City of Antwerp annexes Borsbeek, which becomes the tenth district on 1 January 2025

On Monday 18 December 2023, the municipal councils of both the City of Antwerp and the Town of Borsbeek approved the merge. Borsbeek will become the tenth district of Antwerp. Antwerp is unique in Flanders in that it has a two-tier system of municipal government with a city council and district councils.

Officially it’s a merger of ‘fusie‘ (“fusion”), but as Antwerp is a much larger entity than Borsbeek, it really is an annexation.

The merger is not uncontroversial. In a consultative referendum on the merger 77% of those that took part voted to keep Borsbeek’s status as an autonomous municipality.

Nevertheless, the municipal coalition that is made up of Flemish nationalists and the local party Iedereen Borsbeek (‘Everyone Borsbeek’) remained adamant that the merger should go ahead. The coalition argued that a merger is a financial necessity and that the City of Antwerp was the only municipality with which it would be feasible for Borsbeek to merge.

But 16 out 21 councillors voted for the merger. Two opposition and one councilor from a coalition party voted against, two councilors abstained.

So in October 2024, when all of Belgium votes for the local elections, Borsbeek will choose representatives for the Antwerp city council, the Borsbeek district council and of course for the Antwerp provincial council.

Municipalities in Belgium

When the Kingdom of Belgium was founded in 1831, there were 2,739 municipalities. Today there are still 581 municipalities.

The municipalities already existed before the Belgian state and were recognized by the constitution of 1831. Their organization was determined in the law of 1836. In 1988 the new municipal law was published. From the beginning of their establishment there was talk of ‘municipal autonomy’. This does not mean that municipal elected officials are allowed to do everything, but that they have wide autonomy in the context of the powers they exercise, under the supervision of higher authorities.

Each region supervises the municipalities in its territory. The supervision of the municipalities by other authorities, in particular the communities and the federal state, is limited to the areas for which the communities and the federal state are competent.

Belgium has 581 municipalities. The 300 Flemish cities and municipalities are spread over five provinces, namely Antwerp, Limburg, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and West Flanders.

The 262 cities and municipalities in Wallonia are spread over five provinces, namely Hainaut (formerly in English: Haynault, Hainault), Liège, Luxembourg, Namur and Walloon Brabant.

The Brussels Capital Region consists of 19 municipalities. There have repeatedly been proposals to merge the 19 municipalities of Brussels into a single municipality.

Fusion of Belgian municipalities

The ‘Fusion of the Belgian municipalities‘ Wikipedia entry outlines the history of municipalities mergers. So the Antwerp + Borsbeek case is nothing new. The Dutch version of the entry gives even more explanations.

In 1983, Antwerp merged with the current nine districts: Berchem, Borgerhout, Deurne, Ekeren, Hoboken, Merksem and Wilrijk. Berendrecht-Zandvliet-Lillo also became an independent district.

But since 2015, there has been a renewed wave of mergers. The Flemish Government offers financial incentives to municipalities that choose to merge. For the merger between Antwerp and Borsbeek, this would mean a one-off benefit of 50 million euros. Resources that are used to benefit all residents of both municipalities.

Money

It’s all about the money, Thanh and I agreed when discussing the matter. It’s an upscale. It’s never nice, because things change and many people experience these changes for the worse. The powers that be can promise “Borsbeek will keep its identity” but those are always empty promises on the longer run.

About Borsbeek

The municipality only comprises the town of Borsbeek proper. On January 1, 2021 Borsbeek had a total population of 11,076. The total area is 3.92 km² which gives a population density of 2.825 inhabitants per km².

Its slogan is “village near the city”, so it is proud of its green spaces.

As it is adjacent to Antwerp International Airport (ANR) in Deurne, it will be interesting how that complex debate will evolve. The airport is very divisive between proponents and opponents of the airport.

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