PS mayors are demanding more money for the major cities. Yet these are the very cities that already receive massive support from Wallonia and have the lowest employment rates in the country. The real question is not how much more Wallonia should give, but what results have been achieved after decades of socialist management.
1. The current difficulties did not emerge under the current governments
The main cities making this demand today are:
- Liège;
- Charleroi;
- Mons;
- La Louvière;
- Seraing;
- Verviers.
All these cities have been governed for many years by socialist majorities.
The budgetary problems being denounced today therefore did not appear under the current governments.
They are the result of financial, economic and social trajectories built up over several decades.
When certain cities have faced structural difficulties for more than ten or fifteen years, it is hard to argue that their situation is mainly due to decisions taken just a few months ago.
2. The real problem is economic: the major PS cities have the lowest employment rates in Wallonia
The employment rate of residents is a major factor in a municipality's financial health, alongside centrality costs, pensions and transfer spending.
A municipality where more people work:
- collects more additional personal income tax;
- has a broader tax base;
- bears fewer social expenses;
- depends less on its CPAS;
- attracts more private investment.
The official IWEPS figures are particularly telling.
Employment rate aged 20-64 (2023)
Territory | Employment rate |
Belgium | 72,1 % |
Flanders Wallonia | 76,8 % 65,5 % |
Mouscron | 64,7 % |
Namur | 64,1 % |
Tournai | 63,5 % |
Herstal | 60,3 % |
La Louvière | 58,1 % |
Verviers | 57,7 % |
Seraing | 57,6 % |
Liège | 56,8 % |
Mons | 56,6 % |
Charleroi | 53,6 % |
The cities demanding more resources today are precisely those posting the weakest results.
The gap with the Belgian average is considerable:
These figures largely explain the budgetary difficulties observed.
Fewer jobs means:
- less personal income tax revenue;
- less wealth creation;
- more social spending;
- more pressure on CPAS;
- more dependence on public aid.
The fundamental question is therefore simple:
Why do these cities remain among the worst-performing in the country in terms of employment after decades of socialist management?
1. Major cities already receive specific support that other municipalities do not
PS mayors give the impression that the major cities are being abandoned by Wallonia.
The figures show exactly the opposite.
A. Major Cities Grant
The nine major cities receive specific funding that other Walloon municipalities do not.
Amounts allocated for 2026:
City | Amount |
Charleroi | €6.43 M |
Liège | €5.28 M |
Mons | €2.87 M |
La Louvière | €2.75 M |
Tournai | €2.68 M |
Namur | €2.35 M |
Seraing | €2.18 M |
Mouscron | €2.01 M |
Verviers | €1.84 M |
Total: €28.4 million every year
This grant is reserved for the nine major cities; the other French-speaking municipalities fall under the FERI. It consolidates earlier funding and is therefore not entirely new funding.
B. Integrated City Policy
Before its integration into the Major Cities Grant on 1 January 2026, the Integrated City Policy represented: €13.4 million per year reserved for seven major cities, with Namur and Tournai excluded from this former scheme.
This envelope is now included in the €28.4 million of the Major Cities Grant: the two amounts should not be added together.
C. Oxygen Plan
The Oxygen Plan is the most significant municipal financial support mechanism introduced in recent years.
Data from a UVCW study show that the major cities are the main beneficiaries of the scheme.
The nine major cities account for approximately: €1.55 billion in potential drawing rights over the 2022-2026 period.
The total amount of the scheme is approximately: €1.79 billion
In other words: nearly 87% of the scheme concerns the major Walloon cities.
These are borrowing ceilings, not subsidies or fully drawn amounts. Regional support includes temporary coverage of interest and, under certain conditions, 15% of the principal. The remainder stays as municipal debt.
No other category of municipality receives comparable support.
D. Exceptional CRAC intervention
When certain major cities faced even greater difficulties, the Walloon Region intervened again.
In 2024:
- Liège;
- Charleroi;
- Mons
benefited from CRAC financing, replacing bank financing, of: €235 million
Very few Walloon municipalities have received exceptional support of this scale.
This €235 million is part of the implementation of the Oxygen Plan: it should not be added to the drawing rights as extra aid.
