Belgium's 2024 local elections are around the corner. Brussels residents will vote to elect their local council on Sunday 13 October, and indirectly, their new mayor (bourgmestre in French or burgemeester in Dutch).
Knowing how the local election list system works is key to understanding who is running. Find all you need to know about lists here. Our practical guide will tell you everything you need to know before the big day.
Some numbers below are missing. This is because there are a total of 13 lists in Brussels, but not every list appears in every commune.
Current mayor: Catherine Moureaux (PS)
Current coalition: PS-Vooruit, Liste du Bourgmestre
Number of seats on the council: 45
Population: 98,365 (Statbel)
Average income: €11,774 per year (Statbel)
Average cost of housing: The average cost for a flat is €2,581/m², while the average cost for a house is €2,382/m² (Immoweb)
1. PS - Vooruit
Lead candidate: Catherine Moureaux (PS)
Number of candidates on the list: 45
Housing: build more social and middle-class housing, invest in the renovation of existing housing, provide emergency housing for vulnerable and homeless people.
Security: more neighbourhood officers on foot or by bike, improve attractiveness of neighbourhood police officer role, zero tolerance for violence against police and first responders.
Cleanliness: step up waste collection, increase fines, launch campaigns to encourage residents to keep their neighbourhoods tidy.
Education and youth: prioritise quality education, provide career opportunities by offering training and employment programmes, create internships and apprenticeships in cooperation with local businesses, support young entrepreneurs.
Full list programme here.
3. Les Engagés - CD&V
Lead candidate: Hassan Ouassari (Les Engagés)
Number of candidates on the list: 45
Cleanliness: step up checks, deploy mobile cameras to tackle illegal dumping, introduce deposit returns for bottles and cans to reduce litter in the streets, install underground containers, regionalise the cleanliness competence so there is just one point of contact.
Mobility: create a 15-minute city where every citizen can access shops, essential services, community facilities (sport, culture, leisure, etc.) and public services in less than 15 minutes on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Housing: merge local housing companies, minimum share of social housing in major projects, register vacant buildings better and impose fines faster, reduce registration duty to 6% for the purchase bracket between €200,000 and €600,000, make renovation plans for entire neighbourhoods, ensure energy supply and water management at neighbourhood level.
Full list programme here.
4. Ecolo-Groen
Lead candidate: Emre Sumlu
Number of candidates on the list: 45
Cleanliness: tackle the biggest problem zones first and organise clean-up actions with local residents, set up collection points, sorting streets and underground containers, develop a resource plan to map waste sources.
Climate and public space: renovate social housing, encourage energy renovations by neighbourhood and support energy communities to reduce the electricity bill, develop a climate plan, ask local residents about the redevelopment of public space.
Mobility: create "green promenades" and more cycling lanes on streets that are shared with local car traffic, divert transit traffic to the inner ring road, develop more school streets, ensure that police are stricter in ensuring that traffic rules are respected by all road users.
Security: develop a safety plan with residents and neighbourhood officers, diverse police team should be present in the neighbourhood on foot or by bicycle and treat everyone equally, step up the fight against drug dealing and work with street educators and carers to help homeless people and those with addictions.
Full list programme here.
6. MR-VLD
Lead candidate: Gloria Garcia Fernadez
Number of candidates on the list: 45
Cleanliness: create a recycling centre and increase the penalties for illegal dumpers, reform the Brussels Cleanliness Agency (ABP), clarify the institutional framework for an effective distribution of tasks and rely on private sector expertise, apply a zero-tolerance policy to combat impunity with shock operations and an effective sanction policy.
Security: reactivate the canal plan (action plan against radicalism, extremism and terrorism in the canal zone in and around Brussels), reinvest in local police stations but also ensure that more Brussels residents have access to training to become police officers, appoint a special commissioner responsible for the fight against urban (organised) crime.
Mobility: protect existing parking spaces, specifically in Tour & Taxis, prevent Good Move's elimination of parking spaces.
Full list programme here.
9. N-VA
Lead candidate: Maarten Bijnens
Number of candidates on the list: 7
Security: strict sanctions against organised crime, increase police presence combined with mobile cameras to monitor compliance with laws and municipal regulations, add community guards, neighbourhood police, street workers and associations to monitor vulnerable citizens and young people.
Mobility and traffic: conduct environmental analyses to reduce the risk of traffic accidents to zero, encourage the use of bicycles, invest in cycle paths, bicycle parking spaces and safe crossings, end anti-social traffic behaviour and street racing.
Cleanliness: tackle littering with community service and fines, local police and smart cameras should be used to detect illegal dumping, littering, leaving dog faeces and graffiti, inform citizens about the waste collection schedule.
Housing: social services and the local police should ensure that social housing is only used by those who need it, step up property checks to ensure those looking for affordable housing do not fall into the hands of "slum" landlords, domicile checks should be carried out so that dire situations can be mapped out.
Full list programme here.
11. Team Fouad Ahidar+1080
Lead candidate: Hamza Zibouh
Number of candidates on the list: 31
The list does not specify priorities per commune; the following are for Brussels as a whole.
Cleanliness: install underground containers to combat littering, punish litterers severely, install more public toilets, new residents should receive a welcome pack with information on waste management, bulky waste and hygiene in Brussels.
Security and well-being: instead of seeing the police as an entity primarily focused on fines and financial penalties, they should emphasise raising awareness and creating opportunities, collaborate with local stakeholders such as youth workers and street workers, diversify local police force.
Housing: impose price cap on renting and buying housing with clear and identifiable criteria, prioritise access to social housing for single parents and people with disabilities.
Full list programme here.
13. PTB-PVDA
Lead candidate: Dirk De Block
Number of candidates on the list: 45
Housing: ensure every large private real estate project includes social housing and homes with a moderate sales price, improve the quality of each home and perform quality checks.
Cleanliness: deploy a mobile container park one weekend per month in each neighbourhood so residents can throw away their bulky waste, recruit municipal staff with stable contracts to guarantee quality jobs, introduce severe fines to deter companies from dumping their industrial waste illegally.
Youth and education: contribute to cost of sports or cultural memberships, install more study rooms, co-working spaces, and free or affordable studios, set up a youth council.
Mobility: advocate free public transport throughout the region, organise a large-scale survey and dialogue campaign in the neighbourhoods concerned by mobility changes, ensure free parking for residents in the evening and at weekends in the car parks of supermarkets, offices and public institutions.
Full list programme here.
14. Molenbeek Autrement
Lead candidate: Ahmed El Khannouss
Number of candidates on the list: 45
Housing: increase the supply of decent housing and combating substandard housing, with an emphasis on the social mix and the development of intergenerational housing, facilitate access to housing for families and single people.
Security: develop community policing and step up preventive measures to combat crime and incivility, create a safer environment for citizens, particularly in sensitive neighbourhoods.
Environment and mobility: protect green spaces, improve cleanliness, develop soft and sustainable mobility, encourage local initiatives for efficient waste management and promote renewable energies.
Inclusivity: strengthen solidarity, particularly with the elderly and young people, ensure a high-quality social service, in particular through better management of the CPAS/OCMW and initiatives to combat precariousness and isolation.
Full list programme here.
