Elections 2024

These are the standpoints of Belgian political parties on digital (and related) issues according to their party programme.

Flanders

BBB

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Party standpoints

Standpoints

None.

CD&V

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Party programme

Standpoints

• People with an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases or diabetes type 2 must be actively identified through data mining, in order to stimulate the to adopt a healthy lifestyle and prevent the development of diseases.
• ALIVIA, the digital health care and support tool that Flanders is developing, must be rolled out across all of Flanders.
• We want to invest more in digital health care, with a specific focus on scientific research and its practical applications.
• We want the general adoption of the integrated electronic patient file, so that patients can share their health care choices, get an overview of caretakers and decide who gets access to health care data.
• To guarantee quality, safety and privacy for patients there needs to be a clear legal framework for how innovation and technology are applied in health care.
• Health data must never be sold to commercial players, but should be usable in the research for new drugs and treatments.
• We make sure there are enough telephonic and/or physical contact options as alternatives for the digital public services.
• We want a large inquiry on the impact of the usage of social media on the well-being and development of children and adolescents. Current scientific insights must be translated to pedagogic advice.
• We make children and adolescents more resilient in the online world by developing and supporting new skills.
• We support and enhance the existing initiatives around media literacy and extend them to algorithmic literacy.
• We want to help teachers cover difficult digital topics, sexting, cyber bullying and fake news.
• We want an accessible system for parental supervision.
• We want to engage in discussions with social media platforms about robust age verification, privacy of children and adolescents and a chronological timeline as the default setting for minors.
• Digital communication from the government must pass an accessibility test. It should cover both the usability of websites and the accessibility of language use.
• Companies and organisations need a framework that guides them in the digitisation of their services, with careful consideration of all pro's and cons.
• We need sufficient and accessible parking spaces. The payment method needs particular attention. We are not against a digital payment module by way of app or sms, but there must always be a physical option, i.e. a parking meter.
• We want a guaranteed non-digital services for public transportation. Travellers must be able to buy their ticket in paper shops, postal points or the local grocery store.
• We want investigate the option of remote digital voting in the long term.
• Applications that can't guarantee safe usage and that allow deep nude images are not safe for our market and must be forbidden.
• We want internet access for every family.
• We take advantage of the power of digitisation and AI in education, without falling into the trap of believing that IT is the solution to everything. In its facilitating role, the government supports schools at embedding technological educational tools into the teacher's career.
• We want broad and sector specific training about AI and robotisation, so that everyone is up to speed with the latest developments.
• We want a digital individual competence passport for every employee, to give insight in their competences and potential growth opportunities.
• We invest in advanced technologies, like data analysis, AI and data mining, to detect suspicious patterns and irregularities in the social security system.
• Everyone must pay their fair share: multinational as well as SME, internet giant as well as bakery around the corner. We want a digital tax.
• The non-digital access to services of the government and those of general interest must be anchored and monitored. Physical and telephonic contact must always be possible.
• The Digibank (locations where people can get help with their digital issues) offer must be extended further, so that everyone in Flanders has access within a reasonable distance.
• We want low-regulation test zones. That provides our enterprises with a clear and legally certain environment in which they can experiment with new technology (e.g. AI) without having to go abroad.
• Banks must invest more and faster in the security of online banking.
• We want research to check if it's beneficial to develop 1 app that is supported by all banks in different countries.
• We support the research into the digital euro, to see if there is added value for the consumer, without ignoring potential dangers and disadvantages.
• Cash must remain a legal payment method. Access to cash must remain guaranteed. Banks must keep providing physical access to their services.
• We want to narrow the digital divide. We want neighbourhood digipoints where people can get free of charge access to the internet and digital devices or where consumers can get a 'cash back', i.e. paying a larger sum than the value of their purchases to receive the difference in cash. We want 'digibanks', where people can get access to digital technology that can be borrowed and where they can get training and guidance to develop digital skills.
• We want targeted investments for the sustainable and integral digitisation of our cultural heritage, in order to safeguard and unlock it, taking into account the environmental impact of digital storage and usage (e.g. streaming). We also give attention to the growing share of "digital born" heritage.
• We want smart camera's to improve traffic safety and efficiency, with respect for everyone's privacy.
• We want camera surveillance on all public transportation buses.
• We want to promote car sharing. Reservation, usage, price and payment must be clear, accessible and user friendly. This requires a framework of agreements as a backbone for mobility-as-a-service-apps.
• We want to counteract disinformation. Social media platforms must take responsibility in this matter and intensify fact checks in cooperation with journalist organisations.
• We want to invest in a strong European computer chip industry.
• With regards to health care, we see room for more coordination in research and the intensive exchange of data between EU members states. If needed we will modify the GDPR legislation. Individual health care data can in certain cases be necessary to chart the complete chain in the evaluation at the population level, as a tool to proactively show people the importance of screenings, to educate people about their rights to aid and to allow for correct follow-up research.
• The eMigration project in the Migration Department, that aims to modernise and digitise the whole infrastructure, must be continued.
• The use of camera's by civil security services must be put into law and that imagery must be usable to track down violent crime offenders.
• We want to invest in 2500 body cams for the police.
• We continue working on data governance within the police and prepare them for the challenges of the future. We continue investing in the I-Police project, which will integrate around 80 databases and applications into 1 information platform, including automatic analysis.
• We want for operational police personnel to consult information quickly and accessibly. That's why we continue the roll out of the Focus application.
• We want to allow experiments with new operational applications and new technologies within a strict legal framework. E.g. using facial recognition to track down convicts and suspects.
• We want a national action plan for more safety in and around train stations. We allow the police access to NMBS camera's to facilitate digital patrolling in stations.
• We want further digitisation of the legal system, including e.g. digital signing of deeds, a digital register for health care powers of attorney. Health care personnel could get limited access.
• We want to evaluate the potential of AI in the legal system. It could give a judge more qualitative information to decide on a ruling. This allows for more focus on a corrective human intervention that takes the special aspects of the case into accounts. The same goes for a public database with judgements. The algorithms and tools that are useful to the public must be accessible through the public database.
• To guarantee that the data protection authority (GBA) can develop and execute its tasks to its full potential, we need more dialogue and, if necessary, legal changes.
• To improve the efficiency of privacy authorities we want to research how pooling resources could be useful.
• It would be good if the GBA could do more to increase privacy literacy of citizens and make the organisation more accessible. One option could be to develop a reporting system (next to the existing complaints system). This could give a clearer view if there are multiple reports about the same person or action. Another option could be privacy rulings, i.e. preemptive decisions about how legislation should be applied to specific situations or data processing.
• Governments should get a clearer view on the data they need to do their task, before they request organisations for data. That responsibility should not lie with the organisations, that could find themselves in a dependent position (e.g. subsidies) or not be sufficiently aware of regulations.
• We want more transparency about the management of personal data by government agencies and institutions controlled/financed by the government. There must always be a legal basis for the processing of personal data.
• The government should focus on its core tasks. Regulations should be developed by our own administration and not be outsourced to third parties. That doesn't mean no tasks can be outsourced. The government should not occupy itself with the maintenance of its buildings or IT systems. But the government should have enough expertise to supervise outsourced assignments.

