Hello,

Again,

For those who wonder how many times more I will appear on this stage, I can reassure you, this will definitely be the last time …

This conference was about people. It was about Tom who chose to radically change the value chain of farming, Wim  who talked about completely new ways of financing and supporting developing economies, Isabelle who brought the ancient art of storytelling back to life and in doing so, reduced the distance between large cultural and healthcare institutions and their clients, and Elke who taught us that education does not only depends on institutes with boards and buildings, but that schools on wheels can change the lives of children.

It was about the people of Ghent, who told us their stories, common people who have to live with the rules we make.

And it was also about us, who make the rules, the regulations and the tools to make regulation better.

During these last two days, I have seen people being creative. I have seen each of you having fun with being creative.

I have participated in the discussion groups, and I have heard all of you, coming up with new, innovative solutions for complex matters like employment. I have seen how you were talking to people, listening to them and reflect on what they told you.

This is a turning point. A point where we can decide to do things differently. A point in time where we decide to no longer add supplementary layers of complexity to regulation and to the regulatory tools, but to pull off unnecessary layers instead. To practice the principles of human rules and human scale. 10 years of simplification work taught me that it is far more difficult to make things easier than to make things complicated. That is takes a lot more courage. That it needs a huge amount of awareness and a big sense of excellence. And that it definitely takes a lot more creativity.

I hope you had an inspiring two days. And I hope that you will go back home with the conviction that this change is possible. That it is possible to do things differently. Some of you committed themselves already in doing so.

And we will not hesitate to remind them of that commitment. The postcard with their good intentions will be on their desks by Monday!

But this willingness to change has to be pushed one step further. One step closer to creating pragmatic instruments.

By finding out how we can involve more creativity into the regulatory process, by examining how regulation, procedures, forms, etc. can be translated into “human fit” language and in doing so improve the perception of people on regulation, and by looking for new ways to better listen to people.

We would like you to take an active part in this process. To not stop thinking about these three themes of creativity, listening to people and communication. From our side, we will work on the theme of communication. We will organize a conference on communication in close co-operation with Flanders, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Belgian business federation during the Belgian Presidency. As for the other two themes on creativity and listening, It would be great if some of you could take the lead. If you would like to be part of this inspiring process, you can tell Kathy, Kris or Guido during lunch. Finally, I want to thank all of you for being here, for being enthusiastic, for sharing your thoughts and for inspiring us.

Many thanks to the people from the Walloon, Brussels and Flanders region and the French community. This conference proved again that Belgian pragmatism goes beyond language issues.

I wish you all a safe trip back home. And see you again in Budapest!