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flanders T H E

D U T C H

S P E A K I N G

P A R T

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B E L G I U M

press review weekly, does not appear in July • number 9 • 25 February – 3 March 2006

KBC on the takeover trail in Central Europe T

he major providers of combined banking and insurance services, Fortis and KBC, have had an excellent year. The Dutch/Belgian group Fortis, which published its annual results early because a briefcase containing the results was stolen, increased its profit by 32% to EUR 3.9 billion. KBC, the Flemish fellow banker-cum-insurer, recorded a record profit last year of EUR 2.25 billion. That is 39% up on the previous year. For that matter, Central Europe is increasingly becoming a second home market for KBC. In the Czech Republic and Hungary KBC is the second largest bank, and in Slovenia its subsidiary NLB is in fact the country’s largest bank. It also has a not insignificant market share in Poland and Slovakia. Last year the Central European establishments already provided for 20% of the profit, and next year that should rise to 25%.

CONTENTS Justice Fehriye Erdal found guilty of terrorism 2 Fehriye Erdal vanished 2 Agriculture, social policy and economy Tuybens reveals salaries of senior managers of state enterprises Bird flu: chicken breeders suffer losses Belgian energy market after the merger Suez-GdF Suez-GdF will have to downsize Belgium keeps borders closed for employees from Eastern Europe Inbev management and trade unions heading for confrontation Politics and public health Leterme’s popularity peaks in poll New criteria for recognition as GP

3 3 4 5 5 6

6 7

Culture People from Antwerp turned Frankfurt into a financial centre 7

And KBC also has concrete plans for expansion in Serbia, Croatia and Romania. Here the Slovenian subsidiary NLB, in which KBC has a 34% stake, is playing the role of bridgehead. KBC is also aiming for a larger stake in NLB and wants to gain majority control of the bank, be it in one or several steps. It is having talks with the Slovenian government on the matter (FF). MICHAEL SEPHIHA • DE TIJD • 3 MARCH In Serbia the Belgian group is targeting the pubic-sector insurer DDOR. The privatisation of the second largest Serbian insurance group was started at the end of last year. The DDOR’s network has 94 branches. The Slovenian Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) already controls the Continental Banka there. In Montenegro NLB owns Euromarket Bank. And in neighbouring Bosnia it already owns Tuzlanska Banka, CSB Bank, Razvojna Banka and LHB Bank or Banja Luka. KBC also has takeover plans in Croatia, where the banker-cum-insurer has its sights set on Splitska Banka. ‘We have submitted an indicative offer on the matter’, André Bergen, deputy chairman of the board of directors of the KBC Group, confirmed for the first time. However, due to an old financial dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, KBC is not welcome in the country. But that is not stopping the group from taking part in the bidding process. In Romania KBC is not planning any acquisitions, but is working on setting up its own banking subsidiary. This should be up and running this year. Last year the Belgian group did not take part in the bidding for BCR, the largest bank in the country, because the price tag was too high. www.kbc.com table page 3 ■

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

INTRODUCTION ith the German company W E.ON’s bid for the Spanish electricity producer Endesa and the announcement by the Italian company Enel that it would make an offer for the French group Suez, a concentration wave appears to be under way in the European energy sector. In a defensive reflex, both Endesa and Suez have sought their salvation in national mergers. In Spain Endesa is joining forces with Gas Natural, and in France Suez is doing the same with Gaz de France – with the French government’s active support. After fierce criticism of the protectionist manoeuvres, EC president Barroso wagged a warning finger and promised that the competition rules would be complied with to the letter. The Suez-GdF merger does indeed threaten competition in our country. Electrabel, the largest Belgian electricity producer became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suez last year, whilst the second, much smaller producer, SPE, is half owned by Gaz de France. The new combination attains a market share of 90% of sold electricity, whilst on the gas market Suez subsidiary Distrigas and Gaz de France together account for 97%. That prompted de Tijd (2 March) to conclude that the Belgian government would have done better opting for the Enel camp, since the Enel-Suez combination had left more room for competition. Gerard Mestrallet, Suez CEO and new number one in the Suez-GdF merger company, did his very best to get the Belgian government on his side. He promised that the ‘pax electrica’ would not be touched. In this, Suez promised last year that it would sell the unused Electrabel power stations, and would put a substantial volume of electricity for sale on a Belgian stock exchange. He also let it be understood that he could live with a reduction in Gaz de France’s Belgian gas interests. Many insiders assume that the merger will not withstand the competition rules on that market. To placate the Belgian government even more, Mestrallet is now calling the merger an ‘opération franco-belge’. According to De Tijd (2 March) the Belgians are in that respect being used as a fig leaf to camouflage the French chauvinism behind the strategy. But even though decisions are taken in Paris, the enormous Belgian contribution to Suez cannot be ignored, points out Trends (2 March). Seventy percent of Suez’s profits are of Belgian making: Electrabel, Tractebel (energy assets outside Europe), Distrigas (natural gas trading) and Fluxys (natural gas transmission). It is this Belgian energy pillar that succeeded in reviving fortunes at Suez, which was making a loss in 2002 and 2003. According to Trends, the merger is a normal market development. Mestrallet has a point when he stresses the synergy between gas and electricity in his industrial project. Gas-fired power stations are playing an ever greater role in that. On markets where gas is expensive, Suez-GdF can sell gas, and on other markets gas is used to produce electricity, that can be sold as well. But the main motive for Suez opting for a merger is its vulnerability. With its lucrative (Belgian) energy division, it is an attractive prey for a takeover. Three quarters of its shares are listed and it has a weak financial balance sheet with substantial cash assets and numerous liabilities.

