Composition of the council

The composition of the Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFDD) is defined in the Act of 5 May 1997 on coordination of federal policy on sustainable development and further elaborated in the Royal Decree of 18 July 2012.

The members of the FRDO-CFDD make up the General Assembly. 24 members have voting rights.

1 honorary president

• Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians

1 president

• Patrick Dupriez

3 vice-presidents

• Arnaud Collignon | Bart Vannetelbosch | Vanessa Biebel

3 representatives of the NGOs for environmental protection

• Effectives: Eva JOSKIN (CANOPEA) | Raf PAULY (BRAL) | Benjamin CLARYSSE (BBL)
• Substitutes: X (CANOPEA) | Cataline SENECHAL (IEB) | Tycho VAN HAUWAERT (BBL)

3 representatives of the NGOs for development cooperation

• Effectives: Nicolas VANNUFFEL (CNCD-11.11.11) | Naima CHARKAOUI (11.11.11) | Jonathan MATTHYSEN (Oxfam Belgium)
• Substitutes: Nicolas Bormann (CNCD-11.11.11) | Kiki BERKERS (11.11.11) | Alba Saray PÉREZ TERÁN (Oxfam Belgium)

6 representatives of the trade unions

• Effectives: Hadrien VANOVERBEKE (CGSLB) | Olivier VALENTIN (CGSLB) | François SANA (CSC) | Thomas VAEL (ACV) | Selena CARBONERO FERNANDEZ (FGTB) | Sacha DIERCKX (ABVV)
• Substitutes: Renaat HANSSENS (ACV) | Fien VANDAMME (ACV) | Maresa LE ROUX (ACLVB) | Jean-Marie DE BAENE (ABVV) | Maarten BOGHAERT (ACLVB) | Caroline VERDOOT (FGTB)

6 representatives of the employers’ organisations

• Effectives: Ineke DE BISSCHOP (VBO) | Ann NACHTERGAELE  (UCM/ FEVIA) | Françoise VAN TIGGELEN (FEB/ DETIC) | Tom VAN DEN BERGHE (FEB/ FEBELFIN) | Piet VANDEN ABEELE (UNIZO) | Lucie DARMS (FWA)
• Substitutes: Patrick VAN DEN BOSSCHE (AGORIA) | Silvia DOGA (UCM) | Saskia WALRAEDT (Essenscia) | Pieter VERHELST (Boerenbond) | Monica DE JONGHE (FEB) | Vincent DEBLOCQ (FEBEG)

2 representatives of the youth organisations

• Effectives: Simon STERCK (Vlaamse Jeugdraad) | Jean SERVAIS (Forum des Jeunes)
• Substitutes: Anita NYAME (Vlaamse Jeugdraad) | Camille BIOT (Forum des Jeunes)

6 representatives of the scientific circles

• Prof. Delphine Misonne (Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis, FUSL)
• Prof. Patrick Van Damme (UGent)
• x
• Prof. Jean-Pascal van Ypersele de Strihou (Université Catholique de Louvain, UCL)
• Prof. Brent Bleys (Universiteit Gent, UGent)
• Prof. Farid Dahdouh-Guebas (Université Libre de Bruxelles, ULB)

