Re-Bel e-book 5 Comment by Decoster & Van Parijs

Toward more responsible Regions? André Decoster (KULeuven) & Philippe Van Parijs (UCLouvain) There will be no major reform of the Belgian federal state without some significant changes in the way in which its federated entities are funded. And no such change will happen if it cannot be sold as a win-win-win reform, as a reform from which, albeit with some time lag, all three of our Regions can reasonably expect to benefit. Hence the importance of intelligent and thorough contributions such as the two lead pieces of the present Re-Bel e-book. Both aim to improve on the existing setup by increasing transparency, accountability and the financial incentive structure faced by regional governments, while protecting both intra- and inter-regional solidarity. This is the sort of proposal we need to get a serious debate off the ground. It is to this debate that we wish to contribute, by raising a 54number of questions on some of the central issues. 1. "Political economy": what regional governments are meant to be driven by First of all, let us express our agreement with the authors of both lead pieces that there is much to be said for making governments — whether at a national or regional level — bear responsibility for the economic consequences of the policies that lie within their competences. Admittedly, we should not to be misled by too close an analogy with individual decisions. It is arguably not only efficient but also fair to make adult human ...