Frank Vandecaveye | editor in chief

JUSTICE

2 TERRORISM

Fehriye Erdal and DHKP-C found guilty of terrorism F

ive years ago the police found a stash of arms, false identity papers and detonation mechanisms for explosives in an apartment in the Flemish coastal town of Duinbergen. The apartment turned out to be the safe house for the Turkish Popular Liberation Army (DHKP-C), a Marxist-Leninist Turkish movement that swears by the armed struggle against the Turkish State. DHKP-C members who were being pursued in Germany were able to use the hiding place. Because the movement has already carried out several attacks in its homeland and executed a number of ‘traitors’, that country is still demanding the extradition of all DHKP-C members. Belgium is not acceding to that for the time being, but brought charges against the members of the Turkish group in the criminal court. Fehriye Erdal, the symbol of the DHKP-C’s fight, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. The leader of the group, Musa Asoglu, was given a sixyear prison sentence, whilst another of

the ringleaders, Dursun Karatas, has been sentenced to five years (FF). FILIP VERHOEST • DE STANDA ARD • 1 MARCH EThe other DHKP-C members who were caught in 1999 in an apartment in Duinbergen, near Knokke, were each sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, like Erdal. The public prosecutor had called for ten years for the ringleaders, and five for Erdal. Four of the accused were acquitted, since they did not knowingly take part in the Turkish Popular Liberation Army’s activities. It is the second time that a Belgian court has applied the anti-terrorism law of 1 January 2004 to an extremist group. This had previously happened before the tribunale correctionnel (criminal court) in Brussels, with the Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM). The reasoning that the judges in the criminal court in Brussels and Bruges have followed is the same in each case.

Fehriye Erdal vanished A

fter the Turk Fehriye Erdal was sentenced on 28 February to four years’ imprisonment, the Belgian National Security Department made the very unpleasant discovery that the DHKP-C militant was not at the safe house assigned to her by the Ministry of the Interior. Erdal, who did not appear in court, seems to have vanished. The Interior and Justice Ministers Dewael (VLD) and Onkelinx (PS) announced that on Monday evening she left the house, and from that point on the National Security Department has lost her trail. Since Erdal was not under arrest, only a court issuing an order for her detention could prevent her from fleeing abroad. An international warrant for her arrest has now been issued. The result is that Belgium has once again been made to look a fool on the international stage, comment a number of Flemish newspapers such as Het Belang Van Limburg, De Standaard and Het Laatste Nieuws. The Turkish press, in particular, is not charitable about the Belgian government’s blun-

der. Turkey had asked for Erdal’s extradition for the third time, because she has to stand trial for her involvement in a triple murder in Istanbul. The chances of her being extradited, however, are slim, since what is involved is a political crime, says De Standaard. For Turkey and also other countries, we are the country that not only offers terrorists protection, but also lets them go, opines Het Laatste Nieuws. The Flemish opposition party CD&V thinks that ministers Dewael (VLD) and Onkelinckx (PS) have blundered over Erdal’s disappearance, and wants to demand an explanation on the matter in Parliament (FF). FILIP VERHOEST • DE STANDAARD • 2 MARCH Erdal asked for political asylum in 2000. As a result of this, the then Interior Minister could force her, on the grounds of the aliens law, to reside in a particular place for the period that the asylum application was being examined. She promised that she would no-

Anyone knowingly and voluntarily forming part of an organisation that attempts to achieve its aims through violence is punishable. Even if that person has not committed any crime in Belgium. The judges in Bruges point to the fact that the DHKP-C militants are ‘fanatical’ and ‘permanently dangerous’. Their presence on Belgian soil cannot be tolerated. There were tight security measures in force around the court building in Bruges. The many DHKP-C sympathisers who had turned up chanted slogans for ‘freedom of expression and association’. After this judgement it is expected that the Belgian judiciary will close the DHKP-C information office in Brussels. At a press conference in June 2004 a spokesman for the movement justified a bomb attack on a bus in Istanbul which went wrong, and in which three people died. According to the judge, that is ‘intolerable’. The court ordered the immediate detention of six of the seven who were convicted, including Erdal. She was not present at the sitting, but will be taken to prison from her undercover address. Some of the convicted persons have already said that they will appeal. ■

tify the Ministry of the Interior if she left her place of residence. According to a government source, she had done this in exemplary fashion for six years. Never had there been any incidents, the government source said - until the evening of Monday 27 February. Then the National Security Department discovered that the DHKP-C militant had fled. Nonetheless, Erdal had been under heightened surveillance by the National Security Department since 19 February, in the run-up to the court’s judgement. But even though the National Security Department had been keeping an eye on Erdal for some time, it was not able to arrest her, even if she fled abroad, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice. There was no possibility of the National Security Department detaining her before the conviction in Bruges. On Tuesday evening, after the court’s order for her immediate detention, house searches were carried out in known DHKP-C addresses in Brussels, but to no avail. An international warrant for Erdal’s arrest has now been issued. She may have received help from the DHKP-C networks to escape. ■

