The win-win loan, a measure that offers financial support to Flemish SMEs and start-up businesses, will be scrapped if the European Commission has its way. Believing that it contravenes European regulations, it will pass a motivated advice on the loan today. This is the last step before the case is brought to the European Court of Justice, which means that Flanders could be condemned and face a penalty. The win-win loan, which serves as one of the cornerstones of the Flemish economic recovery policy, makes it possible for friends and family members of starter entrepreneurs to receive a tax benefit if they extend a loan to the business for a period of eight years. Initially it only applied to start-ups, but today all SMEs can use this measure to gain access to a maximum of 100 000 euros. This loan has worked extremely well in Flanders, helping small businesses who need risk capital but cannot get a bank loan. Since 2006 this friendship loan of sorts has assisted about 3 000 SMEs with a total of 98 million euros. The condition that both the starter and supplier of these loans must live in Flanders is something the Commission considers to be an unacceptable discrimination and violation of the principles of freedom of movement and residence. When the Commission requested adjustments to the favourable taxation at the end of 2010, the Flemish government chose to ignore the criticism. Now the Commission has relaunched its attack on the loan system. This is not the first time Europe has targeted Flanders. On a previous occasion the region was forced to make changes to its regional care insurance and to scrap a discount for job keepers. But Europe has also aims at the discriminatory tax regulations of the Walloon Region, taking steps against a Walloon decree on income tax with the European Court of Justice. Walloons receive a tax cut if they buy shares or bonds from the Walloon Investment Fund, but foreign investors do not enjoy the same benefit. Meanwhile the federal government has also been apprehended by the European Commission for taxing interest payments to foreign investment companies whereas similar payments to Belgian companies are exempt from tax.

Every megawatt generated with renewable energy receives 142 euros in financial support, a report compiled by federal energy regulator CREG in 2011 states. The total support for renewable energy in 2011 amounted to 1.05 billion euros. Unless policy changes, this could amount to 2.5 billion by 2020. Or one quarter of the total end users’ bill. Solar energy, with its 459 million euros, received the lion’s share of financial support in 2011, followed by energy generated from biomass (346 million), wind energy on land (142 million) and at sea (76 million), and finally hydroelectric power at 9 million euros.

In Flanders energy minister Freya Van den Bossche (SP.A) has seriously reduced the solar energy subsidy by cutting it back from 250 euros per thousand kilowatt in 2011 to the current 22 euros, at a yield of 5%. The question now remains whether green energy will still be affordable by 2020. “We must realize that a sustainable energy sector is costly,” says CEO of the green energy company NPG Energy, André Jurres. “One billion euros is an amount that appeals to the imagination. But there is not better option. In the eighties we actually paid much more for nuclear power stations.” According to Jurres, the Flemish policy lagged behind as support for solar panels was not adjusted fast enough when costs of solar panels dropped and the market expanded. On the other hand the market for solar energy in Flanders changed much faster than in Wallonia or the Netherlands, resulting in much less sustainable investments in the Netherlands. “The country even considers the construction of a large coal-powered power station on the Maasvlakte,” says Jurres. According to Tinne Van der Straeten, a former Green party politician and lawyer specializing in energy law, policymakers are trying to strike a balance. “On the one hand they are forced to adjust the support systems swiftly to follow developments on the energy market, but on the other hand the government needs to provide investors in renewable energy with sufficient long term certainty, which means they cannot simply make changes to the legal framework at a whim. The Flemish green current policy was completely reformed last summer and has since been adjusted twice.” The question today is whether the banks feel comfortable to finance new green projects under the new support system. Moreover most companies are active in the various regions, with each region applying its own green current policy. Says Vander Straeten: “Streamlining the whole matter would be a huge improvement, but it seems to me a very complicated one.”

The Doctoral School for Sciences and Technology, the second of its kind for doctoral students, was opened at the University of Hasselt yesterday. Prime minister Elio Di Rupo (PS) attended the opening of the school. It must train students in the sciences and industrial engineering sciences and encourage them to reflect on challenges and possible solutions for the economic problems with which the province of Limburg struggles. “We intend to keep highly trained young academics in our province and let them participate in the writing of a new chapter of the Limburg economy,” says rector Luc De Schepper. “In these tough economic times it is more difficult than ever, but therefore also more crucial than ever. The school strives to develop into a breeding ground for a new generation of leaders in research and innovation.”

