sweden

Belgium Cross-country analysis of the use of EU Recovery and Resilience Funds

Based on interviews with experts from the Wallonian Agency for a Life of Quality (AViQ) and the Government of Flanders.

Jump to

Key findings from interviews with experts

  • The Recovery and Resilience Plans offered a good opportunity for the development of innovative projects, where resources were previously lacking.

  • The Recovery and Resilience Plans did not entirely reflect the structure of the Belgium federal state, the different competencies, and the fact that not all issues presented are under the responsibility of the same actors.

  • Different levels of government and parallel processes that are in place to foster Flanders' Recovery and Resilience Plan made it difficult to understand the RFF process.

The Belgian Recovery and Resilience Plan A short overview

Belgium_300x300_1
Belgium_300x300_2
Belgium_300x300_3
POLICY AREA 3: Social cohesion and community living
INVESTMENTS RRF (m/€)
Education 2.0 (to improve inclusiveness of education systems, particularly digital skills. Equity-oriented) 412
Training and employment of vulnerable groups (to improve the participation of vulnerable groups to the labour market, boosting their employability and reducing digital inequalities) 165
Better social infrastructure to address lack of social housing for vulnerable groups and increase early childcare provision 227
Reforming the pension system and end of careers, to increase the activity and employment rate of older workers 0
POLICY AREA 3: Mobility
INVESTMENTS RRF (m/€)
Cycling and walking infrastructure (to improve job growth and reduce health risks) 411
Modal shift towards better provision of public transport services (to improve public health and active lifestyles) 672
POLICY AREA 5: Economy of the future and productivity
INVESTMENTS RRF (m/€)
Accessible labour market and training (to increase the employment rate through upskilling/reskilling, while ensuring an inclusive labour market) 371
Implementing a circular economy (to foster social resilience by creating local employment opportunities) 198
Read Belgium's Recovery and Resilience Plan here

2022 Country specific recommendations for health equity

Each spring, the European Commission and European Council make Country Specific Recommendations to provide tailored advice to individual Member States on how to boost jobs, growth and investment, while maintaining sound public finances.

Find Belgium's Country Specific Recommendations here

Belgian Country Specific Recommendations 2022 that are most relevant for health equity

1. […] targeted support to households and firms most vulnerable to energy price hikes
and to people fleeing Ukraine[…]. Expand public investment for the green and digital
transition and for energy security […]

3. Address labour shortages and skills mismatches […]

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

  • The number of doctors in Belgium has increased at a slower pace than in most EU countries in the last decade
  • Long-term care spending is expected to increase in the medium and long-term

SOCIAL POLICY

  • High labor taxes and the complexity of the benefit system discourage more people from working or looking for a job
  • Inequality in education remains a concern
  • Poor labor market integration of vulnerable groups
  • Share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion remains high
  • Skills mismatches, high educational inequalities, and low adult learning participation pose key challenges

CLIMATE

  • Further efforts are needed to put Belgium on track to becoming climate neutral
  • Belgium is lagging behind in the transition to renewable energy
  • Belgium’s climate resilience raises concern

Country Report 2022

The accompanying Country Report analyse each EU Member State’s key socioeconomic challenges with the aim of providing a framework for the coordination of social and economic policies across the European Union.

Belgium's 2022 report contained a number of elements that are directly relevant to health equity.

Find Belgium's Country Report here

Project under the RRP

Development of a HSO benchmark for an integrated care system

The HSO benchmark project is based on the ‘integrated people-centred health systems’ standard. Established on international good practice and evidence on the quality and integration of good practices, the project will involve the development of a consortium and the identification and mapping of initiatives and projects related to the integration of the system. This includes identifying and supporting priority areas, capacity development in the Walloon region, and the evaluation of the integration and monitoring of progress made in the 2021 to 2023 report.

Read more about the project here.

Other projects under the Wallonian and Flemish Recovery and Resilience Plan

Proxisanté (Funding: €0.15m)

The Proxisanté project is a participative process initiated by the government to rethink the organisation of tomorrow’s health. By defining concrete measures and actions, the objective is to reorganise the first line of help and care to further improve the health of Wallonia’s citizens. The project is a first step to developing a more integrated health system in Wallonia, which aims to cover all populations and communities according to their individual needs

Read more about this project here.