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE

3

STATE ENTERPRISES

BIRD FLU

Tuybens reveals the salaries of senior managers of state enterprises He believes state enterprises should set an example in the field of sustainable and socially responsible enterprise

O

n 28 February State Secretary for State Enterprises Bruno Tuybens (SP.A) revealed how much the senior managers of Belgium’s autonomous state enterprises earned. Belgacom CEO Didier Bellens comes out on top, with EUR 2.04 million and EUR 395,000 in share options, whilst Johny Thijs of de Post takes home a gross salary of EUR 800,000, and the senior managers of the NMBS (Belgian Railways), Jannie Haek, Mark Descheemaeker and Luc Lallemand, earn EUR 475,000, 490,000 and 410,000 respectively. Tuybens wants to reveal the salaries of the other managers of state enterprises in the near future. By way of comparison, a member of the management in a private company from the Bel-20 earns on average EUR 1 million, according to a survey published in Trends. In comparison with these kinds of figures, the salary of Prime Minister Verhofstadt (EUR 207,000) pales into insignificance. Tuybens justifies his initiative in De Morgen. He believes state enterprises should set an example in the field of sustainable and socially responsible enterprise. Tuybens wants more openness in state enterprises, since every taxpayer is - in a manner of speaking - a shareholder and every citizen a direct or indirect customer, according to the State Secretary. His initiative was met with approving commentaries in Het Belang van Limburg, De Standaard and De Tijd. The senior managers themselves are irritated at Tuybens’ move, because he did not consult them about it. The alliance to which Tuybens belongs (SP.-A-Spirit) wants the bill on publication of the salaries - the socalled Picanol law - to be approved in Parliament on 7 March. The publication could also hamper the current negotiations under way in the rail sector and the national talks on wage restraint. ACV chairman Cortebeeck regards it as unjust to urge employees to accept wage restraint, ‘whilst Belgian company managers are earning an average of EUR 800,000 a year’ (FF).

Opinion SERGE MAMPAEY • DE TIJD • 1 MARCH At last the government is setting a good example. By publishing the salaries, Tuybens wants to open the social debate on the pay of senior managers, and create the necessary transparency. The excesses at loom manufacturer Picanol show that companies in which the public is involved are better at laying their cards on the table as regards the remuneration of their senior management and directors. Excesses can then be avoided. State enterprises are the property of the state, and therefore of each and every one of us. Listed companies have thousands of small shareholders, and they have a right to know how their money is being used. But company managers continue to keep their remuneration cloaked in secrecy. The Lippens code on sound management calls on listed companies to publish their directors' and managers' pay, but it is not an obligation. And a bill for the publication of individual salaries has been put on the back burner due to a number of delaying manoeuvres. Publication of the top salaries ought to have been self-evident for a listed company. Only in that way can enterprises create openness and remove distrust among the public or their shareholders.

Chicken breeders already suffer losses FF EDITOR

Anyone owning chickens or other poultry is obliged, as of 1 March, to pen them up or screen them off. The local police is assumed to monitor this. Anyone not screening off his birds will receive a warning and will have to put his house in order within 24 hours. If that does not happen, the police will draw up a report and confiscate the animals. The Federal Food Agency (FAVV) is asking the municipalities to draw up a register of all people owning poultry for hobby purposes. The register should make it easier to implement measures in the event of an outbreak of the disease. The FAVV is not about to make an exception for zoos that have vaccinated their birds. The main aim of the penning-up measures is to prevent professional poultry farmers from being affected. In the meantime ‘frightened’ consumers are eating less and less chicken. According to the retail federation Fedis, there has already been a 15% drop (Het Nieuwsblad, 2 March). The falling demand has caused the price that the 1,200 chicken breeders can obtain for their chickens has fallen to below cost price, so that they are already making a loss now. For the consumer on the other hand, chicken has not yet become cheaper. The surplus slaughtered chickens are provisionally being stored in refrigerators. www.favv.be

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MARKET POSITION OF KBC GROUP IN BELGIUM, CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE market share (ranking) belgium hungary poland czech republic slovakia slovenia

banking business 22% 11% 5% 21% 6% 41%

(2nd) (8th) (2nd) (4th) (1st)

life assurance business 15% 4% (7th) 3% (7th) 8% (4th) 4% (9th) 6% (5th)

non-life insurance business 8% 4% (6th) 11% (2nd) 4% (6th) 4% (4th) — source: KBC

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

ECONOMY

4 MERGER

Belgian energy market becomes even more French with merger Suez-GDF

in Belgium. The Belgian government does not have to sit and wait resignedly for the outcome. It can ask the European Commission itself to transfer the matter to the Belgian Competition Board. It is not yet clear which activities Suez would have to sell. According to a senior staff member of the government, it would in any case have to concern more than SPE. SPE, the second largest electricity company in the country, is part owned by Gaz de France. SPE is especially strong as a supplier of electricity, with a share of some 20% in Flanders and Wallonia. The question is whether it would be a good thing for Belgian energy policy if the gas transmission company Fluxys remained in the hands of the large French energy group. Next week there will be a meeting between Suez and the senior members of the Belgian government. A meeting between the Prime Minister and the Minister-Presidents on this matter is also being called. The government wants to press Suez for a quicker fulfilment of the ‘Belgian’ guarantees it had given in October. Those guarantees were fixed in a letter, called the ‘pax electrica’, when Suez made a full buyout bid for Electrabel, and relate, among other things, to the sale of production sites. The government feels that a speeding-up of the measures would be a positive signal for the Belgian energy market.

