BrusselsIn focusOpinion

Limiting remunerations in the public administration

The  SAMU Social and PubliFin scandals -happened in the last months- seriously damaged the trust Belgian citizens have of their politicians and of the government. For this reason, politics today needs measures to prove their value and reliability to the citizens.

This is probably why the Brussels government voted a certain number of measures to limit the remuneration of the representatives in the public administration last Thursday. After the new rules enter into force, a person who attends a board of directors in Local or Regional Public Interest organisations cannot be remunerated more than 120€ (gross). And no more than 20 meetings per year can be subject of compensation. The same sort of provisions will apply to government commissioners, President or top executive of public administrations as well as all the representatives, even those who attend “minor” meetings.

An administrator will then be not able to be remunerated more than 2400€ (gross) per year, while the President or Vice-President of the Local or Regional Public Interest organisations will not get a compensation which exceeds 12,000€ annually.

The measure has been discussed since December 2016 and was initially approved on the 15th of June. Rudi-Vervoort, the Brussels Minister-President, was very satisfied after the measure was voted. “The remuneration will obviously be linked to an effective presence of the representatives”, he said. He also pointed out the fact that it will clarify the earnings ceiling as well as the way to compensate the public representatives.

Lucas Tripoteau

Lucas holds a Master degree in EU Law and that is why he decided to move to Brussels two years ago. After having experienced lobbying, he joined Cafébabel Brussels as editorial coordinator. He is today Brussels editor at Pan European Networks and Secretary General at CaféBabel Brussels. He enjoys the Brussels lifestyle and is very keen to provide the expats with an exciting insight of the city.

Lucas Tripoteau has 178 posts and counting. See all posts by Lucas Tripoteau