Non-profit association · Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
CivicFisc vzw
We promote transparency of government spending and government support in Belgium, so that citizens, journalists, researchers and members of parliament can understand where public money goes.
CivicFisc is the association behind Govchecker.be, a free, publicly accessible platform on subsidies, public procurement and public spending. The platform is under construction.
Key facts
- Legal form
- vzwnon-profit association under Belgian law
- Enterprise number
- 1042.729.412Register of Legal Entities, Ghent, Dendermonde division
- Founded
- private deed, Sint-Niklaas
- Registered office
- Sint-NiklaasFlemish Region, Belgium
Purpose
Non-profit purpose
The association’s purpose is laid down in Article 4 of its articles of association. The general meeting can change it only by a four-fifths majority.
The association’s non-profit purpose is to promote transparency of government spending and government support in Belgium, so that citizens, journalists, researchers and members of parliament can understand where public money goes.
The association grants no financial benefit to its members, its directors or anyone else, except in pursuit of that non-profit purpose. Any income from its activities goes entirely to that purpose and is never distributed (Articles 4 and 6).
Activities
What the association does
Article 5 of the articles of association sets out how the association pursues its purpose. The list is not exhaustive.
- Develop, publish and maintain a free, publicly accessible platform that collects, opens up and explains data on subsidies, public procurement and public spending.
- Build and keep an archive of that data and of its underlying sources.
- Write and publish transparency studies, with human final editing and under named editorial responsibility.
- Provide data services, analyses and training to governments, research institutions, the media and civil society.
- Carry out pilot projects with governments.
- Assist citizens, journalists and researchers with freedom-of-information requests and with the reuse of public-sector information.
- Publish data, data models and methodology for reuse, where usage rights and privacy rules allow.
- Take part in, cooperate with or become a member of other organisations with a related purpose.
Public data, non-public source code. Free access covers the platform, the published data and the methodology. The source code of the association’s own software is not public.
Governance
Board of directors and how it works
Three directors together form the association’s collegial board. None of them is paid for this mandate.
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Chair
Bram Gysel
Director, independent of the founder
Unpaid mandate until 2031
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Director · founder
Sander Smet
Founder of the association
Unpaid mandate until 2031
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Director
Stijn Smet
Member of the board
Unpaid mandate until 2031
Verifiable in the official sources. The incorporation and the articles of association were published in the Annexes to the Belgian Official Gazette; the association is registered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.
How it works
- Mandates
- Unpaid, until the ordinary general meeting of 2031 (30 June 2031).
- Representation
- Two directors acting jointly represent the association towards third parties.
- Day-to-day management
- No day-to-day manager has been appointed.
- Family ties
- Sander Smet and Stijn Smet are family members. Bram Gysel, the chair, is the director who is independent of the founder. The articles of association (Articles 19 and 30) require this disclosure.
- General meeting
- The ordinary general meeting is held every year in June.
- Financial year
- The financial year is the calendar year. The first financial year runs until 31 December 2027.
Independence
Independence and editorial charter
The charter is annexed to the articles of association and forms part of them. It can only be changed by amending the articles.
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Funding ceiling
No single direct public funder may provide more than one third of income in a financial year.
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Self-disclosure
Every subsidy, gift, sponsorship and public contract the association receives is disclosed on the platform, including funding that no public register shows.
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One responsible publisher
The association appoints one responsible publisher, identified by name.
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No preview for funders
No funder sees a study before publication or has any say over it.
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Neutral vocabulary
Publications use a fixed, non-accusatory vocabulary and never accuse a named entity.
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Cross-party contacts
Contacts with members of parliament and parliamentary groups are cross-party.
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Human approval
Every letter to a government is read and approved by a person before it is sent.
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Leading by example
The association applies to itself what it asks of governments.
Principles applied on Govchecker.be
The same care applies to the data on the platform.
- Indicators, not verdicts Findings are risk indicators warranting review. Companies are never given a score.
- No natural persons Natural persons never appear in the data the platform publishes.
- Cautious totals Totals are minima. Amounts from different registers follow different definitions and are never added together, and neither are committed, paid and recovered amounts.
Own funding
Funding of the association
The association applies to itself what it asks of governments: all income from subsidies, gifts, sponsorship and public contracts is made public.
Status as of
Subsidies, gifts, sponsorship and public contracts received
None yet
| Type | Received |
|---|---|
| Subsidies | none |
| Gifts | none |
| Sponsorship | none |
| Public contracts | none |
What we disclose
- Every item, individually Every subsidy, gift, sponsorship and public contract, with the funder and the amount, even when no public register shows it.
- At most one third per public funder No single direct public funder may provide more than one third of income in a financial year.
- Agreements with directors Every paid agreement with a director, a full member or a person or company related to them is disclosed, with the counterparty and the annual amount.
Official sources
Official documents
The incorporation, the articles of association and the registration of the association can be checked in the official sources of the Belgian federal government. The links open those external websites. The association’s official documents are in Dutch.
- Deed of incorporation
- Private deed of , drawn up in Sint-Niklaas and filed with the court registry.
- Register of Legal Entities
- Register of Legal Entities (RPR), Ghent, Dendermonde division
- Language of the association
- Dutch
Contact
Contact and legal information
Contact is by e-mail only. The association has no phone number and no contact form.
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The association
info@civicfisc.beFor questions about the association, its governance and its funding.
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The platform
info@govchecker.beFor questions about Govchecker.be and the data on the platform.
Legal information
- Name
- CivicFisc vzw
- Legal form
- Non-profit association (vereniging zonder winstoogmerk, vzw)
- Registered office
- Vijfstraten 103 bus 201, 9100 Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
- Enterprise number
- 1042.729.412
- Register of Legal Entities
- Register of Legal Entities (RPR), Ghent, Dendermonde division
- Trade names
- Govchecker, Govchecker.be
- info@civicfisc.be
- Website
- civicfisc.be