Reports

The Flemish Community of Belgium has one of the OECD’s most devolved education systems, but there are concerns among Flemish education stakeholders about the overall quality of education. In recent years, the Flemish government has initiated a series of reforms to strengthen the quality of education. These include the introduction of full cohort standardised student assessments in Dutch and mathematics. Students will take the assessments in Grades 4 and 6 at the primary level and in Grades 8 and 12 at the secondary level starting in 2024. This ambitious and innovative reform aims to strengthen and monitor the quality of education, with student results envisaged to inform improvement efforts at different levels of the system. As a follow up to the support provided by the OECD Strategic Education Governance Project, the Flemish Department of Education and Training asked the OECD Implementing Education Policies Project team to support the successful design and implementation of the standardised student assessment reform. This report presents the analysis, key findings and recommendations to help realise this objective.

Flanders experienced large inflows of immigrants over the past decade, coming from an increasingly diverse range of countries, with growth rates outpacing the Netherlands, France and Germany, as well as Belgium as a whole. While integration outcomes have improved in recent years, some of the core indicators remain unfavourable in international comparison, especially for non-EU immigrant women, refugees, and youth with migrant parents. Against this backdrop, Flanders has developed a comprehensive integration policy. This review, the fourth in the series Working Together for Integration, provides an in-depth analysis of the Flemish integration system, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas for improvement. Earlier reviews in this series looked at integration in Sweden (2016), Finland (2018) and Norway (2022).

This paper investigates the demand for language skills using data on online job vacancies in 27 European Union member countries and the United Kingdom in 2021. Evidence indicates that although Europe remains a linguistically diverse labour market, knowing English confers unique advantages in certain occupations. Across countries included in the analyses, a knowledge of English was explicitly required in 22% of all vacancies and English was the sixth most required skill overall. A knowledge of German, Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese was explicitly demanded in between 1% and 2% of all vacancies. One in two positions advertised on line for managers or professionals required some knowledge of English, on average across European Union member countries and across OECD countries in the sample. This compares with only one in ten positions for skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and among elementary occupations.

In the face of what has increasingly been referred to as an ongoing 'permacrisis', governments must cope with and respond to emerging threats while already grappling with longstanding issues such as climate change, digital disruption and low levels of trust. In this context, understanding new approaches and spreading successful ideas has never been more important. To promote this, the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) has analysed 1 084 innovative initiatives from 94 countries to derive and understand novel government practices. The report discusses four key trends: 1) new forms of accountability for a new era of government, 2) new approaches to care, 3) new methods for preserving identities and strengthening equity and 4) new ways of engaging citizens and residents. Ten case studies and dozens of supporting examples illustrate these trends.

This paper provides an analysis of the Belgian federal government’s practices regarding the institutionalisation, quality and impact of policy evaluations. The paper takes a holistic approach, which not only looks at individual practices, but also at how those can come together so that evaluation becomes an integral part of the policy cycle. Public policy evaluation promotes evidence-informed policymaking and ensures that policies improve outcomes by bringing an understanding of what works, why, for whom, and under what circumstances. Evaluation is also a core tool of sound public financial management, as it helps governments spend better and promotes accountability and transparency in spending. The paper proposes concrete policy recommendations for improving the Belgian federal government’s evaluation system.

Les politiques d’entrepreneuriat plus inclusives contribuent à l’innovation, la création d’emploi, et la croissance économique. La crise du COVID-19, a accentué les disparités en Wallonie et la région porte un intérêt croissant à renforcer le soutien à l’entrepreneuriat inclusif de groupes particulièrement désavantagés, notamment celui des immigrés et des personnes en situation de handicap. Ce rapport résume les conclusions d'un projet d’examen de la politique d'entrepreneuriat inclusif de la Wallonie. Il présente une analyse des forces et des faiblesses du système de soutien aux entrepreneurs immigrés ou en situation de handicap (aussi appelés « handipreneurs ») en Wallonie et propose des actions politiques concrètes qui permettraient d’améliorer le soutien offert à ces entrepreneurs. L’analyse est basée sur le cadre conceptuel et les outils développés par l’OCDE et la Commission Européenne, notamment l’outil « Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool ». Le rapport s’appuie également sur la consultation d’un large panel d’acteurs locaux, un travail de recherche approfondi et une analyse de bonnes pratiques internationales.

Cultural and creative sectors are a significant driver of local development both through direct job creation and income generation but also indirectly by spurring innovation across the economy. Beyond their economic impacts, they also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and well-being to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. Flanders (Belgium) has placed cultural and creative sectors as a priority in the region’s economic and social strategy. This paper provides an overview of cultural and creative sectors in Flanders, highlighting trends in employment, business dynamics, entrepreneurship and financing as well as cultural participation. It offers analysis and recommendations to support the region in continuing to build on its local cultural and creative ecosystem.

Le profil sur le cancer par pays identifient les forces, les faiblesses et les domaines d’action spécifiques de chacun des 27 États membres de l’UE, de l’Islande et de la Norvège, afin d’orienter les investissements et les interventions aux niveaux européen, national et régional dans le cadre du plan 'Vaincre le cancer en Europe'. Le profil sur le cancer fournit une synthèse des points suivants : la charge nationale du cancer, les facteurs de risque du cancer (en mettant l’accent sur les facteurs de risque liés au comportement et à l’environnement), les programmes de détection précoce, (les performances en matière de soins oncologiques (en mettant l’accent sur l’accessibilité, la qualité des soins, les coûts et l’impact de COVID-19 sur les soins oncologiques).