The government wants to press Suez for a quicker fulfilment of the ‘Belgian’ guarantees it had given in October. Those guarantees were fixed in a letter, when Suez made a full buyout bid for Electrabel

T

he French energy groups Suez and Gaz de France have announced they will be merging. In this way Suez avoids being taken over by the Italian energy company Enel. The merger has far-reaching consequences for the Belgian energy market. The presence of Suez on this market was already overwhelming, since Suez subsidiary Electrabel is by far the largest electricity producer and still supplies 64% of electricity to households. In addition Suez is also the main shareholder in the two largest Belgian gas companies Fluxys and Distrigaz. However, the merger also brings the electricity suppliers Luminus and Citypower into the merger company. Luminus supplies electricity to 15% of households, and Citypower 6%. Both companies are subsidiaries of SPE, which is controlled to the tune of 51% by the British company Centrica and Gaz de France and is also the second electricity producer in the country. The other electricity suppliers Nuon and Essent still sell some 13% of the electricity, but in fact buy that from electricity producer Electrabel. Flemish Energy Minister Kris Peeters says he is concerned about the Flemish energy market. He is asking the competition authorities, such as the CREG, to keep a close eye on the matter. Prime Minister Verhofstadt is demanding that Suez continue to meet all the commitments it entered into when it obtained full control over Electrabel, and to do so without any changes. Thus it is reportedly stipulated in the ‘pax electrica’ that Electrabel must sell 10% of its production capacity. According to government sources, Electrabel is indeed prepared to sell its two Flemish and one Walloon power stations with a joint capacity of 1,500 megawatts, provided it does not have to pay the planned levy of EUR 150 million on its unused power stations. But according to De Tijd (25 February) the Socialists do not agree to the planned levy from Minister Freya Vanden Bossche’s (SP.A) budget being removed.

However, according to the government, it is clear that in the merger case, the European competition authorities first have to do their work (FF). ISABEL ALBERS AND PASCAL SERTYN • DE STANDA ARD • 28 FEBRUARY In order nonetheless to enable competition, Suez/Gaz de France will immediately have to dispose of certain parts or shareholdings in Belgium, according to government sources. Officially the government is not (yet) putting forward this standpoint. Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has even pronounced qualified support for the project, with the request that Zeebrugge be assigned a greater role in the giant’s gas distribution. The government cannot yet come out with this standpoint either. It is first waiting for the judgement of the (European and Belgian) competition authorities. If they are of the view that the creation of the new giant would lead to an unlawful monopoly situation, they can press more for a ‘slimmed-down’ Suez

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THE LARGEST ENERGY CONCERNS IN EUROPE THE LARGEST GROUPS ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE (27 FEB IN BILLION EURO) electricité de france e.on (d) enel (i) rwe (d) endesa (sp) gaz de france iberdrola electrabel (b) scottish power (gb) centrica (gb)

83.86 66.03 43.48 41.48 29.73 28.50 24.52 23.10 17.60 16.08

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

150

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION: CAPACITY (IN MEGAWATT) electricité de france 125,447 vattenfall (sw) 47,061 e.on (d) 44,283 enel (i) 42,000 rwe (d) 34,957 electrabel (b) 28,193 iberdrola 25,200 endesa (sp) 18,995 scottish power (gb) 15,720 edp (p) 11,373

0

30

60

90

source: DE STANDAARD

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

ECONOMY AND SOCIAL POLICY MERGER

5

JOB MARKET

Merger Suez/Gaz de France will have to donwnsize in Belgium FF EDITOR The energy group that is to be created out of the merger between Gaz de France and Suez is prepared to dispose of some of its parts if it turns out that its position on the Belgian energy market has become too dominant. The statement was made by Gerard Mestrallet, chairman of the board of directors of the merger-group-to-be, at a press conference in Paris on 28 February. The merger project is to be submitted to the European Commission for approval in April. Mestrallet also reiterated his intention to comply with all agreements (the so-called ‘pax electrica’) with the Belgian government, which were made last year when the Belgian electricity producer Electrabel was taken over in full. The same day Giulio Tremonti, the Italian Finance Minister, flew to Brussels, to raise the issue of the French manoeuvre with Neelie Kroes, EU Competition Commissioner. The Italian government is calling the merger an unacceptably protectionist attempt to obstruct the takeover by the Italian company Enel. In Flanders, too, the merger is being closely monitored by the Flemish Regulatory Body for the Electricity and Gas Market (VREG). This body warned that the merger would lead to competition on the Belgian energy market being almost completely removed. The liberalisation of the Flemish market, in particular, has recently had a favourable impact on gas and electricity prices in the region, as is apparent from a comparison with Wallonia. An average Flemish family pays 13% less for its electricity and as much as 24% less for its gas consumption, than a Walloon family. The merger threatens to nullify this salutary effect, according to the VREG. www.vreg.be

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Belgium keeps borders closed for employees from Eastern Europe an exception is made for East Europeans who come here to fill a ‘bottleneck’ vacancy, for which no Belgian workers are found.

