Belgium’s Police IT Fiasco Costs USD155M, Nearly Double Estimate
(MENAFN) Belgium’s scrapped police digitization project has drained €139.4 million ($155 million) from public coffers, almost double the figure the government has acknowledged, the national Court of Audit has found, just as Brussels grapples with tightening budgets and EU calls for fiscal discipline.
The audit, reported Thursday by the country’s public broadcaster, shows that millions of euros went to software licenses that are now useless. Auditors also flagged serious weaknesses in project management and a heavy dependence on outside IT consultants.
The true cost far exceeds the €75.8 million that Interior Minister Bernard Quintin told parliament had been spent.
Known as i-Police, the project began in late 2021. It was meant to modernize policing, merge scattered databases into a single information platform, and help law enforcement spot criminal networks and security threats faster.
In December 2025, however, Quintin canceled the €299 million contract with French IT consultancy Sopra Steria. He said years of work and payments had produced no concrete results.
License losses
The auditors traced about €30.8 million to software licenses. Of that, €21.6 million, or 70%, now has no value to the police:
€7.3 million worth of licenses were never used.
€14.2 million worth were used during development but became unusable once the project was shut down.
The Court of Audit cautioned that the financial damage may not end there, since maintenance, support, and renewal fees can keep accruing for years.
Fiscal strain
The findings land as pressure mounts on Belgium to rein in its public finances, with both its deficit and its debt well above EU limits.
Eurostat figures released Oct. 21 put Belgium’s 2025 government deficit at 5.2% of gross domestic product (GDP). Public debt ended 2025 at 108.1% of GDP, one of the highest levels among EU member states.
Both numbers breach the EU’s reference thresholds of 3% of GDP for the budget deficit and 60% of GDP for public debt.
Belgium remains under the EU’s Excessive Deficit Procedure, which obliges countries whose finances exceed those limits to take corrective action.
The audit, reported Thursday by the country’s public broadcaster, shows that millions of euros went to software licenses that are now useless. Auditors also flagged serious weaknesses in project management and a heavy dependence on outside IT consultants.
The true cost far exceeds the €75.8 million that Interior Minister Bernard Quintin told parliament had been spent.
Known as i-Police, the project began in late 2021. It was meant to modernize policing, merge scattered databases into a single information platform, and help law enforcement spot criminal networks and security threats faster.
In December 2025, however, Quintin canceled the €299 million contract with French IT consultancy Sopra Steria. He said years of work and payments had produced no concrete results.
License losses
The auditors traced about €30.8 million to software licenses. Of that, €21.6 million, or 70%, now has no value to the police:
€7.3 million worth of licenses were never used.
€14.2 million worth were used during development but became unusable once the project was shut down.
The Court of Audit cautioned that the financial damage may not end there, since maintenance, support, and renewal fees can keep accruing for years.
Fiscal strain
The findings land as pressure mounts on Belgium to rein in its public finances, with both its deficit and its debt well above EU limits.
Eurostat figures released Oct. 21 put Belgium’s 2025 government deficit at 5.2% of gross domestic product (GDP). Public debt ended 2025 at 108.1% of GDP, one of the highest levels among EU member states.
Both numbers breach the EU’s reference thresholds of 3% of GDP for the budget deficit and 60% of GDP for public debt.
Belgium remains under the EU’s Excessive Deficit Procedure, which obliges countries whose finances exceed those limits to take corrective action.
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