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Cross-border
economic
development
15
Territory portraits: economic development on different borders
Belgium - France
Comparison of framework conditions
The differences between framework conditions in France and Belgium
are not very pronounced, and each side of the border has its advantages.
In terms of taxation, the situations are not fundamentally different. In
Belgium, income tax is higher than in France (notably for those with an
average income). On the other hand, labour costs are lower in Belgium,
both in terms of employee contributions (13% of gross pay, compared
with 22% in France) and in terms of employers’ contributions (25%,
compared with 25%-42% in France). Lastly, corporation tax rates
in both countries stand at around 33%. Property prices are lower in
France, except in the Lille conurbation, where we see higher prices
than in urban centres on the other side of the border.
Economic fabric
The economy in the Walloon region has already embarked on a
widespread expansion of the tertiary sector, while the Flemish region
has retained a dynamic industrial sector. West Flanders is characterised
by a high density of small and medium-sized businesses and industries
and the presence of only a few large companies. Some of the sectors
most represented in the Flemish border regions are textiles, new materials
(plastics processing) and agri-food (particularly frozen products).
On the French side of the border, the proportion of large companies
is greater due to the larger role played by the industrial sector (agri-
food, healthcare). The main competitive clusters are in the sectors of
innovative materials (MAUD), textiles (Up-Tex), agri-nutrition-healthcare
(NSL) and ICT.
Sectors of economic cooperation
Historically, the most integrated sector from the cross-border perspective
was the textile industry. Even today, the players in this sector know and
interact with each other.
Ì
Ì
Centexbel
(the Belgian centre for research into textiles) and
Up-tex
(a French competitiveness centre for the textile industry)
have representatives on one another’s executive boards. There
are other sectors where cross-border synergies are developing:
ICT and the imaging sector, food and healthcare, new materials,
transport and logistics, as well as clean technologies.
Portrait of a territory
North Sea
English Channel
WALLONIA
NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
GERMANY
PED of Longwy
Bruxelles
Namur
LUXEM-
BOURG
FLANDERS
INTERREG
France-Wallonia-Flanders
INTERREG
2 Mers Seas Zeeën
Nord
NORD
PAS-DE-CALAIS
Somme
Oise
Aisne
Marne
Ardennes
Pas-de-Calais
West-Vlaanderen
Flandre - Dunkerque - Côte d'Opale
Eurometropolis
Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai
UNI TED KINGDOM
Lille
Tournai
Kortrijk
Dunkerque
50 km
PICARDIE
CHAMPAGNE-
ARDENNE
FRANCE
EGTC
EGTC