B

elgium will will not be throwing its borders open to Polish and other East European workers on 1 May, as Spain and Finland will be doing. First four legal and juridical gaps have to be filled. The first condition is that foreign workers who come here to work temporarily are electronically registered with the National Social Security Office (RSZ). A second requirement is that the main contractor be severally responsible for compliance with the wage and employment conditions of foreign employees at his disposal. Thirdly the federal and regional labour inspectorate should cooperate more effectively. And finally foreign workers and trade unions must be able to take cases to the Belgian courts. Nonetheless an exception is made for East Europeans who come here to fill a ‘bottleneck’ vacancy, for which no Belgian workers are found. The list of ‘bottleneck’ professions must be ready by June (FF). WIM WINCKELMANS • HET NIEUWSBL AD • 25 FEBRUARY

By 2009 our border will be open to residents of the new EU Member States in any case, but up until then the ‘old member states’ can still protect their borders. In the Belgian government there was disagreement over the issue. The Socialists wanted to protect the labour market for a while longer - until cases of abuse could be adequately combated -, whilst the Liberals were in favour of the borders being opened more quickly. After a week’s difficult negotiating, a compromise was reached on Friday. Officially the borders are to remain closed to East Europeans. The Belgian government first wants to take adequate measures against cases of abuse involving illegal aliens. Thus the electronic registration of foreign employees will be introduced, the inspectorate departments will be working in closer cooperation, and the trade unions should be able to go to court if cases of abuse come to their attention. Contractors are also

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

rendered liable if they work with malafide subcontractors. Employment Minister Peter Van Velthoven (SP.A) wants to implement the measures as quickly as possible, and once that has happened, the borders can be opened fully. But in the meantime a back door has already been left wider open. The procedure for making jobs for which too few Belgians come forward open to foreigners is made more flexible. The regions should draw up lists with the vacancies that are difficult to fill. By 1 June there will then be regulation under which East European can obtain a work permit in five days. The regulation is partly inspired by the High Council for Employment which has just prepared an opinion on the opening of borders. Deputy Chairman Jan Smets of the High Council sees that the number of work permits, selfemployed persons and seconded employees (secondment offers services companies the possibility of seconding employees to another EU country to work there temporarily in the framework of the free movement of services, ed.) has already increased in recent years. ‘In Poland in particular there is already a labour reserve that can easily be deployed here’, says Smets. The ball is now in the court of Flemish Employment Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (SP.A) who has to decide for which ‘bottleneck’ professions the door can be opened. Traditionally this involves vacancies for construction workers and cleaners, mostly professions for which many East Europeans are now being recruited. Vandenbroucke supports the measure, but is not prepared to open up all ‘bottleneck’ professions just like that. ‘Only if we know that the sectors in question are already making a maximum effort in the field of employee training and formation and only if we see that they are still experiencing staff shortages, will the sector come into consideration’. www.petervanvelthoven.be ■

ECONOMY AND POLITICS

6

BREWERIES

OPINION POLL

Leterme’s popularity peaks

InBev management and trade unions heading for confrontation

FF EDITOR

The Walloon Economic Affairs Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) reproached InBev for announcing the shedding of 200 jobs on the same day that it announced profits of EUR 1 billion

R

estructuring in the Belgo-Brazilian brewing company InBev is to lead to 109 jobs being axed at the InBev plant at Jupille, and 25 in the Leuven headquarters, as well as a further fifty or so jobs in depots. Simultaneously a number of the group’s computer services are to be sourced out. The 50 IT staff who would lose their jobs as a result of that will reportedly be able to secure employment with the new service provider. The Walloon Economic Affairs Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) reproached InBev for announcing the shedding of 200 jobs on the same day that it announced profits of EUR 1 billion. He also lamented the fact that there had been no consultation with the regional and federal authorities. It was the third reorganisation in the Belgian InBev plants in the space of a year. In October 2005 the brewer reorganised its head office in Leuven and axed 60 jobs there. A little later, in November, InBev closed the Hoegaarden brewery with the announcement of 232 job losses. Talks on that latter reorganisation were still under way with the trade unions. But owing to the swift succession of the restructuring rounds, and the poor communication, the InBev management appears to have lost all credit with the trade unions. There’s therefore considerable militancy among the employees (FF).

and 188 jobs, respectively. It is not known how much the InBev reorganisation should bring in. The group did announce that it would be using the savings to invest in its brand names, new products and marketing. Including the contracting out of the IT infrastructure to IBM and BT in mid 2005, this is the fourth round of restructuring carried out by InBev in less than a year in our country. InBev defends the interventions by referring to the difficult market conditions in Western Europe. The competition is getting tougher and beer consumption is under pressure. Last year the group’s volumes in Western European fell by 1.3%. However, these poorer results are more than compensated by strong growth in Latin America, where the group is active through the Brazilian AmBev, and in Eastern and Central Europe. All in all, InBev sold almost 6% less beer last year, representing a volume of 223.5 million hectolitres. Total sales rose by 7.2% to EUR 11.66 billion and net profit came out at EUR 1.02 billion. www.inbev.com

