Scraping Date: Monday, March 9, 2026
Brussels Public Meetings Scrape Summary - March 9, 2026
Scraping Date: Monday, March 9, 2026
Sources Attempted: Regional Parliament + 4 commune sources
Success Rate: 3/5 working, 2 with issues
🎯 Key Highlights
🏆 Transparency Champions
Anderlecht - Gold Standard
- ✅ Complete YouTube livestream archive since 2021
- ✅ Next session: March 26, 2026 (livestream already scheduled)
- ✅ Upcoming 2026 dates: March 26, April 23, May 21, June 25
- ✅ Official documents portal with full agenda access
- ✅ 47-member council with clear structure
Saint-Gilles - Participation Leader
- ✅ Permanent Citizens Council (35 residents, 2-year mandates)
- ✅ Multiple interpellation channels (council + police council)
- ✅ Structured citizen participation with neighborhood contracts
- ✅ Historical citizen engagement (G1060 project since 2018)
📅 Confirmed Upcoming Meetings
Anderlecht (all with YouTube livestreams):
- March 26, 2026
- April 23, 2026
- May 21, 2026
- June 25, 2026
Etterbeek: Monthly meetings (except July-August), generally Mondays at 8 PM
🚨 Issues Identified
Critical System Downtime
- Regional Parliament: ❌ Complete website failure (nginx 502 errors)
- Homepage:
parlement.brussels- DOWN - Plenary sessions page - DOWN
- Impact: No access to regional legislative calendar
- Homepage:
Website Restructuring
- Watermael-Boitsfort: ⚠️ URLs in INDEX are outdated (404 errors)
- Recent sessions: September 23, 2025; May 27, 2025; December 16, 2024
- Site still has council features but needs URL updates
Content Extraction Issues
- Ixelles: Only returning footer content (possible JavaScript dependency)
- Evere: Only showing contact info instead of transparency content
📊 Success/Failure Analysis
| Commune | Status | Data Quality | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderlecht | ✅ Excellent | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Complete transparency, live streams, scheduled dates |
| Saint-Gilles | ✅ Excellent | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Rich participation framework, citizen engagement |
| Etterbeek | ✅ Good | ⭐⭐⭐ | Basic council info, clear schedule structure |
| Watermael-Boitsfort | ⚠️ Partial | ⭐⭐ | 404 errors but recent session dates visible |
| Regional Parliament | ❌ Failed | ⭐ | Complete website downtime |
🔍 Content Insights
Meeting Patterns
- Standard timing: Monthly meetings (except summer break)
- Common format: Evening sessions (8 PM typical)
- Public access: All meetings are public with citizen interpellation rights
- Documentation: Most provide agenda/minutes online
Transparency Levels
- Anderlecht: Full video archive + live streaming
- Saint-Gilles: Comprehensive citizen participation tools
- Standard: Basic agenda/minutes publication
- Issues: Some sites with technical or structural problems
Citizen Engagement Features
- Interpellation rights: Available in most communes
- Video access: Anderlecht leads with complete YouTube integration
- Participation councils: Saint-Gilles has permanent citizen council structure
📋 Recommendations
Immediate Actions
- Monitor Regional Parliament - critical source currently inaccessible
- Update INDEX - Watermael-Boitsfort URLs need correction
- Test browser scraping - for JavaScript-heavy sites (Evere, Ixelles)
Follow-up Priorities
- Complete commune coverage - attempt remaining 15 communes from INDEX
- Verify 2026 schedules - cross-check published calendars
- Track meeting outcomes - monitor agendas leading to actual sessions
Best Practice Documentation
- Anderlecht model: Use for other communes seeking transparency improvement
- Saint-Gilles participation: Benchmark for citizen engagement
Next Scrape: Monday, March 16, 2026
Critical Watch: Regional Parliament website restoration