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Social redistribution in federalised Belgium

The federalisation of Belgium has led to a fragmentation of competences in the field of social policy. Only social security has remained an exclusive federal responsibility. However, there have been calls for further federalisation in this policy area. The prominence of interregional financial transfers fuels such calls, while its opponents point out that, among other things, federalisation would result in greater poverty and inequality in Wallonia, a Region that is already disadvantaged in economic terms. In this contribution we first outline the territorial organisation of social policy in a federalised Belgium. We then analyse social transfers between Flanders and Wallonia, focusing on their size and determinants. We demonstrate that these transfers have a considerable equalising and anti-poverty effect. Next, we explore the theoretical arguments for and against federalising social policy, supplemented with examples from the Belgian case. We conclude with an overview of the discussion and indicate some future policy directions.