In the latest February poll by VRT/De Standaard the CD&V/N-VA alliance, with 29.1%, remains the largest political formation in Flanders. The alliance thereby fares 2.5% better than its result in the Flemish elections of 2004. The SP.A-Spirit alliance (20.4%, + 0.5%) and Groen! (8.7%, + 1.4%) also make up ground in respect of the 2004 elections. The Vlaams Belang (22.5%, 1.8) and the VLD (18.9, -1.1%) fall back. However, the VLD is not dissatisfied, for it appears slowly but surely to be recovering from a severe drop in popularity resulting from internal party rows. Yves Leterme (CD&V), Minister-President of the Flemish Government, remains by far the most popular politician in Flanders with 51% of the votes. Remarkably he is followed by two politicians who in fact no longer play any role in national or Flemish politics: Steve Stevaert, provincial governor in Limburg and Jean-Luc Dehaene, mayor of Vilvoorde. Freya Vanden Bossche, SP.A Budget Minister in the federal government, takes a dive from third to eighth place since her blunder on fuel oil. www.standaard.be

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STEPHANIE DE SMEDT • DE TIJD • 25 FEBRUARY ‘To keep a lid on costs and to work more efficiently InBev announced on Thursday a reorganisation of the supporting services in Europe. The financial services of Belgium and a few other European countries are centralised in the Czech Republic. The export services are being pooled in Hungary, where wage costs are a good deal lower. Three hundred and sixty jobs are at risk due to the operation. In Belgium 149 jobs are affected. In the Czech Republic and Hungary the new centres will reportedly be creating 107

InBev

Scottish & Newcastle

Heineken

headquarters

belgium

great-britain

the netherlands denmark

results (*) turnover operational profit net profit

11,656 2,439 1,024

4,790 441 364

10,796 1,283 761

5,100 472 149

market position

nr1

nr6

nr4

nr

main brands

beck’s, brahma stella artois

kronenbourg heineken fosters, baltika amstel

(*) in Million euro

Carlsberg

carlsberg tuborg, baltika source: TIJD GRAPHICS

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

PUBLIC HEALTH AND CULTURE PRACTISING DOCTORS

New criteria for recognition as GP O

fficially Belgium has 17,500 GPs, but the sector says that only 8,000 to 9,000 GPs are actually practising. The official figures include everyone who at some point has been recognised as a general practitioner, even if he or she is no longer a practising doctor. The federal government therefore wants to know exactly how many GPs there are in Belgium so that it can pursue an efficient health policy. In order to be able to register and expurgate the number of GPs, from now on doctors will only receive recognition for a period of five years. In that period they must have treated 500 patients per year, either in house calls of consultations. Anyone losing his or her recognition as a doctor

is no longer eligible for reimbursement of medical cost (FF). GUY FRANSEN/GUY TEGENBOS • DE STANDA ARD • 28 FEBRUARY After lengthy negotiations the ministerial decree was published on 27 February in the Belgian Official Journal. The Ministry of Public Health wants to use it to do away with GPs who still see members of the family and friends, or doctors in sports medicine and pharmacologists who have completed the training to qualify as a GP but are no longer practising doctors. The GPs themselves do not regard 500 patients as a high figure, since in order to gain

7

accreditation - and to be able to charge the higher fees that go with that -, 1,250 patients per year is the requisite. The register of GPs that the decree aims to arrive at is also important with a view to a possible change in payment, under which doctors would no longer only be paid per service rendered, but would also, in part, be able to count on a lump-sum fee for their practice. The conditions for recognition explicitly state that a recognised GP has to take part in the duty services, and that in his/her absence, patients should be able to consult a fellow doctor who is aware of their case history. The Ministry of Public Health expects GPs to establish and keep medical records in an appropriate manner, precisely so as to be able to monitor patients' clinical picture.

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EXHIBITION

How people from Antwerp turned Frankfurt into a financial centre T

he exhibition ‘Antwerp-Frankfurt. Migration and innovation around 1600’ in the Hessenhuis in Antwerp shows how Frankfurt enjoyed an economic and cultural revival in the 16th century thanks to the migration of Protestants from Antwerp. They left the Low Countries to escape repression. For example, it was Antwerp traders who laid the foundations in 1585 for the Frankfurt stock exchange, the leading financial centre in Germany. The exhibition in the Hessenhuis has already been on show in Frankfurt, and is one of 16 exhibitions scheduled for 2006, aimed at highlighting Antwerp’s ties with the rest of the world (FF). SASKIA VEREENOOGHE • DE TIJD • 1 MA ART