The university’s Faculty of Sciences provides opportunity for more than two hundred doctorate students to engage in innovative research in a wide range of disciplines, with about one third of the students of non-Belgian origin. “The University of Hasselt symbolizes the future of Limburg,” said Di Rupo, who holds himself a doctorate in chemistry. “A future aimed at scientific research, technological innovation and efficient collaboration. These are hard times for Limburg as a result of the Ford closure, but then Europe has released 66.5 million euros for investments in the province. The future lies in creativity and innovation. Creative talents make the difference in global competition. That’s what we must invest our energy in. The University of Hasselt will contribute to a better future for Limburg.” The doctorate school was established with the help of the Flemish government, which allocated 4 million euros to support doctorate studies at Flemish universities.

Volvo, owned by the Chinese concern Geely since 2018, plans to sell 800 000 vehicles by 2018, its management announced at an international press conference in Sweden. That is almost double the 422 000 it sold last year. To achieve these ambitious targets, they plan to largely focus on the Chinese market and profit from the position of its Chinese parent company to enjoy a share of the growing demand for Western-made luxury vehicles. Volvo further hopes to up its market positioning to compete in the luxury segment with the popular German cars like Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. According to CEO Hakan Samuelsson, the latest V4 model built in Ghent is the first indication that Volvo is on the right track. Following a superb 2011, Volvo suffered a drop in sales last year. This also affected its factory in Ghent, which is the biggest of the group with its workforce of 4 800. Here the production record of 2011 was followed by a small drop in sales last year. An difficult European car market has dampened prospects for this year. A 17% drop in sales in January – twice as much as the market – forced Volvo to introduce six unemployment days within the first ten weeks, with more set to follow. The major revamping of the V60, V70, XC70 and S80 models as well as the S60 sedan and XC60 all-terrain vehicle manufactured in Ghent is set to boost sales. As the production of the new S60 and XC60 starts in May, this could well eliminate temporary unemployment during the second half of the year, spokesperson Mark De Mey states. When Volvo halted the production of three Ghent models (the C30, S40 and V50), leaving the factory with only the V40, questions were raised in Belgium. Lex Kerssemakers, director of product strategy at Volvo Cars, obliterated any fears that the plant was poised for a Ford Genk scenario and said: “We have replaced three models with one model: the V40. But the V40 is set to sell as many vehicles as all the other three models put together”. He further called for less panic around the fact that Volvo Cars replaced a Flemish government-backed loan with an employment guarantee with one without any such guarantees, saying: “The Ghent factory is fully productional and is crucial for the group. We have only just started building the new V40. We won’t just stop production from the one day to the next.” This upgrading of existing models will be Volvo’s last step before developing its ‘own models’. Currently vehicles are mainly manufactured according to the techonolgy used by former parent company, Ford. Volvo plans to release a new, limited range of engines and transmission systems that will be built into all models incorporated into their flexible SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform. The XC90 will be the first to use this platform. The next version of their V40 and eventually also their smaller models will however be built with a new partner.

Today Flemish welfare minister Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V) launches a campaign to increase awareness of the merits of a healthy lifestyle. “Rather walk. Or cycle like I do,” is one of the slogans for the campaign. But it remains to be seen if the well-intended efforts of this umpteenth campaign will deliver any results. In the past the Flemish government has launched many similar campaigns, but it seems Flemings are gradually getting fatter, with the body mass index (BMI) of the average Fleming at 25.3 exceeding the overweight limit and 8% of adult Belgians suffering from diabetes. Recent studies among the younger generation’s eating habits meanwhile look equally grim, as the consumption of vegetables and fruit even dropped since 2010. This makes one wonder if the 29.8 million euros allocated to prevent obesity will help at all. Liese Weemaels of the Flemish Institute for Health Promotion and Illness Prevention (VIGeZ) believes it may have effect, as success can only be measured in the long term, she believes. “The Nutrition and Movement action plan dates back to 2008. It’s far too soon to determine whether the campaigns were effective.” Lieven Annemans, a health economist at the University of Ghent, reiterates a 250-million injection is urgently needed to reach the targets set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to specialists, health issues should receive attention at all policy levels as health depends on working and living conditions, environmental factors ans social inequality as well. Officially a ‘faceted policy’ must take care of this. This policy implies that all levels outside the healthcare domain should contribute to the promotion, protections and maintenance of health. “We know that in practice this hardly happens,” says Caroline Braet, professor and obesity expert at the University of Ghent (UGent). “Not all ministers are prepared to join in. In the Netherlands many people cycle. Not necessarily because they are so much healthier, but because they have better cycling tracks. The government should increase its support for healthy solutions and reduce the support of unhealthy solutions.” The UN support a more stringent government interference. “We have established a food system which disadvantages healthy eating choices,” Belgian UN observer Olivier De Schutter warned last year in his call for a fat tax and cheaper healthy food. Annemans agrees that this possibility should be explored. “It doesn't make sense to rush such steps. Just look at Denmark. Only one year after the introduction of a fat tax, they want to abolish it in view of high inflation. One should first wait for the test results before going ahead. Moreover a fat tax will only work in combination with other preventative measures. The campaign that has just been launched is just as necessary.”

Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars is about to upgrade its S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 models. In addition to a number of exterior changes to the coachwork, the new models will also boast some state-of-the-art electronic add-ons like wifi and internet radio as well as additional safety features. Carmakers usually opt for this kind of facelift to give sales a final boost when a model reaches the end of its cycle. Refreshing almost its complete set of its models in one go is quite a significant move and should create many opportunities for its factories in Sweden and Ghent. “We have made so many changes that they are almost like new vehicles,” says Volvo Car’s director of product strategy Lex Kerssemakers in Ghent. According to CEO Hakan Samuelsson, these upgraded models should help the group through the serious crisis that has hit the European car market. Production will start in May, but deliveries to customers will have to wait until the end of the year after dealers will have the new models in stock. Sales volumes will therefore only be reflected in the 2014 figures. Volvo hopes to show growth in the US and China this year, but on the European market it aims at a growth in market share as absolute sales figures will probably drop. The model revamp is good news for the Ghent plant, where the S60 and XC60 are built. The V40, which is also built in Ghent, will not undergo any changes as the model was released less than a year ago. Their biggest model, the XC90 all-terrein vehicle, will also remain unchanged but will be the first to be rolled out according to Volvo’s brand new production standards in 2014. The Swedish group, owned by the Chinese Geely, has developed a flexible production platform (Scalable Product Architecture) on which the a series of new Volvo models with different shapes and volumes can be manufactured.

Belgian fashion designer Christian Wijnants (35) obtained high praise and a cash prize when he won the International Woolmark Prize at the London Fashion Week last Saturday. A few days earlier another Belgian designer, the 37-year-old Tim Coppens, was lauded by the international press for his catwalk debut at the New York Fashion Week. Top designer Diane von Furstenberg’s called Belgium a small and boring country, which is why the country produces  so many creative talents, she added. “That’s true, the Belgians still leave their mark on the fashion world,” commented Agnes Wene of the Flanders Fashion Institute. Of the hundred shows planned for the Paris Fashion Week, thirteen come from Belgian designers who, according to Karen Van  Godtsenhoven of the ModeMuseum in Antwerp, shine with their realistic take that reflects the current economic climate and a return to more sober, timeless clothes. “You can see it in the designs of the Belgian Raf Simons, who now works for Dior,” she adds. Not only in their desigh have Coppens and Wijnants opted for realism, their business approach to the fashion world is also drenched in it. Wijnants, who started as creative assistant for Dries Van Noten, has relied on a business manager to look after the financial side of his business for a number of years. Meanwhile he is free to focus on creative design and participate in competitions. He won for instance also the the Yves St Laurent Award in 2006. Coppens was equally reluctant to take too much risk and only showed his collection in New York when he was 37. This move paid off handsomely as the fashion emporium Barney’s immediately purchased his line. “When the foreign press and buyers have praise for a number of Belgians it often impacts positively on other Belgian designers,” concludes Agnes Wene.

