Communes still wary of electronic ID cards

14 January 2005

BRUSSELS – Belgium’s bid to introduce a state-of-the-art electronic ID card throughout the country has again been criticised.

The federal government wants to issue the new cards in each and every local authority after a successful pilot scheme was introduced in 2003 in 11 communes.

The move would make Belgium one of the first EU countries to make the cards the norm.

But many communes are sceptical about the government’s methods for introducing the change.

Many bourgmestres insist that the money the government has allocated to meet the extra costs of issuing ID cards is too little.

“The federal government had assured us that this operation wouldn’t lead to any extra cost for the communes,” said the Wallonian minister of local authorities, Philippe Courard.

The socialist minister has written to Interior Minister Patrick Dewael about his concerns, demanding he finds extra funds for the change.

If Dewael can’t offer any more money, Courard intends to raise the matter with the federal and regional government consultation committee.

Subject: Belgian news