Brussels governance: Overstuffed boards dilute administrator responsibility

Six months after the Brussels government's oath of office, regional institutions are finally establishing their administrative boards. However, beyond the identities of the political appointees, fundamental questions about the governance structure are resurfacing.

Martin de Brabant, the mayor of Schaerbeek and a newly appointed administrator at the Port of Brussels and Sibelga, has voiced strong criticism of what he perceives as an administrative machinery bogged down by excessive numbers. He argues that the overrepresentation of members on boards like Sibelga's, which has 29 administrators, leads to a "near-complete dilution of individual and collective responsibilities." De Brabant believes this hinders strategic decision-making, often reducing board meetings to mere rubber-stamping or information sessions.

De Brabant's comparison with other entities reveals a pattern of oversized boards in Brussels. The STIB (Brussels public transport) has 19 administrators, compared to the SNCB (national railway) with 14, TEC (Walloon public transport) with 15, and De Lijn (Flemish public transport) with 11. Similarly, the Port of Brussels has 20 administrators, while the ports of Antwerp and Liège have 13 and 12, respectively. Energy and water intermunicipal companies also show this trend, with Sibelga (28) and Vivaqua (29) significantly exceeding Ores (20) and SWDE (14). Even Hub.brussels recently increased its board from 9 to 15 members.

De Brabant attributes this "hypertrophy" partly to a "Brussels culture" of political overrepresentation. He notes that the median number of administrators for BEL 20 companies is 10, highlighting the scale difference. Marie Goransson, a public management professor at ULB, suggests that the mandatory representation of Dutch speakers on Brussels boards, unlike in Flanders or Wallonia, might contribute to the larger numbers. She also mentions the "Saint Andrew's cross" mechanism for allocating Brussels positions.

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Take the Sibelga board: it has 29 administrators. It's plethoric. Having so many people around the table leads to a near-complete dilution of individual and collective responsibilities. In this context, it becomes impossible to address strategic issues: boards often turn into simple chambers of ratification or information sessions.