E. Other support and recent announcements
The Municipal Fund is a major source of support: around €637 million for the major cities in 2025, or 40% of a total of €1.6 billion.
The APE scheme for municipalities also represented nearly €118 million for these cities in 2025, or 29.7% of the municipal envelope.
The gradual transfer of municipal funding for emergency services zones to the provinces represents another relief measure: the UVCW estimates the potential gain for the nine cities, compared to 2024, at €17.8 million in 2026 and €50.4 million in 2030.
Finally, the announcements from the 2027 budget conclave: loans to smooth the increase in the responsibility contribution compared to the indexed 2025 amount, an additional envelope of €210 million over seven years for the FERI, €175 million for municipal flood adaptation plans, and the continuation of tax compensations.
1. Other municipalities face the same difficulties
Major cities are not the only ones that need to fund:
- CPAS;
- police zones;
- emergency services zones;
- pensions;
- infrastructure;
- energy investments.
All Walloon municipalities face this.
The UVCW also notes difficulties and requests for refinancing across all municipalities; these cannot therefore be set globally against the major cities.
The requirement for good management applies to all:
Every municipality must be able to demonstrate the efforts made to:
- review their spending;
- reorganise their services;
- adapt their priorities;
- seek efficiency gains.
Major cities cannot be exempted from this effort.
2. Available studies show that the difficulties are structural
A UVCW study on the financial situation of the major Walloon cities confirms that the financial difficulties observed today are longstanding.
It shows that the major cities have shown a structural current deficit over a long period.
Even more striking:
on their own, they account for nearly 88% of the current deficits observed in struggling Walloon municipalities.
This shows that the problem runs deep.
It cannot therefore be explained solely by the recent budgetary decisions of the Walloon Region.
3. The real question: what have they done with all these resources?
This is the question that never comes up in media statements.
The major cities already receive:
- the Major Cities Grant;
- the former Integrated City Policy, now incorporated into this grant;
- the Oxygen Plan;
- CRAC financing within this plan;
- the Municipal Fund and the APE scheme;
- numerous specific regional schemes.
But that is not all: in addition to being heavily funded by the Region, the major cities are also among those imposing the highest tax burden in Wallonia. For example, in 2025 the municipal surcharge on personal income tax was 8.8% in La Louvière, and 8.5% in Charleroi, Seraing and Verviers. These rates are well above the regional average of 7.9%.
Walloon citizens are therefore entitled to ask:
What results have been achieved?
Has the employment rate risen significantly?
Have operating expenses fallen?
Have administrative structures been streamlined?
Have brownfield sites been redeveloped?
Has municipal property been put to good use?
Has dependence on regional aid decreased?
Has the financial situation improved sustainably?
1. The reforms major cities should undertake
Major cities must account for the efforts undertaken and results achieved; the Oxygen Plan already includes obligations for management or support plans. The challenge is to assess their implementation and effectiveness.
This includes:
A full spending review
Every euro spent must be justified.
An evaluation of all subsidies
Subsidies must be analysed on the basis of measurable results.
A rationalisation of satellite structures
Municipal non-profits, autonomous agencies and satellite bodies must be reviewed.
Better management of municipal property
Empty buildings, brownfield sites and underused assets must be put to good use.
A stronger fight against vacant housing
They represent both a tax loss and a loss of attractiveness.
An ambitious back-to-work strategy
No budgetary path can be durably restored with employment rates of 53%, 56% or 58%.
Financial recovery starts first and foremost with economic recovery.
1. Conclusion
The MR does not dispute centrality costs.
The MR does not dispute the structuring role of major cities.
But it rejects the narrative that their difficulties are solely due to a lack of regional resources.
The facts are as follows:
- major cities already receive specific funding;
- they have captured the bulk of the Oxygen Plan;
- they have received exceptional CRAC interventions;
- yet they have the lowest employment rates in Wallonia;
- several of them have been run by the PS for decades;
- they account for a disproportionate share of municipal deficits.
Regional solidarity must continue to play its role.
But it must go hand in hand with a requirement for accountability, reform and results.
The question is not only how much more Wallonia should give.
The real question is what reforms certain major cities are finally prepared to implement in order to durably escape this situation.