DierAnimal

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Party programme

Standpoints

• We want permanent camera surveillance for pet breeders, under the same conditions as for the industrial cattle farms.
• We want a national database to register every pet. Each pet will be linked to the person who is repsonsible for it. Identification and registration systems like these are the best way to counter illegal trade in cats and dogs and to guarantee their safety and health. It will also make people think twice before buying or adopting a pet.
• We want a database with everyone who wants to adopt a pet. The adopter should identify her/himself with their e-id. People with good intentions must sign a contract whereby they commit to take good care of the pet. That database should also contain a blacklist of people who have a history of pet neglection or abandonment.

Groen

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Party programme

Standpoints

• Circular economy: products that last, right to repair, circular design.
• Value unpaid labour, including volunteer work.

• Investment policy for a sustainable and just economy. It does not specify if free software is a part of that.

• Copyright revenues really go to artists, makers and authors, also in an age of artificial intelligence.
• Right to disconnect for every employee and every student.
• Right to disconnect outside school hours for students and for teachers.
• A clear smartphone policy at schools.
• Extend our cyber defence capacity and work on a digital disaster plan.
• A national and international ban on killer robots (completely autonomous weapon systems that choose targets by themselves and make their own decisions to attack).
• More oversight on export and use of goods that have a non-military use as well as a military use ("dual use"), like certain construction materials, equipment, software or technology.
• That every employee, also those who get their assignments through an app, has a human supervisor instead of an algorithm.
• That administration can be done online as well as at an office. This is especially important for people who are less digitally able.
• Sustainability criteria for government investments and pension funds.
• That you keep ownership of your personal data: only with active and deliberate consent should data be processed.
• That everyone is included in the digital transformation. One of our supporting measures will be social tariffs for internet and telecom.
• Fast internet everywhere by rolling out a fibre network.
• Make digital infrastructure climate neutral as soon as possible.
• That the internet is by and for everyone. Everyone who sticks to the basic rules is allowed to use it. We avoid too much power by internet giants as well as illicit government interventions.
• Sufficient training for employees with regards to artificial intelligence, so that they can apply it in their work and can re-educate themselves when their jobs changes because of AI.
• Include literacy with regards to (social) media and digital technologies (like AI) in school curriculums.
• More digital transparency, so that users know how algorithms work and what data is being used to create them. We avoid that a conversation with AI looks like human interaction. We do this with a compulsory registration.
• Oversight on application of AI. Every new development must be put to the human rights test. We forbid risky applications.
• Social media suppliers must take responsibility for the handling of fake news, polarisation and an unhealthy amount of stimuli on their platform.
• Civilians should get access to body cam images of themselves.

N-VA

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Party programme

Standpoints

• We need more efforts with regards to digital infrastructure. Flanders is behind on 5G coverage and fibre. Extra investments in digital infrastructure must make sure that the Flemish economy stays competitive. By 2030 every enterprise should have access to super fast internet (> 1 Gbps). Where possible there should be cooperation of organisations to efficiently roll out of the works with a minimum of nuisance to citizens and enterprises. We focus on competition in services instead of infrastructure.