a representative for each of the federal ministers and secretaries of state

• Nele Roobrouck (Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo)
• Nathan Lallemand (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy and Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne)
• Olivier Lohest (Deputy Prim Minister and Minister for the Self-Employed, SMEs and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms Democratic Renewal, David Clarinval)
• Cindy Dequesne (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility, Georges Gilkinet)
• Sven Vaneycken (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, in charge of the Coordination of the Fight against Fraud and in charge of the National Lottery, Vincent Van Peteghem)
• Jan Schaerlaekens (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, Frank Vandenbroucke)
• Matti Vandemaele (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration, Public Enterprises, Telecommunication and the Postal Services, Petra De Sutter)
• Bram Delvaux  (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and the North Sea, Paul Van Tigchelt)
• Anne Junion (Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Federal Cultural Institutions, Hadja Lahbib)
• Alexandre Carleer (Minister of Pensions and Social Integration, in charge of Persons with Disabilities, Combating Poverty and Beliris, Karine Lalieux)
• X (Minister of Defence, Ludivine Dedonder)
• Bernard Mazijn (Minister of the Climate, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal, Zakia Khattabi)
• X (Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reform and Democratic Renewal, Annelies Verlinden)
• Olivier Thery (Minister of Development Cooperation and of the Major Cities Policy, Caroline Gennez)
• Frederic Roekens (Minister of Energy, Tinne Van der Straeten)
• Anton Muyldermans (State
  Secretary for Economic Recovery and Strategic Investments, in charge of Science Policy, added to the Minister of the Economy and Employment, Thomas Dermine)
• Virginie Fillieux (State Secretary for Digitization, in charge of Administrative Simplification, Privacy and Buildings Administration added to the Prime Minister, Mathieu Michel)
• Sophie Poidlins (State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity, added to the Minister of Mobility, Marie-Colline Leroy)
• Stefan Arts (State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, added to the Minister of Home Affairs, Institutional Reform and Democratic Renewal, Nicole de Moor)
• X (State Secretary for the Budget and Consumer Protection, added to the Minister of
  Justice and the North Sea, Alexia Bertrand)

a representative for every Region or Community

• Daniel Hilligsmann (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft)
• Myriam Hilgers (Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest)
• Sandrine Yodts (French community)
• Ilse Dries (Vlaams Gewest)
• Liesbeth Schruers (Vlaamse Gemeenschap)
• Natacha Zuinen (Walloon Region)

other observers

• Jean-Louis Six (observing member of the bureau in the name of HM the Queen)
• Maggi Poppe (Nederlandstalige Vrouwenraad)
• Dieter Vander Beke (Federaal Instituut voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling)
• Cédric Van de Walle (Federaal Instituut voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling)
• Patricia Delbaere (Federaal Planbureau)
• Arnaud Deplae (CESE)
• Jan Verheeke (Milieu- en Natuurraad van Vlaanderen, MiNa-raad)
• Kris Degroote (Centrale Raad voor het Bedrijfsleven, CRB)
• Pieter Kerremans (Sociaal-Economische Raad van Vlaanderen, SERV)
• Marie-Hélène Lahaye (Brupartners)
• Marie Carette (CERBC-RLBHG)
• Henk Van Hootegem (Combat Poverty, Insecurity and Social Exclusion Service)
• Salma Haouach (Conseil des Femmes Francophones de Belgique asbl)

Pool of associate scientists

In order to strengthen the scientific quality of the Council’s work, the FRDO-CFDD Bureau decided to set up a pool of associate scientists. They will be able to participate in different processes as scientists, for example by giving a presentation to the members on the state of knowledge on a specific topic for which they have the necessary scientific expertise.

Here is the updated list of members of the Pool of Associate Scientists:

• Joris Beckers (University Antwerp)
• Anne Bergmans (University Antwerp)
• Barbara Briers (University Antwerp)
• Andrea Catellani (UCLouvain)
• Veroline Cauberghe (University Ghent)
• Simon Chabrillat (Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy)
• Maarten Crivits (UGent)
• Estelle De Bruyn (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage)
• Jacques de Gerlache (GreenFacts)
• Liselotte De Ligne (University Ghent)
• Marc Heyndrickx (Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research Flanders)
• Wannes Hubau (University Ghent)
• Luc Int Panis (Flemish Institution for Technological Research)
• Wouter Lefebvre (Flemish Institution for Technological Research)
• Sébastien Lizin (University Hasselt)
• Bernard Longdoz (University Liege)
• Alice Mouton (University Liege)
• Adeline Otto (Catholique University of Louvain)
• Marijke Steeman (University Ghent)
• Michel Van Camp (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)
• Boris Verbrugge (Catholique University of Louvain)
• Massimiliano Virgilio (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
• Karen Allacker (KULeuven)

In order to avoid any conflict of interest, the secretariat maintains a list of declarations of interest. These are made available to the citizen on detailed request (mail@fro-cfdd.be).

Would you like to be a member of the pool? The FRDO-CFDD periodically opens the door to new candidates. Simply send an e-mail to mail@frdo-cfdd.be, and you will receive all the necessary information.