The story behind the exhibition is an interesting one. ‘In the second half of the 16th century, Protestantism spread in the Low Countries, but the Catholic King Philip II of Spain regarded that as inadmissible. He sent the Duke of Alba to the Low Countries’, recounts project manager Sofie De Ruysser. ‘His strict policy against the Protestants led

to a first wave of migration. A little later, in 1585, Alexander Farnese gave the people of Antwerp a choice: convert to the Catholic faith, or leave the city within four years. This resulted in the departure of a second wave of migrants, chiefly traders and craftsmen. Some of them went to Frankfurt, which was quite tolerant towards Protestantism at the time. The people from Antwerp provided for an economic and cultural revival, and made Frankfurt an important financial centre’. Around 1550 Frankfurt was already well known for its book fair and annual fair, but at that time things had gradually started to go downhill for the city. Between 1550 and 1606 Frankfurt hardly produced any coins itself. The local coins lost their value quickly and the inhabitants almost only used foreign coins. The Filipsdaalder, in particular, which was struck in the Low Countries, was extremely popular. In addition to the traditional trade in goods, money transactions gradually began to gain in importance. The exhibition tells us that new trading techniques also had an impact on

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9

Frankfurt’s fairs. During the autumn fair of 1585, 82 traders - mainly from Antwerp - were given permission to determine the rate of exchange of the various coins, a protection against profiteers who attempted to make substantial gains by changing money. The traders held their meetings in front of the Römer, Frankfurt’s town hall. In 1605 this meeting was for the first time referred to as ‘the stock exchange’. The exhibition in the Hessenhuis tries to sketch a picture of this turbulent period (Frankfurt, too, proved not to be so tolerant towards Protestants), on the basis of texts of edicts and proclamations, prints, coins and paintings. The other rooms mainly show what influence the people of Antwerp had. They introduced new weaving techniques and dye processes for fabrics, and turned Frankfurt into a centre for precious stones and jewels. They also had considerable influence on painting and the printing of books. So we are shown jewels and textiles, as well as graphic design and books. No religious scenes are to be found among the paintings from this era, since Protestantism did not allow this. There are still lifes, portraits and landscapes. http://museum.antwerpen.be/etnografisch_museum

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CULTURE

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Diary M U S I C , D A N C E , T H E AT R E • 24 February to 21 March: Martin Arnold (Vienna, 1959) has established himself as one of the most brilliant of today’s experimental filmmakers; Bozar, Brussels; www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 8 March: Haydn Sinfonietta Wien with Manfred Huss, Alexei Lubimov and Ronald Brautigam with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Concerto for 2 keyboards, Joseph Haydn Scherzando, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Concerto for 3 keyboards and orchestra, Johann Christian Bach Symphony for double orchestra; Concertgebouw, Bruges; info: www.concertgebouw.be, info: 070/33.33.02 • 7 March: Monnaie Orchestra and Choir conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi, Maxim Piers choir leader with Cristina Gallardo-Domas soprano, Carlos Ventre tenor - Stefano Antonucci bass with Giacomo Puccini, Capriccio Sinfonico, Le villi, Concert, Bozar, Brussels; www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 7 March: Death Cab for Cutie, AB, Brussels; info: www.abconcerts.be 02/548.24.24 • 7 March: The Sedan Vault, AB, Brussels; info: www.abconcerts.be 02/548.24.24 • 7 and 9 March: Musical theatre Transparant and Centro de Experimentacion Teatro Colon, Jacob Lenz by Wolfgang Rihm, De Singel, Antwerp; info: www.desingel.be 03/248.28.28 • 8 March: Tété Alhinho & co, Cabo _Verdo, Zuiderpershuis, Antwerp; info: www.zuiderpershuis.be 03/248.01.00 • 8 March: The house of the hidden music pieces, Dick Vander Harst, Amparo Cortes, Oxalys with Mozart and Camaron de la Isla; De Singel, Antwerp; info: www.desingel.be 03/248.28.28 • 8 March: The King’s Consort conducted by Robert King with Claire Booth soprano and James Gilchrist, tenor: Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten and Georg Friedrich Händel Bozar, Brussels; www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 9 March: Fred Firth and Marc Ribot (guitar), De Singel, Antwerp; info: www.desingel.be 03/248.28.28 • 8 March: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Riccardo Chailly and Nelson Freire (piano) with Johannes Brahms and Alban Berg, Bozar, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 9 March: Night of the voice with Dominique Vellard, Aruna Sayeeram (India), Noureddine Tahiri with Gregorian Chant, songs from the Koran, the Veda etc, De Bijloke, Ghent;

Editor in chief: Frank Vandecaveye • Advisory panel: Luc Demeester (Lannoo), Rik Van Cauwelaert (director Knack), Wim Coessens (Managing director, De Morgen), Frans Crols (Director, Trends), Jan Denaeyer (Information Officer, Flemish Community), Mark Deweerdt (Journalist, De Tijd), Michael Stabenow (Correspondent, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Luc Standaert (Journalist, Belang van Limburg), Jan Van Doren (Deputy Director, VOKA-VEV), Bernard Bulcke (De Standaard) • With thanks to: Concentra nv, De Vlijt nv, de Vlaamse Uitgeversmaatschappij nv, De Persgroep nv, Uitgeversbedrijf Tijd nv and Roularta Media Group nv and their editorial teams for supplying the articles.