• European rules hold back agricultural innovation too much because of an over-the-top precautionary approach. To fully use Flanders' expertise it is necessary to adjust the rules. Only then can we properly use our knowledge about biotechnology, high tech plant breeding, AI, nanotechnology and nuclear power to tackle contemporary challenges.
• Increased adoption of AI by our Flemish SMEs must be a priority. At the same time, we make sure that negative effects of AI are avoided and remedied. For this we want an international institution, taking inspiration from the International Maritime Organisation or the International Labour Organisation.
• Essential public services must also be guaranteed in a digital economy. Even though today's digitisation of the economy is irreversible and should be strongly encouraged, we must make sure that every member of our society is on board. That's why companies should always provide physical access to their basic services. Among these would be: opening a bank account, getting an internet or phone subscription, postal services etc.
• We want digital labelling, to lower production costs.
• We want to facilitate and support all initiatives that support a circular economy and we want to optimise the functioning of Vlaanderen Circulair.
• All health data from patients will be stored in one secured data vault and can be shared between healthcare providers when the patient allows it. This makes it simpler to follow up on treatments and avoids double examinations. It also stimulates interdisciplinary consultation, with the patient at the centre.
• Citizens can 'donate' their health data with privacy guarantees, just like for an organ donation. This can be information from medical files, genetic information, lifestyle information and biological samples. This data can be used for scientific research and can give insights in health issues. Databases like these already exist in many other countries and can help advance medical scientific research.
• We help citizens and health care providers to advance their digital skills. Digitisation remains a tool and is not a goal in itself. Digital processes can help bring health care closer and can get the citizen more involved as a patient. But we must see to it that nobody is left behind and offer analogue processes for those that want it.
• Digital health applications and technology can unburden health care providers, improve the quality of health care by more and better registration en can make it easy of the patient to follow up on his health status. The patient is more in control, without (long) journeys to a doctor or hospital. Technological developments can e.g. allow to better keep track of elders with dementia, so that they live independently for a longer time, but that there can also be an intervention if something goes wrong.
• AI can be an important tool in health care. But it must never be a replacement for the necessary human touch. We must work on a framework for these kinds of developments in health care, leaving room for development and innovation, but at the same time protecting health care quality.
• Digital health care application developers should get enough room for their innovative ideas and should get a clear contact point with the government. A clear timeline should give them insight in their implementation chances. Just like with new medicines, a temporary refund can be put in place until enough data is collected and the value is proven. If there is insufficient value in the health care sector, then a pre-agreed sum will have to be paid back.

• We stimulate companies to focus on innovative defence research. We create the option of a significant fiscal advantage for those who invest in cyber and defence R&D.

• We focus on strong protection of our critical infrastructure, e.g. ports, airports and nuclear and communication infrastructure.
• Drone and anti-drone technology is essential. We stimulate the development of these technologies and formulate counter-drone strategies in the air, on land and on/under water.
• We intensify our cyber security.
• We invest in electronic warfare.
• We continue to invest in the digitisation of education.
• We simplify the formalities for the exchange of information between police departments themselves and with external services (with enforcement capabilities) by setting up an intergovernmental framework agreement that respects the privacy regulation, but limits the administrative burdens to a strict minimum.
• We create a joint cyber centre at the federal police level, a common centre for operation knowledge and expertise, to come to an efficient, high quality, integrated and coordinated approach to cyber crime and optimal processing of cyber information.
• We reinforce the neighbourhood police and research the introduction of digital neighbourhood police. Because young people don't just live in the physical world, but more and more on the internet. It's essential that the police are present in this online world to stay in touch with our society and especially young people.
• To guarantee optimal information gathering and flow we establish a Crossroads Bank Security where the data of all existing databases can be logically linked. We will see to it that the privacy of our citizens is guaranteed and that their personal data is sufficiently protected.
• We want terrorist trials to take place in the country where the crimes were committed. For this we focus on digital tools, e.g. trials via video conference. If a local trial is not possible, then we want for terrorists to only be judged by a court with professional judges.
• We need strong investments in the security of our ports. We use every necessary physical and technological measure (e.g. the use of drones) and intensify the supervision.
• We want full automation of the information transfer between the Justice and Finance Departments to allow for an effective collection of all fines.
• Digitisation of the Justice Department remains a top priority. It should practical and user friendly. It should not be an extra threshold, it should improve the accessibility of justice instead.
• The right to privacy of victims must be respected. It is inexcusable that at this moment personal data of victims is available to suspects in the court file.
• We continue to focus on digitisation of municipal services, in order to extend the low barrier and fast access to government products to a full-fledged package. Local governments must optimise their services and combine as much as possible online services with personal appeal. We keep supporting ict security to have our local governments ready for cyber attacks or hackers. We also look at umbrella standards and platforms at the Flemish level that could help in the fight against these crimes.
• We maximise Flemish sovereignty: work on a Flemish digital strategy, reduce the impeding dependencies of higher governing levels and intensify the cooperation between Flemish and local governments, so that local governments can coherently digitise to better serve their citizens, enterprises and organisations.
• Digital systems are the nervous system of our society. Flanders' data economy must be further stimulated and facilitated, because data is of enormous value to our knowledge economy. Federal government data are made available free of charge to other governments, so that services van be accelerated and/or automated.
• Flanders should show more ambition in the field IT and data innovation by being a European leader in data tech, giving citizens back the control over their data, being a leader the European chip strategy, research the potential in quantum computing and supporting the roll-out and development of 5G and 6G.
• AI provides enormous opportunities in the coming years: productivity gains, innovation, digital twins, …. We want to wisely use AI to increase productivity, within the government as well as in society as a whole.
• Private and public media companies, whom are partly subsidised with public money, must agree that content that is judged to contain dated views or stereotypes should not be taken offline or deleted, but possibly be annotated.
• Social media companies should not be required to act as a judge by deleting messages and blocking people, except in a limiting list of criminal situations. Disputes about the permissibility of certain expressions must be ruled on by a judge in a short term.
• We want to modify the Digital Services Act to limit over-the-top censorship. We propose that social media companies can only be required to take things offline when it very clearly concerns criminal material, which is based on a limiting list of offences.
• We want to increase subsidies for films, series and games, with the goal to have 1 series, 1 game and 2 films of international stature and range each legislation. Flemish-Dutch cooperation remains the basis on which we disseminate our language. The Language Union is central to that. Digitisation offers opportunities to keep the international reverberations of the Dutch language through language technology and digital language infrastructure.
• We invest in the people that keep the sports sector going. With the strong investments in education for trainers, with a focus on flexibility and digitisation and an adapted education structure, more than 10000 trainers were trained in one year. We want to repeat this increase.
• Dangerous drivers should be kept off the road. We want to investigate the possibility of a driver's licence lock with the aid of digital driver's licences.
• We focus on a proportionate and effective use of the ANPR camera network, with maximum protection of privacy. These cameras must for example be used to flag road warriors and criminals to the police. We make sure that private companies do not make excessive profits from municipal administrative traffic fines and that they can not determine where the traffic will be monitored.
• We focus more on digitisation and smart use of data to improve traffic safety and flow.
• We want the integration of apps for public and shared transportation, so that people can use one app to plan their whole route and cover it with 1 integrated ticket.
• We want a flexible framework for self-driving cars to enable Flanders to get an innovative lead.
• We increase digital services abroad to increase user friendliness (for Flemish people abroad).
• We mobilise new technologies for climate-smart agriculture in developing countries.

