The Council of State suspends the choice of the Flemish government for Join.Vlaanderen as the new participation organization. This happens after a claim from the Minorities Forum.
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Two weeks ago, Join.Vlaanderen ended up in the eye of a media storm after Minister of Equal Opportunities Bart Somers decided that the new organization Join.Vlaanderen would replace the existing Minorities Forum as a Flemish participation organization.
That choice quickly received a lot of criticism. One partner organization after the other of Join.Vlaanderen dropped out or distanced itself. Critics said that the Join.Vlaanderen file was not good and Minister Somers was called on to reconsider his decision. Somers put the procedure on hold and called for cooperation between both organizations.
The Council of State has now ruled that at first sight the decision does not contain a sufficient formal motivation. According to the Board, the selection application submitted by the Minorities Forum also appears to have been assessed more strictly than the application submitted by Join.Vlaanderen.
Somers says in a response that the suspension does not change his initiative to come to a collaboration between both organizations. ‘There are too many social challenges to just leave everything as it is,’ he says. ‘We are in talks with Join and the Minorities Forum to try to come to a collaboration that can shape a new policy that works on equal opportunities, counteracts segregation, approaches diversity in a positive way and above all makes a real difference in the field. ‘
The Minorities Forum is satisfied with the verdict. The symbolic pause button that the minister spoke of earlier did not offer the Minorities Forum the time, equality and legal guarantee needed to enter into further talks with the minister and Join Flanders. The judgment of the Council of State now offers this. ‘
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