In Flanders, nine new merged municipalities are already underway and we hope that all of them will be merged by January 1, 2025. It relates to cities and municipalities in Antwerp, East Flanders, Flanders Brabant, Limburg, and for the first time in West Flanders.
The story behind these mergers
West Flanders
- In West Flanders, we've been waiting for cities and municipalities to merge for a long time, but on April 25, 2022, they were the first two to announce that Wingene and Ruiselede would merge from 2025.
- The newly merged municipality has approximately 20,000 inhabitants.
Want to know more about the announcement of the merger of Wingene and Ruiselede? Then click here†
East Flanders
- Lochristi and Wachtebeke announced in December 2021 that they will merge by January 1, 2025. "We prefer to choose our own bride, rather than waiting for a compulsory merger to be enforced," Mayor Rohilisti said.
- In total, the merger will have 31,000 residents.
- The mayor doesn't want to say anything about the name of the newly merged city.
Want to know more about the announcement of the Lochristi and Wachtebeke merger? Then click here.
- In March 2022, Moerbeke announced that it would merge with the city of Lokeren to become a sub-local government. “As a small municipality, I realized that the challenges for local governments are increasing,” said the mayor of Moerbeke.
- After the merger, the city will be home to 49,000 inhabitants.
- The newly integrated municipality will take over the name of the city-Loceren.
Want to know how the inhabitants reacted? You can discover it in this article.
- The latest merger project is the merger of Beveren and Kruibeke. On April 4, 2022, it was announced that the two municipalities would become one municipality from 2025.
- In that case, the municipality has a total of 65,000 inhabitants. "Beveren-Kruibeke could be the second largest municipality in Flanders," the mayor said. They mainly want to be able to be located between Antwerp and the surrounding city of St. Niclas.
- Zwijndrecht has also been an option for a long time, but the merger has failed.
Want to know more about this new merger? Then you can move on to this article.
Antwerp (and Flanders Brabant)
- At the end of January 2022, Borsbeek and Antwerp announced that talks were underway to make Borsbeek the tenth district of the city. The final decision will be submitted to the two city councils at the end of 2023, with the intent to be formally adhered to on January 1, 2025. Mayor De Wever talks about a "historic step," but recognizes that not all Borsbeek residents are yet convinced. "For some Bolsbekenalen, I understand that it is an oath in the church." Nevertheless, De Wever promises that the new district will be able to maintain its personality.
- This means that Antwerp has gained 11,000 more inhabitants, making Antwerp a little bigger for the first time since 1983.
Find out more about the new district in this article.
- Mechelen and Boortmeerbeek want to consolidate into one municipality by 2025. This is the first planned interstate merger. Mechelen is in the province of Antwerp and Boortmeerbake is in the province of Flemish Brabant.
- With over 100,000 inhabitants, the new merged municipality will be Flanders' fourth largest municipality. Discussions are underway, but no final decision will be made until the end of 2023.
Read more about the newly merged municipality This article†
Limburg
- In October 2021, Ham and Tessenderlo also announced that they would like to merge. Again, the merger is scheduled for January 1, 2025.
- Nothing is known about the new name yet. "It hasn't been considered yet," Ham's mayor said in October. "But we will certainly involve the public in it."
- There is another catch: population. Big question? Will Ham-Tessenderlo reach 30,000 inhabitants together? If you reach 30,000, if you do not reach 9 million, you will receive 12 million euros. That 3 million questions will only be answered in June 2022, when Statistics Belgium announces its decisive population.
Learn more about mergers and exciting populations here.
- Talks between Bilzen and Hoeselt began at the end of 2020, and the two city councils approved the merger on June 28, 2021. This merger is also scheduled for 2025.
- The new municipality has 42,300 inhabitants.
- Liemst also participated in the negotiations, but they have postponed the boat for the time being.
If you want to know more about this merger, be sure to read this article.
- In August 2021, Tongeren and Borgloon announced they wanted a merger. It was a surprise as Borgloon had previously seen Alkene, Heath, Kortessem and Wellen. After all, the choice went to Tongeren.
- The newly merged municipality has more than 42,000 inhabitants.
- The name of the newly merged municipality is not yet known.
For more information on this merger, please see this article.
It may be more than just these merged municipalities, and we will announce that more municipalities will want to merge in the coming weeks, months, or years. For example, Oudenaarde wants to hold a referendum on the possibility of a merger with neighboring municipalities Kluisbergen, Kluisbergen and Waltegem Petegem. In that case, it will be a "perfusion" with a new municipality with nearly 60,000 inhabitants.
debt
An important advantage for voluntarily merging local governments is that Flanders will be financially rewarded by taking over (part of) the debt. Specifically, it is related to these "rates".
- If the newly merged municipality has 20,000 to 25,000 residents, 200 euros per inhabitant.
- If the newly merged municipality has 25,000 to 30,000 residents, 300 euros per inhabitant.
- If the newly merged municipality has 30,000 to 35,000 residents, 400 euros per inhabitant.
- As a new merged municipality with more than 35,000 inhabitants, 500 euros per inhabitant.
Is it obligatory?
The big question is what the next Flanders government will do. Does it leave the choice of whether the municipality will merge voluntarily? Or will it gradually develop into an obligation? "Denmark once said it needed up to 100 municipalities," said Herwig Reynaert, a political scientist at Ghent University.
"Denmark municipalities were initially allowed to arrange this themselves, otherwise the government would intervene. Landed in 98 municipalities. Flanders people also moved towards that 100. If you want, more municipalities need to merge (counting at the moment, Flanders 300 municipalities), especially if people continue to stick to their spontaneous nature, it will be a tricky job. "
Source: vrt