Open Vld

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Standpoints

• All Belgian governments should gather behind a unique, digital and central front desk for enterprises.
• We want to improve inspection to weed out the criminal enterprises, while minimising overhead for bona fide ones. Further digitisation and simplification are basic conditions for this. Data mining and AI can help to discover patterns and free up capacity for other targeted inspection.
• We want to implement a European Big Tech tax on digital services. This strengthens our fiscal justice by making sure that big multinational tech companies contribute a faire share. This is crucial to safe guard fiscal equality within the digital economy. After the successful implementation of such a minimum tax, the next step will be to have specific taxes on digital services, to obtain a fairer distribution of taxes and to stimulate healthy competition within the European digital market.
• We are careful not to overregulate new technologies like AI in advance and focus only on real abuse. It's of crucial importance that we embrace innovation and not impede the potential of new technologies by regulating them to quickly or to severely.
• We invest in public-private collaborations to integrate AI technologies faster into our (digital) society. Flanders should be one of the best AI regions in Europe.
• Getting a building permit takes too long. There is often not enough personnel. AI can be used to streamline the process, analyse data and improve decision making.
• We use data to make traffice smoother and safer. An enormous amount of data is captured via cameras, GPS and traffic management systems. This data is still underused today, while it could lead to many solutions. Data will be anonymised and publicly accessible to stimulate innovative traffic applications. Privacy must always be taken into account.
• We give self-driving cars and other vehicles all opportunities. Self-driving vehicles are the future. We embrace the autonomous transportation revolution to improve our mobility. We want quickly give self-driving cars access to our roads. To achieve this, we reform legislation, adjust our roads and stimulate the communication between vehicles in order to automatically coordinate traffic flows. We want to pioneer public road tests. The Task Force Autonomous Transportation will lead this effort. Everything that meets the requirements is allowed to drive autonomously without further question. Our freight traffic must be autonomous, sustainable, multi-modal and intelligent by 2040.
• We want to increase the recycling rate by introducing digital deposits.
• We do more to prevent fake new: more independent fact checking and demanding transparency from those who use algorithms.
• Belgians abroad should be able to get good and easy help, especially when something serious happens. We want a travel app to inform them. This a unique digital front desk for travel advice, contact data and registrations. The app can also serve as BE-alert abroad, allowing the government to immediately send important information to citizens in emergency situations.
• Digital crime is on the rise and is not a local, but a global phenomenon. We must arm ourselves against internet fraud. Banks must take responsibility in protecting their customer's savings against phishing and other forms of fraud. They should improve their compliance with legal obligations.
• Non-consensual distribution of nude images has an enormous impact on a person. Social media companies must do more to stop this. Victims must be able to stop the distribution by a simple request to a central reporting point organised by social media companies in cooperation with The Institute for the equality of women and men and Child Focus.
• We extend camera/ANPR options to protect criminal hot spots like industrial zones, transport environments en vulnerable ecological areas, with a maximum focus on privacy and always in cooperation with the local government.
• More collaboration in the legal system: citizens, entrepreneurs, companies and private security firms should collaborate more. This can be done with more neighbourhood watches, synchronised early warning systems, sharing (camera) networks and digital infrastructure.
• We embrace technology to make the Justice department more customer oriented. We must improve our cyber security. AI van help citizens to find their way around the legal system. A chat box can feature as a digital assistant for repetitive questions or AI can help with filling in forms, writing reports or legal research by magistrates. Video conferencing can result in efficiency gains and make the legal system more accessible. Technology and science can also help us solve cold cases. Digitisation brings the legal system closer to citizens.
• We must reinforce the 'online police'. We must act better and faster against cyber crimes. Civilians must be able to quickly engage with police on the internet. The police will use AI and cooperate with the other online inspection services of other government services. Abuse of AI, e.g. to commit hate crimes or create deep fakes, will be punishable.
• The army's cyber component must be reinforced to work both defensively and offensively. It must anticipate digital developments, new technologies (e.g. AI) and new digital threats.
• We want a strong AI policy in education, but we don't lose sight of an equal playing field and we keep focusing on digital and media literacy.
• We want a digital tool that allows every citizen to easily manage what information (semi-)governments, government companies, Big Tech and multinationals have about them and for what purposes they use it.
• Innovation and digitisation are moving very fast, but not everyone can keep up. We embrace that progress but make a priority of digital inclusion on every policy level so that nobody is left behind.
• Citizens are entitled to a faster and correcter medical diagnosis. That's why we want to make early detection tests and point of care tests more accessible. We strive for the development of a digital diagnosis instrument to support GP's in detecting rare diseases.
• We invest in medical technology, digitisation and AI. That way medical care can be organised more effectively. Medical care can also be given remotely or hybridly, i.e. through teleconsulting as well as physical consulting and with the use of online assistance in the form of self help modules and tools.

