The result of several complementary action programmes, the Walloon Recovery Plan (PRW) guides the Walloon Government's actions in the fields of employment, the economy, the environment and climate.
With a budget of over €7 billion, it includes more than 300 projects designed to enable the Region to respond to current social, economic and environmental challenges, and to the impacts of different crises such as the historic floods of July 2021.
In March 2022, the Walloon Government and the social and environmental partners identified 42 priority projects within the PRW. These projects were chosen for their potential to create high-quality jobs, added value and a positive impact on the environment and climate.
The progress of these projects was presented one year on, and more than 85% have been launched, with some already finalised.
April 2020 saw the launch of Operation Get Up Wallonia, a vast civil society consultation campaign on a scale never seen before in Belgium. It gave citizens, experts, local players, institutional players and social partners the opportunity to put forward their proposals for building the Wallonia of tomorrow.
At the end of this process, nine university professors, who make up the Strategic Council, submitted their report to the Government, summarising all the proposals made.
Pooling of three programmes
However, Wallonia's recovery is not limited to the lessons learned from Get Up Wallonia. The Government has decided to pool three complementary action programmes to ensure maximum coherence between the measures taken and maximise the positive spin-offs for Wallonia:
- Measures from Get Up Wallonia;
- Measures from the Walloon Transition Plan, provided for in the Regional Policy Declaration;
- Measures from the Recovery and Resilience Plan initiated and financed by the European Union (NRP projects).
All these measures have been integrated in accordance with the five areas defined by the Strategic Council:
- Focus on the youth and talents of Wallonia
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Amplify economic development
- Support welfare, solidarity and social inclusion
- Ensure innovative and participatory governance
Reorientation following the flooding of July 2021
In view of the scale and consequences of July's events, the Walloon Government decided to use part of the amounts earmarked in the recovery plan for the reconstruction of the disaster areas. A sixth area, called "Support the reconstruction and resilience of disaster areas", was therefore created. The measures under this heading have a budget of €737 million and include the following:
- restoring regional infrastructure, in particular damaged roads, tunnels, waterways, stormwater basins and training centres.
- restoring banks and certain sections of non-navigable waterways to a more resilient state.
- consideration of land-use planning and urban planning for the reconstruction of disaster areas.
Priority given to 42 projects
Through the signature of a joint declaration formalised on 28 March 2022, the Government and the social and environmental partners decided to identify 42 priority action projects (PAP) of the Recovery Plan. They represent a total of €2.5 billion.
These projects were chosen as they are considered strategic, structural and pivotal in terms of their potential to create high-quality jobs, added value and a positive impact on the environment and climate. List of the 42 priority projects
Five macro-objectives for 2030 have been set:
1. Manufacturing and construction will account for 25% of Wallonia's GDP
2. Protected natural sites will account for 5% of Wallonia's territory
3. Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 55% compared to 1990
4. The proportion of Walloons at risk of poverty or social exclusion will have halved compared to 2015 (26.5% to 13.25%).
5. The employment rate for 20-64 year-olds will be at least 75%.