Transparency, free access to information

The joint decree and order of 16 May 2019 of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Joint Community Commission and the French Community Commission relating to the publicity of the administration in the institutions of the Brussels-Capital RegionExternal link are intended to increase the transparency of the administration by facilitating access to administrative documents and environmental information.

In particular, this means that the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region is required to publish a certain number of documents on its website for the general public.

The Region's official website meets this requirement and allows citizens to consult the following documents via sections of the site or via links to external sites:

• the composition of the Cabinets of the members of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region (click on the name of each member of the Government to access the composition of the ministerial cabinets);
• the agendas and decisions of the Council of Ministers of the Brussels-Capital Region;
• the report on the state of the Brussels environmentExternal link;
• the register of protected heritage.External link

The Government of the Brussels-Capital Region is made up of a Minister-President (French-speaking) and four Ministers (2 French-speaking and 2 Dutch-speaking) elected by the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region.

In addition, on a proposal from the Government, Parliament has elected three regional Secretaries of State, one of whom is Dutch-speaking. These Secretaries of State are not members of the Government but attend all or part of its meetings. They are deputised to a member of the Government who has assigned them responsibilities.

The members of the Brussels Regional Government manage the matters defined by the regional powers: town and country planning, urban renewal, housing, public works, transport, economic policy, foreign trade, employment, environmental protection, energy, local authorities, scientific research and international relations.

Inventories of subsidies, studies and public contracts are published in the "Transparency" section of the websites of the administrations and competent public interest bodies responsible for implementing Government policy.

Data transparency is a fundamental objective set by the Brussels-Capital Region. But without the possibility for citizens to use and re-use data, this objective was only partially achieved. This is what the Region wanted to do. View, analyse and compare the budgets invested by the Brussels administrations in the context of public contracts and subsidies via the Openbudgets platform.

Any questions concerning the transparency of the Brussels administration can be addressed to the Commission d'Accès aux Documents Administratifs (CADA).