The extent to which education minister Pascal Smet’s (SP.A) study trip to Canada, the new education mecca, has influenced his take on the Flemish education policy will become clear in the Flemish Parliament on Wednesday. What is already clear is that five discussions will be inevitable: firstly to talk about the nature of reforms, which should focus on clear targets that focus on pupils rather than on structures. The Canadian federated states of Quebec and Ontario have been included among the top performers in the ranking of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (Oeso) with their secondary education reforms, which focus on improving the results of all pupils (with a certain percentage having to reach a certain level) and a closing of the gap between stronger and weaker pupils. Secondly more efforts should be made to assist teachers during the reforms. Every reform approved by the government in both the English-speaking Ontario and French-speaking Quebec is accompanied by teacher mentors and in-depth didactic support. Consequently it doesn't make sense to introduce a reform in secondary schools without a plan for teacher training that focuses on the implementation of the new objectives. In Canada this teacher coaching is organized by the authorities, while educational networks take care of it in Flanders. The third issue to receive attention will be pupil numbers in classes. In Ontario and Quebec 25 to 30 pupils per class is the norm, whereas in Flanders large classes are the exception. Scientific research has however shown that smaller classes do not necessarily result in a proportionally higher quality of education. Minister Smet will leave it to the individual schools to decide on class size, but has said that “the classes should perhaps be made bigger so that the excess teachers can be used for targeted pupil coaching”. The education system in Canada has further shown that school communities can only support a strong quality policy if they are large enough. This is something the minister has defended for some time and wants to decide on during the present government term. Finally tools should be developed to monitor quality. In Canada authorities are equipped to measure the result of education policy as they have access to accurate data on each school’s performance in respect of crucial criteria. In Flanders ‘educational freedom’ is pleaded as an excuse to avoid measuring quality. To address this matter Smet will develop a knowledge centre; his choice is still to be confirmed.

Organisers of the Tomorrowland dance festival, the brothers Manu and Michiel Beers, have decided not to sell their concept to a foreign investor but to take the show abroad themselves. The festival has been scheduled to run from 27 to 29 September, but the venue will only be revealed on 20 March. “It’s always been our ambition to stage a similar festival abroad which offers an equally great experience as the one in Belgium, immersing festivalgoers into the same magical world,” the brothers say. The festival programme features only DJs and does its utmost to treat visitors to a comfortable and magical production. It’s no secret that Tomorrowland is in great demand worldwide and  Manu Beers says he received numerous proposals to export the festival last year. Things were set in motion last year when the brothers, who share ownership with the Dutch concern ID&T, refused a takeover bid from an American contender. They clearly opted for other challenges. “It’s our ambition to organize a Tomorrowland on every continent,” says Michiel. “We receive requests for similar festivals from all over the world each week: from rich Russians and Indians to top promotors and investors from Australia, the US and South America. We will go ahead, but only on our conditions and only in locations where we feel at home.” Meanwhile the original Tomorrowland in Boom has already been sold out, with at least one million people registering for one of the 180 000 tickets on sale. The 120 flights from cities across the globe which have included the festival in their schedule have also been sold out.

“If you ask me where in the world the most crucial agricultural research will take place in the next few years, I would say here. This is the future of agriculture.” These words were spoken by Bill Gates who, like fellow billionaire Carlos Slim, had nothing but praise for Belgian bio-engineer Bram Govaerts’ (32) research project in Mexico. “After having dinner with Gates and Slim they asked if I enjoyed my meal, but I was so immersed in our conversation that I had no idea what we had eaten,” he said, still unable to grasp the significance of his conversation. The agricultural engineer Govaerts has caught the attention of the two billionaires with his unique groundbreaking research project in Mexico to increase the country’s wheat and maize production by 85%. Using the knowledge of thousands of Mexican farmers of different types of wild maize, he hopes to develop grains which are resistant to drought, cold and disease. The Microsoft founder and CEO of telecoms powerhouse América Móvil, whose joint wealth is estimated at about 105 billion euros, were so impressed by Govaert’s work that they paid him a personal visit to applaud his efforts and, probably more importantly, invest in his project.

