“The Region’s website continues to redirect citizens concerned about administrative simplification to the “simplifions.be” platform, financed by the ASBL Gestion et Action Libérale (GAL), domiciled at the same address as the headquarters of the MR and displaying the logos of the two majority parties, this page even contains direct links to the sites of the MR and the Engagés”, pointed out Thierry Witsel.
“But can we really speak of transparency and neutrality when citizens seeking to contribute to administrative simplification find themselves exposed to partisan communication?”, he added.
For socialists, the integration of this partisan platform into government communication “dangerously blurs the boundary between political action and public service”. Especially since questions also arise about compliance with European GDPR rules. “Who guarantees data security? The Walloon administration or the MR and Les Engagés who own the site?” asked the socialist deputy.
Finally, “no precise information has been communicated on the way in which citizens’ suggestions are analyzed nor on the criteria retained for their consideration”, he regretted.
The FWB government is also preparing its administrative simplification plan
Questioned on the subject in committee of the regional parliament, the minister in charge of administrative simplification, Jacqueline Galant, explained that the MR and Les Engagés “are co-responsible for processing with regard to the GDPR”.
“Only authorized persons have access to personal data. A process has been put in place to remove personal data before processing and analyzing citizens’ grievances. The processing carried out aimed to extract relevant information from messages posted by citizens to link them to the skills of ministers and their cabinets,” she assured.
“The first lesson that we can draw from this campaign is that the expectations of our fellow citizens in terms of administrative simplification are strong. The second lesson is that the proposals concern all public policies, regional but not only. The skills of the Wallonia Federation -Brussels are also concerned, as are those of the Federal Government, the municipalities and the provinces,” she continued.
“A structural system for listening to users, measuring their satisfaction and continuous improvement must take over by the end of March 2025 within the Administration. I will obviously ensure respectful application of the GDPR within the framework of this device”, she concluded.
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