The government has no intention of changing the population criterion of 100,000 inhabitants tied to federal aid for cities and municipalities to fund civil servant pensions, Minister of Pensions Jan Jambon warned in Parliament on Wednesday, responding to a question from Marie Meunier (PS).
The pension burden on local authorities is increasingly significant. It strains the already precarious finances of many municipalities, which also face the impact of certain government reforms, including tax reform.
The government plans to support local authorities with €75 million by 2027, increasing to €100 million and €125 million by 2029. However, before Parliament, the minister did not confirm these figures, as they remain under discussion, but he upheld the population criterion for aid eligibility. “It is generally accepted that the number of inhabitants is a relevant criterion,” Jambon emphasised. According to him, cities with more than 100,000 residents have “substantially higher” burdens.
Cities like Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Leuven, Schaerbeek, Anderlecht, Brussels, Charleroi, Liège, and Namur will benefit from the aid, whereas others below this threshold, such as Mons, Molenbeek, Etterbeek, and Genk, also face significant burdens not necessarily linked to population size. For instance, Etterbeek hosts the headquarters of the Brussels public hospital network, Iris South.
“It’s a windfall for Antwerp (the largest municipality in the country),” commented Mons MP Marie Meunier. The criterion also sparks debate in Flanders; Genk’s mayor, Wim Dries (CD&V), who is president of the Flemish towns and cities union, announced plans to take the matter to the Constitutional Court.
The N-VA Minister, however, did not relent. “Broadening the criterion would complicate implementation and lead to discrimination,” he explained.
