During meetings with the press in Brussels and Antwerp organised by the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, on Tuesday 9 January, the Minister-President of the Flemish Government, Jan Jambon, said: “We aim to future-proof our industries by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices, promoting longevity and competitiveness on the global stage”.
In addition, he said that the European Commission had launched a number of what he considered to be “commendable” initiatives to this end, but added that critical reflection was also needed on unintended side effects.
Mr Jambon called for the abolition of the Temporary State aid Framework in order to preserve fair competition in Europe.
The Flemish Minister-President felt that the temporary framework was currently destabilising the rules of the economic game in Europe, by allowing Europe’s major economies to gain a financial upper hand over smaller regions when it came to attracting investment.
This is detrimental to regions like Flanders and others with small and open economies.
This framework was the subject of a targeted amendment in November 2023 (see EUROPE 13296/18). (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst and Camille-Cerise Gessant)