Back-
From left to right: Marlene Hardt, Ombudsperson der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, Erwin Janssens, the acting ombudsman of the Flemisch Ombuds Service, Louis Hancisse, staff member of the La Mediatrice Bruxelloise, Tony van der Steen, ombudsman of the Omb
The term Benelux is the name of the economic union of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The objective of the Union is to bring about total economic integration by ensuring free circulation of persons, goods, capital, and services.
Cross border cases
On 25 May 2023 the ombuds institutions of the Benelux met in The Hague. The ombuds institutions of the Benelux meet annually to discuss cross border challenges citizens in their respective countries face. For instance working in the Netherland and living in Belgium gives rise to questions concerning social security, pension rights, etc. Especially the latter is a returning topic as the retirement age differs between the Netherlands (67) and Belgium (65). This means that if you retire in Belgium, but you live in the Netherlands, it means you have two years in which you do not have an income nor are you entitled to your state pension.
Whistleblower mandate
This year they discussed among other things the implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive. The Federal ombudsman of Belgium is the institution which can receive whistleblower cases from the public and private sector. A special, separate and independent team has been set up within the office. As with the NPM task from the Optional Protocol, many ombuds institutions have, this additional mandate that is different from the way ombuds institutions are used to work when dealing with complaints. Sharing of experiences and best practices helps to meet any challenges.
The right to err
Furthermore the ombuds institutions discussed the right to err. As this is a human trait, it seems unfair that government will not allow you to make a mistake. By using strict systems, often incorporated in digital processes, there is no room for human error. An application is either correct or not. Any mistake on the applicants side leads to a sudden stop in the payment of a benefit, or worse, a demand to pay back benefits received. This happened in the child allowance case where some people were unjustly forced to pay back tens of thousands of Euro's. The fear governments seem to have of citizens committing fraud has led to extreme measures that are disproportionate. Certainly if it can be easily corrected. Any digital system is not capable of such interpretation and therefore a personal more human approach is needed in these kinds of cases.
Source: Benelux Ombuds Institutions
