What is budget steering?

Wallonia’s budget and accounts must remain aligned with the public finance trajectory adopted by the Government. This trajectory ensures the sustainability of the Region’s public finances and must comply with intra-Belgian commitments as well as the rules of European macroeconomic governance.

Budgetary steering relies on the analysis and monitoring of: 

  • The budget of the general administration services (the SPW, Cabinets of the members of the Walloon Government, as well as related units and equivalent bodies)
  • The budget of public administration units

What WFE does

  • Contributes to the preparation, drafting, and implementation of regional budgets;
  • Analyses the budgets and accounts of public administration units and monitors budget implementation, including their impact on the Region’s financing needs and debt;
  • Prepares and monitors multiannual projections;
  • Issues opinions, at the request of the Government, the SPW (Wallonia Public Service), and public administration units, on policies they initiate, in particular regarding their impact on the Region’s financing needs and debt; 
  • Designs dedicated procedures and tools;
  • Develops investment policy, mobilises the necessary resources, and monitors implementation;
  • Monitors alternative financing;
  • Supports the Government, the SPW, public administration units, and local authorities that request assistance in designing, developing, implementing, and monitoring investment projects and programmes;
  • Provides monitoring and advice on public and private accounting matters;
  • Develops prospective financial, budgetary, and fiscal analyses. 

Wallonia’s budget 

Wallonia’s budget is the consolidation of, on the one hand, the budget of the general administration services and, on the other hand, the budgets of public administration units. 

The budget of the general administration services

The general administration services include the Wallonia Public Service, the Cabinets of the members of the Walloon Government, as well as related units and equivalent bodies. Each year, the Walloon Parliament votes on: 

  • The decree containing the Region’s revenues;
  • The decree containing the Region’s general expenditures budget. 

The budget of the general administration services is prepared by the Government on the basis of proposals submitted by the administration. It reflects the Government’s policy priorities. 

The budget of public administration units

Public administration units are public bodies or bodies controlled by the public sector that implement the Walloon Government’s policy in addition to the action of the Wallonia Public Service. These units form part of subsector S.1312 (federated entities) within the meaning of the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). 

Each public administrative unit prepares its annual budget. 

Public sector accounts

Wallonia is subject to national accounting rules in accordance with the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA).

The Institute for National Accounts is responsible for compiling public sector accounts on the basis of the data provided by Belgium’s different levels of government. These data are channeled through the Base documentaire générale (Federal government’s general documentation database), which prepares the economic regrouping.

The economic regrouping consolidates the revenues and expenditures of the general administration services and public administration units, recorded in accordance with the accrual principle.

The national accounts make it possible to determine the financing requirement (B.9 balance) of general governments.  B.9 balance is the reference indicator used in the framework of European macroeconomic governance (the Maastricht criteria). 

WBFIN legal framework

WBFIN refers to the legal and regulatory framework governing the budget and public accounting of Wallonia’s general government. 

In 2003, a new legislative framework was introduced to organise public accounting in Belgium, marking a major break with previous practices. This framework, stemming from the Loi du 16 mai 2003 fixant les dispositions générales applicables aux budgets, au contrôle des subventions et à la comptabilité des communautés et des régions, ainsi qu’à l’organisation du contrôle de la Cour des Comptes (Law of 16 May 2003 laying down the general provisions applicable to the budgets, subsidy control, and accounting of the Communities and Regions, as well as the organisation of audit by the Court of Audit), as amended, transposes into the public sector the principles of accounting rigor and financial transparency developed in the private sector. 

The scope of this framework extends to both the federal authority and the federated entities, and more specifically to the Walloon Region, thereby ensuring accounting harmonisation across Belgium. This legislative unification represents a major step forward towards improved comparability of public accounts and greater clarity in public finances. 

The key innovation of the 2003 framework lies in the obligation imposed on the federated entities to maintain general accounts linked to budgetary accounts. Although this dual accounting system is demanding from both an accounting and IT perspective, it provides a multidimensional understanding of public management because, since, on one hand, it reflects the economic reality of transactions and, and on the other hand, it reports on the use of budgetary authorisations granted by the executive power and voted by Parliament. 

To comply with this fundamental requirement imposed by the Law containing general provisions, the Walloon Region adopted the décret du 15 décembre 2011, portant organisation du budget, de la comptabilité et du rapportage des unités d'administration publique wallonnes (Decree of 15 December 2011 on the organisation of the budget, accounting, and reporting of Walloon public administration units), as amended. Commonly referred to as the “WBFIN” Decree, it serves as the regional transposition instrument for federal obligations and forms the backbone of Wallonia’s public financial management system. It applies both to the regional entity and to all Walloon public administration units. 

Reference texts

Public investment

Public investment aims to provide the people of Wallonia with modern, high-performing infrastructure that supports the Region’s economic development. 

The Region invests in infrastructure either directly (road networks and waterways), through public administration units (motorway networks, locks, social infrastructure, airport infrastructure), or by subsidising other sectors (local authorities, businesses, or non-profit organisations serving households). 

WFE advises the Region and its public administration units on public investment plans and programmes. This advice considers the public investment best practices. 

This area of expertise also covers Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), including those involving local authorities.

Circular issued by the Minister for Local Authorities on 24 December 2010

Analystes financiers discutant de stratégie fiscale

In the absence of a single definition of PPPs, WFE may be consulted on various forms of partnership and public investment, whether they fall under a specific legal framework (such as a works-promotion contract or a concession) or are carried out through ad hoc arrangements (third-party investor mechanisms, long-term leases, etc.). 

Its involvement may come at several stages of a public investment project carried out as a PPP. WFE may be consulted both on questions of principle relating to the use of PPPs and on more specific legal or financial issues. 

WFE has developed ex ante financial assessment tools designed to help public authorities determine whether this type of contractual arrangement is appropriate. It has also developed a qualitative assessment framework to evaluate, for a given project, the non-financial value of using a PPP. 

WFE also places particular emphasis on sharing best practices. In this regard, WFE is a member, on behalf of the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, of EPEC (the European PPP Expertise Centre), which brings together, alongside specialists from the European Investment Bank, around forty public units dedicated to public investment, notably in the form of PPPs. WFE also represents the Region and the Community in various international bodies specialising in PPPs (within the OECD and UNECE).

Spending reviews

WFE coordinates the annual spending review exercise.

Learn more

SPOC - Institute for National Accounts (ICN)

WFE is the designated contact point and regional partner for Belgian, European, and international financial and tax bodies. WFE also acts as the Region’s single point of contact with the Institute for National Accounts.

Within WFE, Stéphanie WINTEIN has been designated as the SPOC vis-à-vis the Institute for National Accounts (ICN).

Among other responsibilities, the SPOC is responsible for:

  • Collecting the information and statistics required by the ICN
  • Representing the Region in the working groups responsible, under the protocol concluded between the ICN and the Belgian public authorities, for preparing the necessary tables, spreadsheets, and lists
  • Transmitting, within the required deadlines, requests for additional information sent by the ICN to public bodies, and communicating the responses back to the ICN
  • Informing the ICN of any changes likely to affect data transmission or the preparation of ESA and excessive deficit procedure statistics 
  • Representing the Region at mutual information meetings as provided for in the cooperation protocol
  • Centralising and forwarding to the ICN requests for prior opinions submitted by public bodies and reporting entities on the impact of projects or transactions on the Region’s financing balance and debt
  • Preparing the list of all statistical data expected by the ICN, their transmission frequency, and the required format.