Thierry Geerts is the chief executive of BECI (Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry), which represents more than 35,000 businesses in the capital. In the aftermath of the drug-related shootings in Brussels earlier this month, he talks to The Brussels Times about the perception of insecurity and the impact on business. This interview was conducted before the latest shootings.
Brussels has been shaken by a succession of drug-related shootings at the start of February, two of which have been fatal (as of 17 February). Surveillance footage of the first shooting showed two people carrying Kalashnikovs in the Clémenceau metro station in Anderlecht right before rush hour. Not much later, a bullet hole was found in a child's bedroom wall.
The Brussels Times: Brussels' reputation has taken a beating lately. Is security at the top of your priorities list at BECI?
Geerts: We have been putting security and cleanliness at the top of our public policy agenda for a year now. Not because Brussels is completely unsafe – if you compare it with other big cities of the same size, it still seems to be okay – but because safety is worsening. Brussels used to be a very safe city but in the last years we see it is going in the wrong direction. So you have to react fast.
This is not a new problem but what happened in the last days and weeks is obviously concerning, because it is an escalation. So once again, we are going in the wrong direction.
TBT: How does this impact businesses?
Geerts: Although Brussels is still relatively safe compared to other international cities, these incidents are highlighted by the international press. Now, the perception is that we have a situation that is completely out of control. But once again, this is not the case.
Still, more has to be done. And on all government levels. In many cases, the root of the problem is drugs. But the drugs come from the Port of Antwerp, so it is not just a Brussels problem. A lot of drugs end up in Brussels because there is more poverty than in other Belgian cities. So this is a more national or even global problem.
The asylum crisis adds another dimension. Refugees are coming here but they are not being managed well: they have no status, no place to sleep, and so they often become homeless in Brussels. But that is not specifically a problem that Brussels can solve by itself. The new Federal Government has put safety and security higher on the agenda, so that is a step in the right direction, for Brussels and for businesses.
But on the regional level, we do not have a Brussels Government. Meanwhile municipalities make the excuse that these issues need to be handled on the regional and national levels. But the municipalities also have to do more.
TBT: Do you have some concrete examples of how businesses are affected?
Geerts: The perception of Brussels as unsafe is not only bad for business but for retail in the city as well. Customers are staying away from certain areas, or from Brussels altogether because they do not feel safe. Additionally, companies in Brussels have a hard time getting their employees into the office, because they feel unsafe in the metro or the train stations.
So when dealing with the topic of safety, you need to prioritise the train stations, and particularly Brussels Midi station, which for many international people is the gateway not only to Brussels but also to Belgium. The situation there is really concerning, as the first thing we see in Brussels.
We have had a tsunami of requests and complaints. Not only in the last two weeks, but since the end of 2024 and start of 2025. The three banks in the Louise area are complaining about the safety of the employees, the shopping organisations are complaining about retail getting in trouble with homeless people sleeping in front of their shop, and then every day they have to clean again, and much more.
We used to receive some general requests that had more to do with mobility, but now, it's safety, safety, safety. Here as well, it is sometimes also perception. Most of the homeless people will never hurt anyone. It's not a choice, they are in a bad situation. But if you have to cross a place in a metro station in the evening and you are all alone and there are several homeless people, you will feel unsafe. It is more about perception.
Thierry Geerts pictured during the Flemish Industry Summit, March 2024. Credit: Belga
TBT: How are you raising this with authorities?
Geerts: When we visited political parties and people elected last year, they were always surprised that the first thing I talked about was security. They thought that as a business organisation we would have requests about mobility or other measures.
And while it is true that security is a broader issue, no business thrives in an unsafe environment. Before you take any other measures to stimulate the economy, you have to start with making sure that people feel safe in the city. The good news is that we have been pushing very hard on that and we have a voice.
That said, Belgium has to align its different layers of politics better. But this is not specific to Belgium. In other countries, you also see that the national level and municipalities have to cooperate better.
But the world is complex. We have international uncertainty that we must take into account. We need to dedicate bigger budgets to safety and security than before. We have to change priorities: you cannot do any other policy measure if there is no safety. If people do not feel safe, they will not think about sustainability or being more inclusive. Safety is the starting point of all your programmes.
TBT: Do you feel that these concerns are understood and acted upon?
Geerts: The good thing is we are having discussions. But everyone is pointing the finger at each other: 'It is because of another layer of politics', 'It is because of the national government', or 'It is because of the regional government.' But this is the moment to say 'I don't care who's responsible. I can do something and I will double down on that'. Otherwise nothing happens. We can all do twice as much on this topic.
It's also important to not just focus on isolated incidents but on the broader issue. Otherwise authorities are just reacting instead of acting preventatively.
Sure, you can clean the area at Clémenceau (where two of the shootings happened) and station a lot of police officers there. This might prevent problems there for a while but without a doubt, something will happen somewhere else. This is already the case actually, because last year the exact same thing happened around Porte de Hal.
Police during intervention exercises at a royal visit to the Polbru Cadets of the Brussels Capital Ixelles police zone, March 2024 in Brussels. Credit: Belga
TBT: Are you in touch with anyone at the Brussels Regional level, considering they do not have a government yet?
Geerts: Yes, this is a bit complicated. We have been saying it for six or seven months so it is getting a bit boring but forming a Regional Government is the number one priority. Brussels has a major budget deficit, but to solve that you need money. But if you do not manage the budget, it will be impossible to manage safety. So back to square one.
The first step is to have a government; second will be for this government to put safety on top of the agenda. Thirdly, all people involved – and that includes SNCB, STIB and other stakeholders – have to double their efforts. We must solve this all together but nobody has the complete responsibility. Still, if everyone does their bit and then a bit more, we could get much further.
TBT: At a press conference last week, Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort (PS) said that residents will "just have to live with" a certain degree of drug-related violence in the city. Do you think that is the right approach?
Geerts: No. The right thing would have been to say that internationally speaking, there is not a big problem with Brussels. But with these headlines, it looks as if Brussels is more unsafe than other big cities, but that is not the case.
However, it seems as if safety is in decline, compared to the Brussels of around ten years ago. I agree with Mr Vervoort that there will always be some drugs and violence in a big city but we do not have to accept the decline. Once you do that, you really end up in trouble. It is not acceptable that someone in charge would give the message that drug violence is okay because it happens in a big city. That is not okay, if you are managing the situation in the country and in the city.
That is also the problem with this outgoing Brussels Government. They are what we in Belgium call "in current affairs" (meaning it is limited to purely administrative decisions and only settling routine matters), which is not good when you need to manage a crisis. Everything is complicated here. I hope that the people who have been elected now get the responsibility and use this as an additional reason to push harder to get a coalition agreement.
There is a need for short-term action, but if you only look at the short term, you will not solve anything. This has to be solved as a global issue.
