Cross-Border Regional Labour Market Analysis - Belgium & Netherlands

This report is an analysis of the labour market in the cross-border territory at the Flemish-Dutch border, in particular the geographical territory of the EURES network Scheldemond, that was established in 2003 and officially came to an end in 2023. The territory comprises the Belgian Provinces of East Flanders (BE 23) and West Flanders (BE 25) and Antwerp (BE21) and the Dutch Province of Zeeland (NL 34) and the Western part of the Province of North-Brabant (NL411).1Belgian regions in particular include urban centres of national importance close to the border (i.e. Antwerp, Ghent) with many job opportunities. One key feature is the fact that there is no language barrier in the border region with Dutch as the common language. Compared to other border regions, cross-border transport connectivity is good. In addition, cross-border data collection activities were started, including labour market data. During the last couple of years, specific information points (grensinfopunten) for cross-border workers and employers have been established. Until recently, there was a long-standing official EURES Scheldmond Network,The rationale behind the selection of the region is that although there is no equivalent cross-border political entity (like a Euroregion) for this cross-border geographical area, there have been strong governance elements concerning the labour market. In particular, until recently there was a stable network structure for around twenty years with a special EURES network of employment services and other partners to stimulate cross-border work. Hence, this geographical area corresponds to explicit cross-border cooperation structures with respect to the cross-border labour market. In particular, the assumption is that one can find results and lessons concerning the relation between the key features and developments of the labour market and the key features of cross-border cooperation in the field of employment services and other important stakeholders. It was decided not to look at the entire Dutch-Flemish border regions since, in the Eastern part, the cross-border labour market is characterised by very different features (urbanisation, role of ports or heavy industry). In addition, concerning the labour market between the Belgian Province of Limburg and the Dutch Provinces of Limburg, a different cross-border EURES network was active, and it falls into the territory of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine where also the border to Germany plays a role and the cooperation with German employment services.Nevertheless, the report will occasionally refer to the situation along the entire Dutch-Flemish border because some of the data is only available at this level. We will also refer to the smaller labour market in the Euregio Scheldemond, which means the Dutch Province of Zeeland territory and the Flemish provinces of West- and East Flanders. This territory can be described as the centre of the former EURES cooperation, and we detected a trend to concentrate cross-border employment initiatives on smaller territories.Therefore, the reader needs to be aware that there is a territorial distinction with respect to the larger EURES Scheldemond territory and the territory of the Euregio Scheldemond. That the EURES cooperation did not stick to the territory of the Euregio was a decision taken 20 years ago. It likely concerns the internal regional structures of the public employment services UWV and VDAB. This increases to some extent the complexity. Nevertheless, the territory of EURES Scheldemond cannot be seen in isolation: as already mentioned, certain data are only available for the whole Dutch-Flemish border or smaller territories. More importantly, the governance structures related to the cross-border labour markets also go beyond single cross-border territories, which means that stakeholders of the former EURES network are also participating in cross-border employment initiatives at a smaller or larger scale.The study presents a current and forward-looking analysis of the evolution of the labour market from both a statistical and policy perspective. Importantly, the case study focuses on the cross-border region as a whole (almost regardless of the existence of the border(s)). In other words, the analysis does not focus on mirroring the situation of the labour market in one region of a given country against the situation in the region(s) on the other side of the border.This report falls within the scope of a DG REGIO project “Cross-border regional labour market analysis” which investigates, on a pan-European level, the state of play and specificities of cross-border labour market analyses practices. The ultimate objective of the project is to provide a knowledge basis, highlighting the potential opportunities and hindering factors of the cross-border area employment (and related data analysis), thereby allowing for a strengthening and better integration of the area as a common labour market.