This report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director. This work was conducted as part of the OECD’s Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Programme.
This report was drafted by Lucas Leblanc, Policy Analyst, OECD Local Employment, Skills and Social Innovation Division (LESI) (Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 5) and Lars Ludolph, Labour Market Economist, LESI (Chapters 1, 2, and 5), under the supervision of Kristine Langenbucher, Deputy Head of the LESI Division. Karen Maguire, Head of the LESI Division provided overall guidance and comments. Michela Meghnagi, Economist, LESI and Tijs Creijghton, Policy Analyst, LESI contributed to Chapter 5. Alvertos Konstantinis (intern) provided research assistance. Soo-Jin Kim, Oscar Huerta Melchor, and Camille Viros, all from the OECD Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division, provided valuable comments throughout the project. Pilar Philip (OECD) prepared the report for publication.
The report was produced at the request of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium), notably Bernard Clerfayt, Minister for Employment, Training, Digital Transition, Local Authorities and Animal Welfare.
The OECD Secretariat expresses its gratitude to stakeholders in the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Special thanks are due to members of the cabinet of Minister Bernard Clerfayt, notably Jeanne Christiansen, Caroline Daux and Roland Sarton, who supported the project by facilitating exchanges with stakeholders in the region and providing input on the overall report. Special thanks also go to Hannelore Heyligen, Bruxelles Economie Emploi (BEE) and Delegate for the Brussels-Capital Region to the OECD’s LEED Directing Committee, who also supported the OECD during fact-finding missions to the region. Michiel Cox (VDAB Brussel), Guillaume Jacomet (view.brussels), and Isabelle Sirdey (Bruxelles Formation) formed the project’s advisory group and provided input and comments on the report. Representatives and stakeholders from a range of institutions and organisations were consulted over the course of the project. The OECD would like to thank the representatives from different organisations that attended fact-finding meetings in November 2022 and April 2023 as well as a workshop in June 2023 to discuss the draft OECD report. These included Actiris, Bruxelles Economie Emploi (BEE), Brussels Entreprises Commerce and Industry (BECI), Brupartners, Bruxelles Formation, the Centres publics d’action sociale (CPAS), the Cité des métiers, the Espace Formation (EFP), the Instance Bassin Enseignement-Formation-Emploi (IBEFE), the Institut Bruxellois de Statistique et d’Analyse (IBSA), the Office national de l'emploi (ONEM), Tracé Brussel, the Service Formation des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (SFPME), Syntra, view.brussels and Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding Brussel (VDAB Brussel).
The OECD would also like to thank the LEED Delegates from Flanders (Belgium), Sweden and the United States for their comments on the draft report. Furthermore, the OECD would like to thank representatives from the German (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) and Slovenian (Employment Service of Slovenia) public employment services for their contributions to the comparative analysis.