Evere: documentary transparency, no participation

A new mayor through anti-cumul rules

Evere has 46,000 inhabitants and is led by Alessandro Zappala (PS), designated as mayor after Ridouane Chahid renounced the mayoralty to keep his federal deputy mandate (anti-cumul rules). The PS-MR coalition has a large majority (28/35 seats).

Transparency: 3 out of 6 criteria

The budget and council minutes (dedicated page organised by year, 2015-2025) are published online, and the mandate registry is accessible via the transparency section. However, no confirmed livestream, no citizen participation platform, and no Open Data portal.

Room for improvement

Evere has significant room for improvement in digital transparency. The absence of livestream and participatory budget places it below the average of Brussels municipalities.

Financial situation and recent developments

Evere has been under regional financial supervision for over 10 years, an exceptional situation among Brussels municipalities. The CPAS has lost 23 full-time equivalents (FTE). On the mobility front, the green parking zone has been extended to new neighbourhoods since 2 March 2026.

Aircraft noise: Evere joins the legal front (April 2026)

During the week of 21 to 24 April 2026, Evere's Municipal Council adopted unanimously a motion against the aircraft noise of Brussels Airport, along with a unanimous amendment committing Evere to join the ongoing legal actions already filed by Schaerbeek, Koekelberg and Molenbeek against certain air routes.

Text filed by Ridouane Chahid (federal MP, formerly mayor-designate), co-signed by Alexandre Larmoyer. The mobilisation is coordinated by Mayor Alessandro Zappala together with other Brussels municipalities.

Context: since the rollout of the RNP 07L route (summer 2025), some axes flying over Evere experience one aircraft every 4 minutes, meaning over 200 daily movements above a densely populated territory. A 2023 analysis estimates ~220,000 people heavily affected around the airport.

The motion's demands: no-fly zones over residential areas, night flight ban, movement caps, strict compliance with noise standards, reorganisation of national air traffic.

Source: BX1 (24 April 2026). See also the cross-cutting dossier Brussels overflight.

Police zone merger: appeal to the Constitutional Court (18 May 2026)

Mayor Alessandro Zappala announced on 18 May 2026 his intention to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court against the law merging Brussels' six police zones, joining Brulocalis and several other mayors who had already filed. For the full context (law vote, other petitioning municipalities, timeline), see the Police zone merger dossier.

Source: BRUZZ Politiek (18 May 2026).

A square in tribute to Driss Atounane (26 August 2026)

On Thursday 23 July 2026, at around 3.20pm, on tram 55 near the chaussée de Helmet in Schaerbeek, a man abused a passenger with racist and Islamophobic remarks. Driss Atounane, fifty-four, a resident of Evere, a father and a shopkeeper based on place Liedts, stepped in to defend her. He was struck on the head with a heavy object, then kicked repeatedly while on the ground. Taken to the Brugmann university hospital, he fell into a coma and died on Sunday 26 July 2026.

Where the case stands

The suspect was arrested within minutes of the incident. The investigating judge placed him under an arrest warrant for intentional assault causing incapacity for work, and appointed a forensic psychiatrist. The Brussels prosecutor's office stated that the circumstances of the death and any causal link with the violence are the subject of further investigation.

A homicide charge has not been brought at this stage, contrary to what several press headlines wrote. BGM keeps to the actual judicial classification.

What the neighbourhood did

On 29 July the artist HMI, of the Brussels collective CNN, painted a mural at the corner of rue de Zaventem and avenue Jules Bordet, bearing the inscription "Whoever saves a life, saves humanity" and the words "RIP Driss Atounane. 26-07-26". The mayor publicly praised the work.

On Friday 31 July, several hundred people, a thousand according to L'Avenir, gathered at the Attaouba mosque in Evere for the funeral, followed by burial in the multi-faith cemetery.

The motion

On Wednesday 26 August 2026, a motion tabled by the PS in the municipal council proposes renaming the junction of rue du Tilleul, rue Henri Van Hamme and rue Édouard Stuckens as place Driss Atounane, immediately next to the Tilleul tram stop. Failing that, it asks that consideration be given to naming another public or green space in the same neighbourhood after him.

The motion provides for a plaque recalling that he is honoured for his civic courage, for intervening on behalf of someone under assault, and for the values of solidarity and rejection of racism his act embodies. It also asks the STIB to rename the Tilleul stop. The PS holds an absolute majority on the Evere municipal council.

Driss Atounane died because he stepped in when no one else did. He leaves a family, a shop the neighbourhood knew, and an act the municipality has chosen to write into its streets. Whatever the investigation concludes about the link between the blows and the death, it will change nothing about what happened on that tram, nor about what his loss means to Evere, to Schaerbeek and to everyone who rides line 55.

Sources: BX1 (July 2026) ; RTBF (30 July 2026) ; BRUZZ (26 August 2026) ; La Libre, L'Avenir, La DH, VRT NWS (July and August 2026). Confidence: official for the course of events, the judicial classification and the tributes, corroborated by four separate press groups; the vote on the motion was not confirmed at the time of writing.