Important documents that the citizen is legally required to obtain (identity card, authorization to leave the territory for a minor, passport) or which guarantee certain rights and duties (recognition of paternity or co-maternity, declaration of legal cohabitation ).
1.Unaffordable prices
The Studies and Political Action department of the League of Families analyzed the practices of 281 Walloon and Brussels municipalities. First observation, only a minority of municipalities display prices clearly and completely on their website.
“ In most cases, we had to contact the administration for some or all of the prices charged.“, specifies Merlin Gevers, one of the editors of the study. More surprisingly, among the municipalities which list no or almost no prices on their site are large cities including Charleroi.
Concerning the accessibility of population/civil status service counters, the League calls for more flexibility such as longer hours, although Walloon municipalities frequently open their counters on Saturdays. In 27 of the 281 municipalities, the counters are never open after 5 p.m. on weekdays or on Saturdays.
2.Segetting married in Tubize is expensive
Prices vary greatly between Walloon and Brussels municipalities, often to the detriment of the latter. There are also strong variations between the 262 Walloon municipalities without them being justified.
Several municipalities are working to make these administrative procedures more affordable. HAS Cerfontaine, Beauvechain, Mont-Saint-Guibert, Vresse-sur-Semois and Anthisneseverything is free except identity documents.
In other municipalities, certain costs are exploding. When it is paid (45.5% of municipalities), the marriage costs on average between €23 (cheapest day) and €44 (Saturday) in Walloon municipalities, and between €119 and €284 in Brussels municipalities. On the Walloon side, the municipalities which charge the highest prices for a wedding celebration are Tubize (€328), Florennes (268€) or Les Bons Villers (€234).
People who opt for cohabitation and wish to benefit from a legal and protective status must complete a declaration of legal cohabitation. A free process in 101 municipalities, billed €50 in Ath, €40 in Boussu while the average price asked by Walloon municipalities is €10.
3.L’e-IDat more than €30 in eleven municipalities
On average, a family of two adults and two children pays €65 to obtain identity cards (excluding emergency procedures). Many municipalities charge for identity cards at the level of the cost that they must pay to the FPS Interior. This is €7.70 for Kids-ID (children under 12 years old), billed €16 in Braine-l’-Alleud, €15 in Berloz and Herve, €14 in Ferrières and Geer. The Kids-ID is not compulsory on Belgian territory but is required for traveling abroad. Seven municipalities do not charge for child identity cards: Cerfontaine, Daverdisse, Jurbise, Profondeville and Rouvroy.
In eleven Walloon municipalities, the adult identity card (e-ID) costs more than €30, much more than the €19.10 claimed by the FPS Interior: 35,80€ (Mouscron), 34,10€ (Verviers, La Calamine, Oupeye, Soignies), 32,20€ (Anhée), 31€ (Ath, Profondeville, Chatelet).
Identity cards are mandatory documents, they fulfill several functions (identification on official sites, electronic signature of official documents, access to health care, etc.). Making families pay such a high cost for a compulsory and essential document is problematic, protests the Family Lique.
4.Of thepolitical choices
The objective of this study is to invite future elected officials not to simply continue the policy pursued in previous years, underlines Merlin Gevers. “We would like that during the next majority agreements, a real reflection will be carried out on what a more accessible price should be for families.s . Two things particularly concern us: the large variation in prices between municipalities in relation to acts which must be accessible to us such as the act of breaking up cohabitation and the lack of transparency concerning prices on the sites.“
