Trade union to help long-term unemployed fight loss of benefits

A trade union has vowed to fight government plans to cut off benefits for at least 100,000 long-term unemployed in Belgium, by offering legal help to any member who challenges the decision in court.

From next January, Belgium's new federal government intends to place a two-year limit on the payment of unemployment benefits.

According to the FGTB trade union, about 145,000 people in Belgium are affected by the decision. The economy ministry puts the figure at closer to 100,000 - including more than 25,000 in the Brussels region - which is about a third of all unemployed people.

Belgium's Council of State has given its provisional approval for the measure and federal employment minister David Clarinval is in discussions with trade unions and the employment ministers of Belgium's three regions before the bill is sent to parliament before the summer.

Under the proposals, long-term unemployed people in Belgium under the age of 55 will receive a letter in July encouraging them to find a job within six months or risk having their benefits cut off in January 2026.

The FGTB said it was ready to support any member that decides to file a case against the removal of benefits with the Belgian labour court.

"When the state grants an unlimited right to unemployment benefits and then later withdraws that right, a certain notice period must be respected," said FGTB president Thierry Bodson.

"If the state decides that this right is now limited to two years, we believe that two years' notice must be given before limiting unemployment benefits for those concerned."

The FGTB is relying on article 23 of the Belgian constitution, which refers to "the right to social security, health protection and social, medical and legal assistance".

The union said it had already referred to this article in a previous legal challenge against a similar limitation on allowances for young workers, and the labour court ruled in its favour.

While the union will not directly challenge the two-year limit on unemployment benefits in court, Bodson said: "We will invite each FGTB member who receives the letter to file, with our help, an appeal with the labour court to postpone the entry into force of the decision."

The FGTB has warned that local CPAS social welfare organisations will be overwhelmed with requests for support if the move goes ahead, as planned, in January 2026.

Prime minister Bart De Wever recently told reporters that Belgium "was virtually the last country in the world where not working could be a life choice".

"Such a measure should indeed accelerate the return to work of some people - people who are in good health, for example," UCLouvain economics professor Bruno Van der Linden told RTBF.

But he warned that for a large number of long-term unemployed people, "these people are in situations of disengagement, discouragement, and other factors that make it difficult for them to find a job".

Van der Linden added: "Unemployment benefit works on two legs. The insurance leg, to protect workers who lose their jobs, and the incentive leg, to encourage them to find and accept a job. With this reform our system becomes unbalanced, placing too much emphasis on incentives and not enough on insurance."