Reusel-De Mierden reflects on progress and outlines future priorities in 2026 municipal report
Residents of Reusel-De Mierden can expect continued improvements in digital services, regional cooperation, and safety measures. The municipality’s 2026 report highlights achievements in efficiency and transparency while addressing challenges like rising aggression and passport demand. Key focus areas include data-driven governance and stronger community participation.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Municipality | Reusel-De Mierden (Noord-Brabant) |
| Report | 'The State of the Municipality of Reusel-De Mierden 2026' |
| Key Achievements | Balanced budget, digital service improvements, regional cooperation (Kempen) |
| Challenges | Passport workload peak, aggression, identity fraud, cross-border cooperation |
| Future Focus | Data-driven governance, AI, participation ordinance, cybersecurity |
| Regional Cooperation | Kempen Development Strategy, BENEGO (Euregion), Belgian municipalities |
| Budget Adjustment | €1 million austerity in 2025 to balance budget by 2029 |
The municipality of Reusel-De Mierden oversees local governance, including public services, regional collaboration, and policy implementation. This report serves as an accountability tool for the municipal council, outlining past performance and future strategic directions to ensure effective administration and community engagement.
Openrijk is free and ad-free
Do you value our work? Help us stay online with a small contribution.
Read the full translated article below
The State of Reusel-De Mierden
In ‘The State of the Municipality of Reusel-De Mierden 2026’, we look back on the past administrative term: what have we achieved, for example, in the areas of Safety, Public Health and the Environment, Sport, Culture and Recreation? We also look ahead to the future: what are the key points of focus, and what are our aspirations for that future? ‘The State of the Municipality of Reusel-De Mierden 2026’ is presented to the new municipal council to provide the parties with important information for the coming period. The document can be read below as a PDF and as plain text with collapsible headings.
Below, you can read ‘The State of the Municipality of Reusel-De Mierden’ in plain text with collapsible headings. All visual elements, such as images, have been removed. Would you like to read the formatted version? Then click on the PDF above.
Programme 0: Administration and Support
Administration
The municipality has taken important steps in regional cooperation within the Kempen region through the Kempen Development Strategy. The development strategy strengthens the municipality’s position in regional issues such as housing, the economy and mobility. At the same time, the municipality has chosen to critically assess implementation collaborations such as GRSK and KempenPlus and has launched a study into the most suitable future organisational structure.
Cooperation with Belgian neighbouring municipalities has taken shape, but remains small-scale and thematically limited. There is structured consultation with secretaries and mayors, and coordination takes place at the case level. The intention to engage in cross-border cooperation is present, but requires more structural anchoring. Through the recently formalised BENEGO cooperation as an Euregion, we expect to achieve this. For example, via BENEGO, we are in contact with East Flanders Province to improve information exchange in the area of safety.
The ‘Samen Doen!’ (Doing Together!) philosophy is firmly embedded in the organisation. The restructuring and introduction of core values have led to a culture in which participation, openness and ownership are given plenty of room. At the same time, it remains a challenge to make participation truly two-way. The participation decree is evolving into a participation ordinance. The realisation of this is still ongoing.
As a municipal organisation, we are at the heart of society. Cooperation with entrepreneurs and residents is constructive and pleasant. At the same time, we are seeing an increase in intimidation, verbal violence and harassment from some residents. This is often incorrectly interpreted as a communication problem. As an organisation, we set a standard in which such behaviour must never be rewarding. As an employer, we stand up for our employees by taking appropriate measures in each situation.
The experiment with municipal council meetings in the local communities took place only to a limited extent, and youth participation via Democracity is more educational than structurally policy-oriented. During the learning programme, students build their own municipality together in the council chamber under the guidance of councillors.
Citizen Services
The transition to appointment-based working and digitalisation has led to higher efficiency and customer satisfaction. Waiting times have disappeared and the digital counters are functioning well. At the same time, the complexity of address investigations and workload, mainly due to the passport peak within Citizen Services, is increasing. The challenge is to maintain quality and accessibility amid growing tasks.
Overhead, Property Tax and Other Matters
In the area of information management and digital security, the basics are in order: an information vision, awareness-raising programmes and the implementation of standards regarding information security. The next step is further data-driven management and compliance with new legislation.
Over the past few years, the municipality has achieved a structurally balanced budget, partly through realistic estimates. The €1 million austerity operation in 2025 was a necessary step to achieve a balanced budget in 2029.
The municipality has made significant progress in communication and transparency. The house style and website have been updated, communication takes place via multiple channels, both analogue and digital, and is digitally accessible.
Improving service delivery and promoting the ‘Samen Doen!’ service standards (‘say what we do and do what we say’) has been initiated and remains a daily focus.
Summary
The municipality is in a dynamic and learning phase: the basics are in order, the organisation has been renewed, research into cooperation on implementation tasks is underway, and regional cooperation has become more strategic.
Future Developments
Continued attention to a resilient administration and a resilient organisation is essential. This strengthens the resilience of councillors, administrators and civil servants against abuse of authority, aggression and intimidation.
The passport peak will certainly continue until 2029, meaning that workload in the team will remain high. In addition, employees are increasingly faced with complex situations, such as identity fraud, address investigations and international issues, as more foreigners settle in our municipality. This means even closer cooperation with other domains (social affairs, safety) to address issues in an integrated manner.
Attention to information security remains and continues to develop, given the changing digital threats that also affect our municipality as an information holder. The entry into force of the new Cybersecurity Act will change roles and responsibilities for management and administration. In the future, we want to make better use of data in addressing social issues. The developments and application of artificial intelligence (AI) also offer us opportunities in policy-making and service delivery.
Participation must play an even more prominent role by working on the basis of the new participation ordinance. In the future, residents will be able to be easily informed and involved via a digital participation platform.
The results of the study into the future organisational structure will be announced in the coming period. After decision-making in the council, further substance will be given to this.