info: www.bijloke.be 0)9 233.68.78 • 9 March: Hubert-Felix Thiefaine, AB, Brussels; info: www.abconcerts.be 02/548.24.24 • 9, 10 and 11 March: Impressing the Czar, Royal Flemish Ballet, Flanders Operahouse, Ghent; info: www.vlaamseopera.be • 10 to 25 March: l’Incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi, conductor: René Jacobs, director: David Mc Vicar, Opera, De Munt, Brussels; info: www.demunt.be 02/ 229 12 00 • 10 March: Ictus Ensemble conducted by Georges-Elie Octors with Katalin Karolyi (mezzo-soprano) with compositions by Peter Eötvös, Bruno Mantovani and Franck Bedrossian, Kaaitheater, Brussels; www.kaaitheater.be • 10 March: Members of Marvelas, AB, Brussels; info: www.abconcerts.be 02/548.24.24 • 10 March: Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Mikko Franck, Pinchas Zukerman with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Max Bruch and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Bozar, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 10 March: Vicente Amigo, Concertgebouw, Bruges; info: www.concertgebouw.be • 11 March: Les Agréments, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Oratorio Messiah by GF Haendel, arranged by WA Mozart, with Olga Pasichnyk, soprano, Concertgebouw, Bruges; info: www.concertgebouw.be • 11 March: King’s Singers & Sarband, Sacred brigdes, Psalms, De Singel, Antwerp; info: www.desingel.be 03/248.28.28 • 12 March: At the close of every day, AB, Brussels; info: www.abconcerts.be 02/548.24.24 • 12 March: Cali AB, Brussels; info: www.abconcerts.be 02/548.24.24 • 12 March: Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège et de la Communauté WallonieBruxelles conducted by John Axelrod, Daniel Hope violin with Joseph Haydn and Leonard Bernstein, Bozar, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 12, 14 and 16 March: Prova d’Orchestre, Giorgio Battistelli, composer in residence, six musical scenes for the end of the 20th century based on the lyrical documentary by F Fellini. Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp; info: www.vlaamseopera.be • 13 March: Eva Mei (soprano) and Alexander Schmalz (piano), recital with Fauré, Debussy, Mahler, Strauss, Schumann, Schubert and Verdi, De Munt, Brussels; info: www.demunt.be 02/229 12 00

Focus on Flanders provides a weekly overview of articles from the Flemish press and appears in English, French and German. This newsletter is published by Uitgeverij Lannoo nv, Kasteelstraat 97, 8700 Tielt and can also be obtained by e-mail. The website www.focusonflanders.be contains an electronic archive of published articles

• 13 March: Isabelle Faust violin and Alexander Melnikov piano with work by Ludwig von Beethoven, Flagey, Brussels; info: www.flagey.be 02/641.10.10 • 14 March: Concerto Köln and Andreas Staier (piano) with JS Bach, WA Mozart and Joseph Martin Kraus, Royal Conservatory, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 15 March: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) and Christian Zacharias (piano) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Royal Conservatory, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • 15 March: Park Byon Chon and Ensemble (Corea), Zuiderpershuis, Antwerp; info: www.zuiderpershuis.be 03/248.01.00 • 15 March: John Mac Laughlin (guitar), Shakti, Bozar, Brussels; info: www.vwspringsessions.be

EXPO • Until 2008: Art at the Frontline 19141918, Royal Army and Military History Museum, Brussels; info: 02 737 78 33 www.klm-mra.be • Until 30 April: Pain, exhibition, Museum Ghuislain, Ghent; www.museumghuislain.be • Until 12 March: The Construction of the other, exhibition, photographic portraits by Diane Arbus, Dirk Braeckman, Eadweard Muybridge, Gaudenzio Marconi, Irving Penn, Marc Trivier, August Sander, Bozar, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • Until the end of March: SMAK exhibitions: Franky DC, Henk Visch, Stefan Dheedene and Phil Collins, SMAK, Ghent; info: www.smak.be 09 221 17 03 • Until 23 April: Eugeen Joors, In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres 057/239.220 • Until 24 June: Kijkdozen en denkmodellen (Showcases and models of thought), Jan Fabre, exhibition, Flemish Parliament, Lokettenzaal, Brussels; info: www.vlaamsparlement.be • Until 21 May: Theo Van Rysselberghe, exhibition, Bozar, Brussels; info: www.bozar.be 02/507.82.00 • Until 23 April: The Collection XIV, exhibition, Muhka, Antwerp; info: www.muhka.be • Until 30 April: Noli me tangere: Maria Magdalena in multiple, Library of theology, Louvain, www.theo.kuleuven.be • Until 28 May: Yearning for Beauty, The Vienna Werkstätte, exhibition Bozar, Brussels, info: www.bozar.be • Until 31 May: Antwerp-Frankfurt: Migration and innovation around 1600, exhibition, Hessenhuis, Antwerp; info: http: //museum.antwerpen.be/etnografisch_museum

• Translation: Eurologos • Printing: Drukkerij Lannoo nv, Tielt • Responsible editor: Luc Demeester, Marke • 48 issues • Subscription rate printed edition + 2 e-mail editions + password to search the archive (www.focusonflanders.be): 233 euro • Either transfer the sum to account no.: 472-1010001-19 with the KBC in Roeselare Or give us the number and expiry date of your credit card (Visa/Eurocard): Telephone: 051/42.42.99 Fax: 051/40.11.52 E-mail: [email protected]

focus on FLANDERS • 25 February - 3 March 2006 • Number 9