• Publications in the government gazette can be fully digital. A publication in the government gazette can be very involved. Too much sometimes, especially for associations. We want to simplify the publishing procedure by creating a digital option. If it involves identity cards, then this must be fully digitally supported or via ItsMe.

• We want to make our culture more accessible, also for a young and broad audience. Technology can help us be flexible for those who decide last minute. A smart mix of technology and accessibility opens the door to more cultural consumers.
• We want to lower the administrative burden in the sports sector with digitisation.
• We want to put Belgium on the e-sports world map. This is in line with our initiatives to promote the game industry.
• We want to see AI software that autonomously checks websites for fraud, compliance with economic regulations and misleading practices.

PVDA

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Party programme

Standpoints

• Wealth tax: we want to connect databases from governments, banks, insurance companies etc. and mine that data to be able to tax the (super) rich on their full fortune.
• We want taxation that targets digital giants (i.e. GAFAM).
• We create European public infrastructures on strategic research areas: energy, green technologies, health and digitisation.
• We protect the general access to results of government sponsored research. We prevent the privatisation by means of patents of public research.
• To counter planned obsolescence of electric devices, we increase the legal warranty periods considerably.

• We encourage creativity with a public fund for YouTubers, Tiktok-ers and other who express themselves on social media to encourage new creators, following France's example of the Centre national du cinéma.

• We want free of charge wifi in public spaces, to give everyone access to the internet, without financial or geographical barriers.
• Every family should have free of charge access to the fastest and most reliable internet by 2030 thanks to a public fibre network.
• We work towards new social media by experimenting with public digital platforms.
• We put Proximus back under democratic control and convert it to a modern community company that builds a public fibre network in-house.
• We ensure there's one good quality mobile network that everyone can use with every subscription.
• We enhance the solidarity within the cultural sector with a Big Tech tax and refinance the public broadcasting companies.
• We challenge developers to create new technologies that offer solutions for social challenges.
• We give citizens a simple digital way to see all government decisions. All governments give access to their data for non-commercial initiatives and data driven investigative journalism.
• Through a digital ethical mailbox citizens can anonymously report fraud.
• We include the principles of net neutrality and the right to encrypted communication into the Belgian constitution and defend the global management of the internet by the United Nations.
• We require all administrations to also be easily accessible physically and by phone.
• We start a federal digital agency that digitally supports local, regional and federal governments and that develops its own software to help them.
• We generalise the use of open source IT systems and software in the government. All in-house software is released as open source. Only technology based on privacy by design, open source, open architecture and open data is allowed to collect data in public places.
• We regulate the way technology multinationals collect our data, so as to guarantee our privacy and security.
• All software that is used in an employment context must be screened for discriminating behaviour. The employer must always be held responsible for decisions that are made with AI.
• We develop an app that gives access to public transportation, public taxis, car sharing and all public micro mobility.
• We encourage the digitisation of the judicial system in the interest of citizens. At the same time we guarantee physical access through counters.
• The review the privacy legislation to deal with the potential dangers of new technologies like facial recognition.
• We improve the communication between the different intelligence/security services, also internationally, so that arrest warrants can be followed up more effectively. Extradition requests are handled quickly and seriously.
• We develop an app against intimidation. Women should easily and everywhere be able to report incidents to the police and find a safe place to get help.
• We protect the democratic freedoms en human rights against mass databases, passenger registers and digital fingerprints. We push Big Brother out.
• We want to reinforce basic rights in Europe. We resist mass data storage.
• We want more online privacy protection for citizens and more inspection of data use by big corporations.
• We want to end patents on green technology to speed up investments in climate transition, in Belgium and worldwide.

Vlaams Belang

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Party programme

Standpoints

• A fast and efficient inspection of the electronic data carriers (e.g. mobile phones) of asylum seekers.
• Connect the database of illegal migrants to the database of intelligence agencies.
• Establish a cyber security police corps.
• Stimulate the cooperation between police and private security services.
• Absolute priority must go to more resources and personnel for the justice department, with better support with regards to digitisation, so that each crime can be dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner and the judicial backlog can finally be eliminated.
• Better cooperation and data exchange with foreign intelligence agencies, especially to combat Islam terrorism.
• Better and more import inspections (with regards to drugs), with the use of AI, chemical detection and container tracking.
• A leap in productivity, by using new technologies and employment forms.
• Stop the mandatory rollout of the digital energy meters.
• Integrate new technologies, like AI, into the school curriculum.
• Wise use of laptops in education, so that they financially fit within the subsidy budget, so that people don't have to pay extra on the school invoice and so that they aren't a pedagogic obstacle for the reading and writing abilities of children.
• Logistics: more investments in data infrastructure, so that transport data can be exchanged digitally and efficiently between companies and between the private and public sector, goods can be tracked throughout the chain and capacity can be better used.
• Heavily sanction social media platforms that censor content that does not violate the law (up to one million EUR per violation per day).
• An end to the market and power concentration of a limited number of foreign Big Tech companies by breaking up their oligopoly and preventing further monopolisation.
• "Media education" as part of the curriculum in all types of secondary education.
• Training about the correct handling of personal data for civil servants who deal with sensitive personal data databases.
• More investments in research and implementation of technological applications like block chain to maximise protection of data against internal and external abuse.
• Guaranteed net neutrality, i.e. equal treatment of all data on the internet without discrimination of user, content, website, platform, application or device.
• Stricter oversight by the government on the data of our citizens that is recorded and processed by big tech companies.
• Mandatory transparency by big tech companies of the equal treatment of all political views on their platform.
• Efficient software to handle the salaries of our defence personnel in an orderly and legitimate manner.

