A municipal councillor for over 30 years, former regional and federal MP, a lawyer by training and alderwoman in Ixelles in charge of Finance, Architecture, Energy and Animal Welfare, Nathalie Gilson embodies a constant commitment. Between public responsibilities and volunteering, she combines rigour, kindness and vision.
- You have been a municipal councillor in Ixelles since 1994, served as alderwoman for several terms, and have added federal and associative roles to your career. What motivates you to still serve on the ground today, and how does your experience enrich your management of sensitive areas such as finance or architecture?
My main motivation remains the drive to carry liberal values at every level where I am active, and a constant commitment to the residents of Ixelles. They give me their trust by electing me without interruption for 30 years. I love my municipality, where I spent almost my entire childhood. With my husband, we raised our three children there. I feel, as they say, “an Ixelles native through and through” in a municipality at the heart of Europe.
My political commitment has also led me to be active at levels beyond the local one. Until very recently, I was an advisor to our Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval, having previously been a regional and then federal MP. This, combined with my experience as alderwoman on several occasions, has given me a global vision and expertise that I use in my daily work since our return to the majority after six years in opposition. I therefore believe I contribute usefully to the deliberations of the College and master the management of complex matters such as Finance, Building Technology and Architecture.
- As alderwoman for finance, you must reconcile budgetary balance with investment in the technical management of municipal buildings and in PLAGE (Local Energy Management Action Plan), which aims to reduce the municipality's carbon footprint. What is your approach to combining rigour with maintaining public heritage?
My approach as alderwoman for finance is for the budget to draw on its own resources without asking residents for additional efforts. Indeed, they were already heavily burdened by two tax increases decided by the previous majority. As a result, residents of Ixelles saw their property tax almost double over six years! For me, this is the essence of the liberal vision: aiming for efficiency in administration and investment based on available resources. We must manage resources and spend public money prudently. Despite the tax increases decided by the Ecolo-PS coalition in the previous term, I inherited a budget that was heading towards regional oversight. We have averted that imminent risk while honouring our campaign pledge not to raise taxes and to aim for a budgetary path that would allow for their reduction. I will pursue this goal with determination throughout this term.
Regarding municipal buildings, which I am also responsible for, the aim is to concentrate efforts and resources on maintaining the magnificent heritage of which history has made us the custodians. We have a museum, a town hall, nurseries, schools with an undeniable heritage character, a listed swimming pool… The goal is to focus our human and financial resources on preserving them and improving their performance. My “PLAGE” responsibility, for example, allows us to develop our energy autonomy through the installation of photovoltaic panels on our municipal buildings, reduce our carbon footprint and make long-term savings by becoming an energy producer. We aim to optimise every euro spent to maximise its impact on the ground and prepare Ixelles for tomorrow's challenges, while maintaining sound financial management of the municipality.
- Ixelles is rich in architectural heritage and very active in terms of urban planning. How do you go about preserving this historic character while supporting sustainable renovation?
It is a case-by-case study of each project. It is not always possible to insulate old buildings, as this would harm their architectural beauty. Brussels regional regulations do not sufficiently take this difficulty into account.
- You are also alderwoman for animal welfare, do you have specific objectives?
It's a responsibility that allows me to be in closer contact with a significant part of the population. For example, knowing that one in eight households owns a dog and that it must be able to run off-leash at certain times, I managed to include in our majority agreement that we would open certain parks to off-leash dogs, of course under their owners' supervision. We will already be opening a first such park in September!
- Thanks to your career as a lawyer at European level and as a federal MP, you know the institutional issues well. How do you use this expertise to defend structuring projects in Ixelles (rationalising spending, cross-cutting approaches)?
My beginnings as a lawyer in an international firm and then as a regional and federal MP allowed me to gain knowledge of institutional issues and to start with solid foundations for what would become my political career. After my first election as a municipal councillor, I quickly became alderwoman, a role I held in every majority the MR was able to join, taking on important areas such as education, then urban planning, environment and finance. I was also a member of the Brussels Parliament, a federal MP, an advisor in the cabinets of Sophie Wilmès, Hadja Lahbib and David Clarinval, for whom I was also part of the team that worked on negotiating the Arizona government agreement.
This zooming in and out on our institutions is extremely instructive and structuring for my understanding of the different levels. It allows me to make connections between the different levels of power. Take, for example, the police reform, which will concern Ixelles as part of the Brussels-Ixelles police zone, the funding of the CPAS, as well as the reform of unemployment that we negotiated in the Arizona agreement. I will take part in implementing these decisions at the local level too.
- If you had to sum up, in a few words, your vision for Ixelles by 2030, what would they be?
Ixelles is home to the European Parliament and more than 120 different nationalities. When you walk around, you hear every language spoken. Many of these residents tell me they share the liberal values and the political project that my MR colleagues and I stand for, but a very large majority of these potential voters do not vote. We absolutely must convince them to exercise their right to vote and join us starting now. In a few words, my vision for Ixelles by 2030 is that the next elections will see the liberal political project achieve even greater success than in the 2024 vote!