Belgian Police Spent €21.6 Million on Software Licences Now Unusable

Belgium's federal police spent €30.8 million on software licences for the cancelled i-Police digitalisation programme between 2021 and 2025, and licences valued at €21.6 million are now of no use to the force, according to findings of the Belgian Court of Audit reported on 29 October. The figure includes €7.3 million in licences never used and €14.2 million in licences used during development but rendered unusable after the programme was stopped.

The audit, undertaken at parliament's request, puts the programme's overall 2016–2025 expenditure at €139.4 million. That is not the same accounting measure as the €75.8 million Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said had been paid to principal contractor Sopra Steria when he addressed parliament in January. The earlier figure referred to payments to that supplier; the broader audit includes other programme costs. The €299 million figure associated with the original 2021 contract is its stated contract value, not an amount the audit says was paid.

The audit also described weaknesses in project supervision and risk management. According to the Belgian local outlet BRUZZ, the police engaged a team of 13 full-time external IT consultants at a cost exceeding €17 million, while a supplier list contained 453 consultant names without clear descriptions of their functions. The auditors found that the original procurement award followed the applicable rules, but said financing and risk oversight during implementation were inadequate.

Quintin terminated the project in late 2025, saying it had failed to produce tangible operational results after several years. The police and Sopra Steria subsequently initiated legal proceedings against one another. Sopra Steria has disputed the account of its responsibility for the programme's failure. The Court of Audit did not determine individual political or criminal responsibility, and the figures above should not be presented as a judicial finding of fraud or as an established recoverable loss.

The distinct sums are central to assessing what the state obtained for its expenditure: €139.4 million is total programme spending, €75.8 million was the earlier reported contractor-payment figure, €30.8 million was licence expenditure, and €21.6 million represents licences the audit considered unusable. The next accountability test is whether parliamentary hearings and any court rulings establish which contractual deliverables were accepted, whether funds can be recovered and what changes will prevent similar procurement failures.