Since the takeover of its American competitor Method last year, Ecover can now call itself the world’s biggest manufacturer of environmentally friendly cleaning and care products. It all started with a humble beginning in a garage in Malle 34 years ago, when a group of ecologically driven pioneers led by Frans Bogaerts decided to produce a phosphate-free washing powder to soften man’s footprint on the environment. Even though their original products were more eco-sensitive than conventional washing powders, they did not manage to clean as thoroughly and Ecover had to come up with serious product innovation to get rid of their poorer cleaning power image. Says Tom Domen (38), who has worked as Ecover’s long term product innovation manager for the past two years: “In the nineties we evolved from a ‘no’ code to a ‘yes’ code, adding natural ingredients to our products which worked instead of avoiding ingredients which were bad for the environment. Research and Development manager Dirk Develter played a key role with his diamond model to ensure products met with certain criteria, designing a matrix that started off with five parameters and has since grown to 13. Each product is tested against its conventional equal in terms of efficiency, impact on health and the environment, origin of raw materials, transport, packaging, lack of petroleum derivatives and VOCs (volatile organic compounds like solvents which can be harmful to one’s health and the environment).

Nowadays Ecover’s products mainly consist of vegetable components (75 to 100%). Conventional products contain around 40% to 50% of these components. Ecover is currently collaborating with Fisch (the Flanders Innovation Hub for Sustainable Chemistry partnering with the Flemish Institute for Technological Research Vito, and Flemish universities) on steps to develop alternative raw materials.

More conventional brands have meanwhile also become more ecologically correct, with the phosphates that were commonplace thirty years ago now being banned in washing powders and soon also in dishwashers. One could well ask whether this would cause Ecover to lose ground as green innovator, but Domen is ready with an answer. “For now we have not reached the stage where everyone is using fully biologically degradable and raw materials totally plant-based without any risks to health or the environments. Unlike conventional brands we do not want any optic brighteners in our washing powders or solutions and no foaming enhancers in our dishwashing products. We have also gone one step further with sustainable procurement, avoiding food crops and choosing recycled waste streams instead.”

As R&D manager, Domen believes the future is locked in biomimicry or biomimetica, an innovative method based on the premise that products and processes should follow nature’s 3.8 billion year research and development track record as its inspiration. Says Domen: “Before we were happy to use natural resources, but now we know that we need a better understanding of natural processes in order to use them. Our long-term vision involves that we apply biomimicry principles on our products, production processes, packaging and organization.”

Twenty minutes of intelligent and stunningly filmed fantasy would probably be the best way to describe Tom Van Avermaet’s short film ‘Dood van een schaduw’ (Death of a Shadow), which has won him an Oscar nomination. In the film Death (played by Peter Van den Eede) gives a fallen World War I soldier (played by Matthias Schoenaerts) a seond chance on life if he can photograph the shadows of 10 000 dying victims to exhibit in his 'art gallery of death'. According to Van Avermaet, who decided to become a director after he had seen Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, the film falls into the Belgian tradition of surrealism and magical realism. He believes his biggest quality as a director lies in his gift to visually portray a narrative. He is not to keen on filmset work, but prefers the pre- and post-production processes, as on set he often has to give in to compromises and surrender his story and the world he has created around it. He likes to draw his inspiration from metaphysical figures and mythology. “I wanted to do something with the figure of Death. But I wanted to do it in an entirely new way that has not been explored before. This is how I ended up with the notion of Death as an art collector who views the dead as an art critic would. I had to find a specific esthetic for my dead characters; this I found in the play of light and shadow,” explains Van Avermaet. He is proud of his nomination, but finds suggestions that his short film has only been nominated because of Matthias Schoenaerts’s role in the film unfair, saying: “Naturally his strong performance played a role, but surely that is not the only element.” The director hopes to benefit from his current publicity, saying: “It’s great to receive an Oscar nomination, but you have to do something with it. People who know what they’re talking about have warned me that people, especially potential agents, could lose interest if I don’t win. At the moment there is considerable interest and I have met with people from Legendary Pictures, the company that produced Batman and Inception. Networking is hard work but it’s essential. I admit to being highly ambitious. I want to make a feature film.” He would have to decide which American agency he plans to work with as the three biggest names in Hollywood, UTA, CAA and WME, have all shown an interest in his work. “I’m banking on at least one year before I come up with a definite project. I have a better chance of making it big abroad than I do in Belgium. Here the resources are too limited for my genre of film.” As the only European candidate, Dood van een Schaduw is seen as the underdog in the Oscar race that is waged mostly between American and Canadian directors. But the young director has written his acceptance speech just in case. “I know what I want to say, yes. I want people to know how much blood, sweat and tears went into Dood van een Schaduw. What it takes to make a film.”