The governance of the clusters

The decree on the support and development of clusters was passed by Parliament on 18 January 2007 and amended by decree on 11 April 2024. The amended decree was the subject of an implementing order dated 2 May 2024. The decree has been in force since 1 July 2024.

To be recognised as a cluster on the basis of the decree of 18 January 2007 as amended in 2024, a formal application meeting a series of criteria must be submitted to the Business Networks Department (Contents of the application for recognition).

To be renewed after four years of operation, all clusters must follow the same procedure and submit an application for renewal of recognition no later than four months before the expiry of the ministerial recognition order.

Advisory Committee

In the interests of transparency, the Review Committee has been set up to advise the Government on :

1. applications for initial recognition and subsidies ;
2. applications for renewal of recognition and subsidies;
3. procedures for implementing the decree
4. proposals to withdraw a cluster's recognition and subsidy;
5. evaluation halfway through the recognition period.

The review committee is made up of :

• a representative of the Minister responsible for the Economy and a deputy ;
• two representatives of the department appointed by the Government and two alternates;
• two experts and two alternates appointed by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of the Walloon Region;
• two representatives and two alternates appointed by the competitiveness clusters;
• two external independent experts and two alternates (from academia and industry).

Support Committee

A support committee has been set up to monitor each cluster.

It is made up of a representative of the Minister, two representatives of the administration and a representative of the cluster. It may be expanded to include other Walloon government departments and call on an external, independent sector expert.

It verifies that the cluster's activities are in line with the decree (and in particular with the 4 missions), discusses the results achieved by the cluster and its development prospects, rules on any questions relating to the release of tranches of the subsidy, guides the cluster in its search for project funding through existing regional instruments and provides a forum for discussion on the cluster's strategic development, its field of activity and its membership policy. In addition, when the Minister makes recommendations to the cluster at the time of its recognition (or renewal), the committee's task is to monitor the effective implementation of these recommendations.

Four-year clustering policy assessment

According to article 9 of the decree, every four years, the Government carries out an external evaluation of Wallonia's clustering policy, in partnership with the Walloon Region's Economic, Social and Environmental Council.

Summaries of these evaluations are available below.

Assessment of the business clusters

In accordance with article 8 paragraph 2 of the decree of 18 January 2007 amended in 2024, during the last six months of each four-year period of recognition, the subsidised cluster is subject to an overall evaluation by independent consultants.

Summaries of these evaluations are available below.