Volt

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Party programme

Standpoints

• Increase investments in cybersecurity, human-centred AI, microtechnology.
• Increase funds to support programmes that improve the digitalisation of our public processes and functions.
• Introduce regulatory standards to ban planned obsolescence, promote circular practices and reduce material footprint.
• Ensuring the safety and security of users of digital technology, for example, by ensuring that all organisations within the EU assess their exposure to the impact of quantum computing and create a migration plan to post-quantum cryptographic protocols where necessary. Similarly, e.g., communicating annually to the public the security posture of critical infrastructure.
• Fostering open-source and accessible technology, for example, increasing access of EU institutions and industries to open-source software, by avoiding legislation that hinders open-source contributions or threatens net neutrality and ensuring that everyone in Europe gets access to new technologies.
• Advancing sustainable and long-lasting technology, for example, by strengthening the ‘right to repair’ so that anyone who wants to repair their product themselves has access to affordable spare parts and repair information. Similarly, e.g., requiring manufacturers to publish the ecological footprint of products (including the manufacturer’s supply chain) in product specifications.
• Ensuring that current and new technology does not violate fundamental rights and freedoms, for example, by requiring mandatory audits of AI systems so that they don’t infringe on privacy or produce discriminatory effects.
• Ensuring that digital technologies are taxed fairly, based on where the digital product’s revenue is generated.
• Introduce measures that give EU citizens and companies secure and affordable options for payments and digital financial services, avoiding market dominance by a few players that charge high transaction fees.
• Introduce a digital Euro as a useful medium of payment for the unbanked, creating competitive pressure in the market for deposits and payments. This should not have any holding limits and include salary payments.
• Safeguard the position of cash as legal tender in our society, but limit real estate transactions in cash to prevent money laundering.
• Implement a central wealth register by merging data from various sources, such as national tax and real estate register data.
• Increase the EU's position as a global defense innovator in areas such as the development of cyber, AI, carbon-neutral, quantum computing and space defense technologies.
• Improve digital mental well-being with EU-wide legislation that protects workers’ right to disconnect outside of office hours and educates children on the healthy use of digital technology.
• Transform the Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade into a binding legal instrument, so that the Declaration is upheld at every step of policy making.
• Promote a mandatory opinion by the European Parliament’s LIBE committee for each regulatory proposal on digital matters to guarantee that fundamental rights and freedoms are accounted for in the text.
• Where appropriate, transition to paperless processes in both EU institutions and Member States, adopting harmonised ICT standards and offering multi-device friendly services.
• Roll out the EU Digital Identity Wallet, which should be able to digitally store an EU ID, national ID and other public certificates from all Member States, while ensuring user control, decentralised data storage and robust data protection.
• Ensure offline availability of digital services, for example by staff guiding citizens through digital processes.
• The adaptation to a digitalised world will be achieved by working towards a new European eGovernment Action Plan that includes policies and actions on government process redesign, transition to paperless processes, adaptation of harmonized ICT standards and multi-device friendly services. Furthermore, to ensure that the development of the Interoperable Europe Act (2022/0379 (COD)) takes an inclusive approach to stakeholder involvement, Volt advocates for the final act representing our principles, digital rights, open data and Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS).
• Establish a protected right to be offline outside of working hours.
• Increase focus on developing digital skills in elementary and secondary schools within the EU, such as media literacy, basic IT skills, information skills and computational thinking (including understanding how AI works).
• Ensure a unified asylum seekers database accessible to both national authorities and EU agencies.
• Address the challenges posed by the increasing digitisation of human trafficking in human beings and enhance the criminal law response to technology-facilitated offences.
• Establish a European Netflix as a European broadcaster, combining access to all media produced with public money across the union. Establish a TV programme under the auspices of the broadcaster. Abolish geoblocking.
• Release software components funded by public resources under a free/libre and open-source software (FLOSS) licence to ensure transparency and to enable the use and adaptation of the software and its source code by the broad public for both private and commercial use.
• Pave the way for initiatives analogous to the Open Technology Fund, the Open Collective or the Sovereign Tech Fund, that help generate funding for open digital technologies, such as widely used open-source software that serves as a critical component in software products and services many Europeans use.
• Cultivate a financially sustainable ecosystem that reduces our dependency on precarious volunteer efforts for key software libraries and infrastructure, utilised by both the public and private sectors.
• Treat open-source solutions as a deciding factor, on par with accessibility, functionality, and usability, when considering software products for public services and operations. In cases where new software components are developed using public funds, the software must be published under a FLOSS licence.
• Place the burden of liability of open-source software components onto those commercially deploying (e.g. integrators) the software and require the stakeholders who benefit the most from this deployment to ensure CE compliance of the software (excluding end consumers).
• Impose compulsory video surveillance in slaughterhouses to contribute to better enforcement of animal welfare laws (already mandatory in Spain).
• Develop an EU database for the registration of pets (dogs, cats and ferrets), which must become mandatory (microchipping).

