This field visit in Belgium was a first of its kind for ENAA. On one hand we hope to proactively engage with those who have experience in order to build up expertise in the Network, on the other hand, we want to increase interaction between Member States in order to promote the implementation of the administrative approach at the local and national level in all Member States.
On the first day the coordinators from ARIEC Antwerp and CIEAR Namur gave engaging presentations relating to the origin and work processes of the Arrondismental Information and Expertise Centres. During the afternoon the concept of coordinated inspections or “flex-actions” was also introduced. This explanation served as a theoretical background for the field visit the next day. On the second day, the field visit took place. The precise problems in two parks in Lommel were disturbance of public peace and safety at the park, thefts in and around the parks and vandalism. The links that could be made with the administrative approach were illegal tree felling, fire safety, bad housing quality for migrant workers, illegal employment, lack of registration of residents, food safety… The observations made during this flexaction were 5 persons caught doing undeclared work; 2 persons working in the parks found staying illegally on the territory and several violations of the regulations on housing.