Evaluation and analytical capacity building of the Federal Planning Bureau

The Commission aimed to enhance the strategic and analytical capacity of the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB) to effectively fulfill its policy oversight and advisory functions as an Independent Fiscal Institution. The goal was to strengthen the framework for independent policy evaluation in Belgium, enabling more informed decision-making at both federal and regional levels.

Context 

The Federal Planning Bureau (FPB), one of Belgium's two Independent Fiscal Institutions (IFIs), plays a crucial role in the policy-making process. To maintain the effectiveness of the FPB’s contributions, it is essential that its strategy, processes, and tools remain current, transparent, and aligned with international best practices. This is particularly important for FPB's responsibilities, such as monitoring the implementation of structural reforms outlined in the RRP and costing political parties’ policy proposals. To address these needs, the FPB requested an external review of its institutional, operational, and analytical performance as an IFI, along with support to strengthen and enhance its modeling capacity. Given that economic modeling is central to the FPB’s work, the review and recommendations on analytical capacity were a key focus of the overall assessment.

Support delivered 

The support provided by the OECD to FPB included the preparation of analytical reports and revisions of institutional and operational structures. Additionally, the OECD delivered recommendations and action plans aimed at enhancing the strategic approach, processes, and analytical capacity of the Beneficiary. Another key aspect of the support involved developing upgraded models to improve FPB's economic modelling capacity. These outcomes were achieved through workshops and training sessions that strengthened the ability to use and maintain the models, including a pilot implementation of policy impact assessments.

Results achieved

As a result of the project, the following documents have been produced: (i) a report evaluating the FPB’s institutional, operational, and analytical capacity, including its economic capabilities, in fulfilling its mandate as an IFI; (ii) a review of the FPB’s performance during its initial costing of policy proposals in the 2019 election platforms; and (iii) detailed technical recommendations for extending or revising models, along with alternative specifications developed in close consultation with the FPB, and an action plan to enhance the FPB's economic modeling capacity.

More about the project

You can read the documents related to the project here: