Le nouveau commissaire à la drogue de Bruxelles peut-il transformer la coordination en résultats ?

Brussels’ recruitment of a regional security and drugs commissioner entered its final phase on 3 September, with 11 candidates still reported to be in contention and a government appointment expected within roughly 40 days. The successful applicant will receive a five-year mandate, renewable once, inside Safe.brussels, the regional prevention and security agency. No commissioner has yet been selected, and public accounts differ over whether all 11 candidates will be interviewed or whether an assessment will reduce the field to eight.

The vacancy describes an unusually broad coordinating job. The commissioner must identify drug-trafficking hotspots, set operational priorities and performance indicators, supervise Regional Integrated Action operations and report to the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region. The official notice also requires regular contact with police zones, municipalities, public prosecutors, social organisations, public welfare centres and the Common Community Commission, which handles important bilingual health and welfare responsibilities in Brussels.

The much-discussed employment conditions are real but only part of the picture. Talent.brussels confirms that the commissioner may work remotely for up to three days a week and will receive the associated equipment and allowance. La Dernière Heure reports an entitlement to 35 days of annual leave. The same job description nevertheless stresses frequent field contact, high political and media visibility, neutrality, discretion and a “strong capacity to withstand pressure”. Candidates require at least five years of relevant experience across at least two fields among public security, crisis management, intergovernmental coordination and justice.

The person appointed will not be a police commander or a substitute prosecutor. Talent.brussels defines the planned office as a light structure for coordination, impetus and monitoring, explicitly stating that it will not replace the public prosecutor’s office, the police services or Brussels’ 19 municipalities. Its practical leverage will instead come from convening those institutions, coordinating simultaneous interventions and using regional powers over prevention, public space, certain economic activities and neighbourhood recovery.

That distinction matters in Belgium’s fragmented security system. Criminal investigation, prosecution, customs and much of organised-crime policy belong primarily to federal authorities and the independent judiciary. Local policing is carried out through Brussels’ six police zones, while mayors retain important public-order responsibilities. The Brussels Region can coordinate prevention and administrative measures, redesign public space and connect security operations with social and health services, but it cannot direct a criminal investigation. The vacancy consequently requires the commissioner to maintain a close link with National Drugs Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch, whose federal office was placed on a statutory basis by the law of 7 April 2023.

Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region Boris Dilliès, of the liberal MR, presents the post as the missing daily coordinator in a system where capable institutions too often work separately. Speaking to RTBF, he said Brussels needed such a person “like bread”, with responsibility spanning municipalities, police chiefs, mayors, federal authorities and addiction prevention. That is stronger language than he used in May, when he told BX1 that Brussels did not necessarily need another title or administrative “thing”; by June, his government had approved a department inside Safe.brussels and set aside an additional €1.5 million annually.

Other political and municipal voices place different conditions on their support. Benjamin Dalle of the Flemish Christian-democratic CD&V has argued that Brussels needs a person with a clear mandate capable of coordinating the various policies, while warning against duplicating organisations that already exist. The Brussels Conference of Mayors has asked for representation on the selection panel, reflecting the municipalities’ insistence that local operational knowledge should shape the appointment. Fabrice Cumps, the Socialist Party mayor of Anderlecht, has meanwhile criticised highly visible police actions when they resemble communications exercises, arguing that durable results against trafficking require sustained work. His criticism concerned enforcement strategy rather than the recruitment itself, but it captures the standard against which the new commissioner will be judged.

The appointment follows a regional drugs strategy first adopted in April 2024. Safe.brussels says that strategy identified 17 priority hotspots and paired targeted policing with prevention, longer outreach hours, neighbourhood improvements and support for vulnerable young people. Its underlying logic is that clearing a location without maintaining services and rebuilding legitimate use of the public space merely allows trafficking to return. The vacancy translates that logic into a “clear, hold, build” method for the future commissioner.

The immediate backdrop is renewed drug-related violence in the capital. After a Regional Security Council meeting in late August, federal and regional authorities announced closer coordination involving Federal Minister of Security and the Interior Bernard Quintin, Brussels Public Prosecutor Julien Moinil, police representatives and National Drugs Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch. BX1 reported that €68 million had been released for Brussels security and prevention in 2026, although that wider envelope should not be confused with the €1.5 million annual allocation for the new regional structure.

This is therefore less a story about generous leave or remote-working rules than a test of whether Brussels can give one official enough authority to make a crowded institutional landscape work coherently. The employment package may attract attention because it appears to contrast with the urgency of street violence, but telework eligibility does not determine how often operational duties will require the commissioner’s physical presence. The decisive questions are whether participating authorities share information, accept common priorities and allow the commissioner to hold them to measurable commitments.

Interviews are expected during September, after which a bilingual selection commission will classify candidates as suitable or unsuitable. The panel is set to include the Brussels Minister-President, the Brussels Public Prosecutor, Safe.brussels’ director-general, the national drugs commissioner, an academic representative and the president of the conference of Brussels police chiefs. The regional Council of Ministers must then approve the successful candidate and the starting date. Until that happens, the appointee’s identity, the final interview shortlist and the precise balance between political oversight and operational independence remain unknown.