Voor U

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Vooruit

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Party programme

Standpoints

• Break the excessive market power of a small circle of big corporations. At the same time we strengthen consumer rights in telecom [and other] sectors. We continue to defend net neutrality and take on the dominant position of digital platforms.
• We want systems that allow changing of service provider with a few clicks, making it fast, easy and free of charge. We want to keep physical and telephonic contact options.
• We support the prohibition on abuse of economic dependence. More energy and means should be targeted towards the digital sector, where there is often power concentration and dishonest practices by 'gatekeepers' (primarily big tech companies).
• Put a stop to the automatic extension of service provider contracts in the tech industry by requiring a yearly confirmation by the customer of every agreement that leads to renewed and automatic payment.
• A minister for digitisation and administrative simplification on both the federal and Flemish levels. […] All transactions between government, citizens and enterprises should be default be possible in a digital manner.
• Automate the fiscal obligations of enterprises.
• Automatic white cash registers in as many sectors as possible.
• Prepare now for the roll out of 6G in 2030.
• We want a compulsory ethical and legal framework for artificial intelligence. AI must be use with respect for human dignity, autonomy, diversity and privacy. We dismiss the enforcement of patents that are targeted at invasive monitoring of employees. Employees should have transparency about and a say in the use of AI. The 'owner'/'organiser' of the AI application must be held responsible for its social consequences.
• We want a Flemish AI research centre (like in the US and France). It should function as a knowledge centre and as an incubator for start-ups and scale-ups. We want more focus on productivity through AI by enterprises, so as to have a positive impact on their innovation capacity and employment growth.
• Our public investment companies should focus on highly productive sectors and sectors that help tackle climate change, e.g. circular material use, industrial electrification, renewable energy and strengthening of digitisation.
• Innovation and technological development that make our economy more sustainable should happen in Europe. We should control the complete value chains.
• Europe should be less dependent on third parties when it comes to energy, supply chains, critical raw materials, technology, medicine and food. We want the EU to protect critical infrastructure, like ports, and show a more assertive stance when it comes to cyber security, foreign involvement, unfair competition from state companies and technological leaks to third countries.
• We want to make the digital euro happen, allowing all citizens access to central bank money. […] The digital euro should be inclusive and available to non-digital customers, in the form of a card.
• Artificial intelligence has the enormous potential to make jobs more workable, strengthen prosperity and give employees more time, but there are also pitfalls, like continuous employee monitoring and elevated workload. Technology should support employees in their job and not take away their autonomy. We create a legal framework for the use of AI on the job, to improve the welfare of working people.
• The consumer should be able to freely choose the means of communication with a support service.
• We want the legal requirement of a universal banking service. That allows customers who do not use digital banking to keep access to the traditional offline banking transactions without high costs.
• Because of the digital divide, a part of the population is cut off from information, social networks, assistance and employment opportunities. That's why there needs to remain physical assistance next to digital and telephonic channels.
• The international tax system is no longer suitable for digital business models. Enterprises, like internet companies, that are not physically located in our country but do generate a significant turnover here, have to contribute to our welfare state. We want a fast international solution for the taxation of the digital economy. If that not happens, then we want a Belgian digitax based on the principle: taxes are paid where profits are made.
• There must be a legal framework for data mining on bank account information in the Central Point of Contact for accounts and financial contracts (CPC), so that the administration can search it for patterns of fraud.
• We want the compulsory registration of crypto wallets to the CPC and the tax administration. Suppliers of crypto related services, like exchanges, will have to comply with the same third party reporting as traditional financial service suppliers. We want to extend the automatic international data exchange with crypto currency information.
• Suppliers of accounting software must be required to log every changed or deleted line. This minimum requirement makes fiscal auditing easier. The statements from those programs must be supplied in a common analysable format.
• To combat VAT fraud we want "real time invoice reporting" for consumer as well as company transactions. To realise this, cash registers and payment and invoicing systems must be connected to the administration and send VAT data immediately and automatically. This results in a significant drop in administrative VAT requirements for enterprises and will significantly lower the possibilities to commit VAT fraud.
• Less cash and more electronic payments lead to less options for fraud. We will lower the limit for cash payments to 1000 EUR, now that dealers are required to have electronic payment options. For some sectors, like health, this limit could be even lower.
• Digital data are very ephemeral and often shielded. We make it possible for fiscal and social inspectors to freeze and copy professional digital data. That way the manipulation or destruction of data can be avoided when there is a dispute about the inspection.
• New technologies and AI must make health screening programs more efficient and effective.
• We stimulate the use of new technologies and data collection and sharing, like smart watches, health apps and AI. We support health workers and citizens to improve their digital health skills. That way patients can monitored better, also remotely. That leads to less hospitalisation. The collected data are subject to the privacy regulation and can only be used for individual medical purposes, scientific research and to improve the health sector.
• We want accessible apps for young people that are dealing with suicidal thoughts and extend them to other target groups.
• We invest in mental health data collection, with extra attention for children and adolescents. Caretakers and services must be supported to collect and share data in a harmonised way. This will improve patient care and make the health system stronger and more efficient.
• We invest in e-health and digital accessibility of health information by developing a Flemish health app whereby people can easily get information about their health and which accredited health care suppliers can help them based on their health profile.
• We support schools in how they deal with new technologies like AI. We embrace this technological development and use it to support teachers and the learning process. We also support teachers in the professionalisation of effective digital didactic method.
• We make sure schools have a digitisation policy. We guarantee proper data protection of students, but at the same time ensure that data can be easily shared educators and caretakers.
• We develop a centralised system for information sharing between all parties that are involved in helping children in concerning situations.
• We're pragmatic and invest in all new (digital) technologies that could contribute to a climate neutral energy system, on the condition that they are safe, sustainable and affordable.
• We use road pricing for trucks as an instrument to guide transporters in their transition to emission free driving.
• We extend road pricing to utility vehicles to create an equal playing field.
• We check for mobile device usage behind the wheel with unmanned cameras.
• We want all new cars to have the Intelligent Speed Assistance system. This system detects the applicable speed limit and makes it almost impossible to ignore it.
• Through European regulation about eco design we require the industry to that can easily be reused or recycled. That leads to a lower demand for new raw materials. Civilians must get back the right to repair, be able to easily get replacement parts or manuals and planned obsolescence must be illegal.
• At a European level we want to see a repairability and lifespan index for a broad range of products. Producers must supply spare parts and software updates for the expected lifespan of their products. That creates local employment and lower costs for consumers, who can repair their devices instead of having to buy new ones.
• Circularity must be a criterion in public tenders. That way governments create a market for reuse and sustainable materials. Conventional suppliers will be required to offer services instead of selling devices.
• We support initiatives that share goods (e.g. cars, tools) or offer them as services (e.g. fridge). That improves the use and design of goods.
• Direct European agricultural support should be redivided and targeted to sustainable agricultural practices. Less for the agro industry and big farm companies, more for common farmers. We want to move to the principle: "public money for public goods" and convert the common agricultural policy to a full-fledged transition fund for a new agricultural model.
• The police must have a performant ict system and use the most modern technology in order to strengthen their work and make them more effective.
• We strengthen the Supervisory Body for Police Information to guarantee the proper handling of information and personal data within the police.
• We keep pushing forward on the path to extensive digitisation of the justice department. It is crucial that all data remains under the control of the department and is not contracted out to the private sector. This digitisation can never be at the expense of the victim's rights.
• We are vigilant for the increased risk of espionage and interference. The VSSE and ADIV will apply more resources to protect the government and our scientific and economic potential. Following up on the online spread of disinformation that polarises our society and undermines our democracy gets full attention.
• Protecting our critical infrastructure (digital and physical) becomes a priority. The rollout of the NIS2 directive, that strengthens the cyber security and the resiliency of our essential services against cyber attacks, is crucial in this respect.
• We establish a Crossroads Bank Security, that complies with all regulations regarding security and privacy, and that will collect all existing relevant intelligence databases, including that of the Immigration Office. Because information exchange is crucial to guarantee our security. We also strengthen the information exchange with foreign intelligence agencies. When the information about terrorism suspects is centralised, the risk assessment is faster and more accurate.
• We strengthen Customs and focus even more on scanning containers and other innovative technologies. We apply this to all ports, to stop drugs from coming into the country through these routes. We also roll out drone networks for the same reason.
• We make a priority of the fight against (online) sexual extortion and abuse of children and the spread of images thereof. We need enough specialised researchers using high tech software to trace and remove images. We set up a legal framework for the use of virtual profiles that can be used preventively and repressively by the police. We strengthen the European approach and inspection of tracing and removing of images, so that we no longer depend on the goodwill of digital platforms.
• We want more international and European coordination that enables that police and justice departments can demand the cooperation of digital platforms.
• We want a stronger "mule stop" with required participation of all banks (including foreign) and where the retail sector assumes responsibility. That way suspicious transactions after phishing will be detected and blocked more easily and effectively.
• Everyone, irrespective of ethnic-cultural descent, gender, age, sexual preference or handicap, should have access to the nightlife. That's why we want camera surveillance in all establishments that have bouncers and we want mandatory incident reporting to local police and reporting point discrimination.
• Many people are insufficiently familiar with the digital world. Some distrust digital tools, e.g. because they are wary for privacy violations or online fraud. For these groups the digitisation of services is a step back. They are punished, as it were: for them it's harder, and sometimes more expensive, to have access to the same services as before.
• Internet is a basic need, like electricity and water. We guarantee affordable and full internet access to everyone, including rural areas. We invest in free of charge internet access in public places like schools, libraries, cultural centres and government buildings and we research how we can give access to devices for those who can't afford it.
• We close the digital gap by means of digipoints in every city or municipality and we make sure they are accessible. We work with socio-cultural organisations to lead people to them. We reach out, e.g. by putting a mobile team in certain locations.
• The government should lead by example: all communication and every platform must be accessible by everyone. Because everyone has a right to information and public service.
• Government services and essential sectors like banks, energy suppliers or telecom providers, must practice "inclusion by design", meaning: they have to account for all target groups in the development and updates of software. This can be achieve by involving representatives of people in poverty, elders and handicapped people in their test panels.
• Flanders and Brussels develop, in cooperation with the cultural sector, the youth sector and education, a new low barrier Cultural Participation App. This app offers young people a yearly cultural start budget and integrates existing passes. It provides an overview of cultural activities and can also be used in schools, for cultural educational purposes.
• We focus on 3 principles for works in the arts and cultural sector: the guarantee that artists have access to social security, a strengthening of their socio-economic position and a fair share of the digital profits when their works are distributed on the internet.
• AI has become an integral part of our society. It provides enormous opportunities, but its application can also be unfair or unjust. It also has an ecological and socio-economic price. We want more strict regulation of AI at the European level. We want a tax on the use of copyright protected content by AI companies, analogous with reprography. We mandate a label for content that's generated with AI. We prohibit copyright claims on content that is generated as a whole or in part by AI. Then the profits of technologically generated content will go to the real creative makers.
• We create an independent advising committee on data ethics. This multidisciplinary committee will advise governments and the general public about ethical, legal and ecological issues regarding the use of AI, robotics and related technologies.
• The protection of personal data and the right to privacy is essential. But it should not trump our security or hinder investigations into fiscal and social fraud. That's why we need to maximise the focus on technical solutions that give use the necessary checks and balances.
• We make the decision making process more transparent and accessible by immediately publishing all government decisions, Flemish and federal, on a digital platform.

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Category/Belgium