Proxisanté

W.all.in.health (Funding: €14m)

The W.all.in.health project aims to develop a digital tool for integrated management for the observation, monitoring, cartography, and the reinforcement of Walloon actions. The tool uses four interconnected interfaces to promote health and prevent disease.

This includes an interface for the general public that provides positive health resources to citizens as well as health and non-health professionals; one for administrative management professionals; one for the case reporting system; and one for the administration for the follow-up of activities in the sector.

The tool will also be used to collect epidemiological and social data, for the evaluation of social policies.

Read more about this project here.

W.all.in.health

Overkop-Huizen (Funding: €4.8m)

OverKop-Huizen are accessible meeting places located around Flanders for young people under 25 ,where they can engage in leisure activities, and receive wellbeing support without being stigmatised. By creating a safe place, the centres help improve young people’s access to healthcare, particularly mental health services. As of June 2022, 33 OverKop-Huizen are operating around Flanders and Brussels.

Read more about this project here.

Overkop-Huizen

Digital Care and Support Plan (Funding: €30m)

This initiative consists of 133 projects selected in March 2022 and will run for two years until February 29, 2024. It is based on three pillars: (1) neighbourhood participation and inclusion; (2) connecting informal and formal care; and (3) intersectoral collaboration between wellbeing and care partners and partners from other domains.

The project focuses on prevention, health promotion and the provision of integrated care and support, with a focus on quality of life. The goal is not only to end up with 133 solid caring neighbourhoods but also to scale up these neighbourhoods throughout the duration of the projects.

Read more about this project here.

Caring neighbourhoods

Digital home assistance (Funding: €19.7m)

The project provides people aged 65+ with assistive devices, which will monitor a person’s habits, report anomalies and call for help in case of emergency. The project will also be used to foster at home living to preserve independency and autonomy.

Digital home assistance

Digital Care and Support Plan (Funding: €30m)

The plan primarily involves the development of an IT platform to create a space for care teams, informal care givers, and patients to communicate. The digital platform is not expected to become a uniform health record, but will rather allow for health planning, including setting goals and priorities based on the needs of individuals in need of care.

Merging the social, medical and welfare sectors is key in Flanders, using the digital system to bring welfare components into health planning. The project aims to tackle the existing fragmentation regarding patient information, whereinformation using digital tools, resulting in limited access to necessary patient information. Moreover, the implementation of the Digital Care and Support Plan depends on the readiness of the users (professional, informal, citizens…).

Therefore, one of the challenges will be to diminish gaps in both health literacy and health
equity. On the other hand, by putting care teams in touch with vulnerable groups, the platform
itself aims to diminish said gaps. The platform is currently at the early stages of development,
aiming to launch a pilot version during 2023.

Read more about this project here.

Digital Care and Support Plan

Solidarity and inclusive habitats, (Funding: €40.8m)

The project focuses on building inclusive housing
for people with disabilities and older people aged 65+, aiming to accommodate inclusive, autonomous and supportive housing equipped with inclusive living conditions to live and age in the best conditions. By creating a residential community, tenants can benefit from the solidarity of their neighbours. Aside from the focus on health, this project also contributes to Walloon’s green objectives, since the project is based on the green principles of construction.

Solidarity and inclusive habitats

Suggestions for the future

Wallonia

  • Recognise and identify the relevant priorities in each individual region

  • Foster integrated and community care approaches

  • Improve autonomy of the elderly and reduce institutionalisation

  • Boost cross-project cooperation and synergies

Flanders

  • Strengthen capacity planning and healthcare system sustainability

  • Improve digital and health literacy, particularly in vulnerable groups

  • Foster mental health and working condition of health workforce

“The Recovery and Resilience Facility has helped to launch a bottom-up strategy to learn about the real needs of the
population and health professionals to adapt our policies.”

– Expert from the Wallonian Agency for a Life of Quality (AViQ), Belgium

Navigate report

This report was produced by EuroHealthNet, the European partnership of organisations, institutes, and authorities working on public health, disease prevention, promoting health and wellbeing, and reducing inequalities. We aim to tackle health inequalities within and between European States through action on the social determinants of health. Read more about us on our website.

Contact

Rue Royale 146
1000 Brussels
Belgium

EN Co-Funded by the EU_POS

EuroHealthNet is co-funded by the European Union. However, the information and views set out on this website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included on this website. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

www.eurohealthnet.eu | www.eurohealthnet-magazine.eu | www.health-inequalities.eu

Skip to content