Belgium has until May to implement updated EU rules on single permits that grant improved rights and flexibilities to non-EU workers.
Single permits are the process through which high-skilled and 'bottleneck' non-EU workers are granted permission to live and work in Belgium and other EU countries. The regime delivers a single process that replaces the need for multiple applications for both residency and work permits.
The updated directive will introduce new rights for non-EU workers sponsored by an employer through a work permit. This includes giving them the right to switch employers without a new application, as is currently the requirement.
According to Eurostat, almost 21,000 single permits were issued by Belgium in 2023 out of 3.9 million across the EU. In Belgium, "65% of single permits are issued in Flanders", according to Stefaan Peirsman from trade union ACV. He told the Brussels Times that the system could be improved as "sometimes it takes more than six months" to get a single permit.
Existing rules are too complex
The updated Single Permit Directive was introduced after a European Commission review found the existing process was too complex and inefficient, lacked clarity on who could apply, and put non-EU workers at risk of exploitation.
One of the main changes is the introduction of an automatic extension to permits during the renewal process, which would mean permits remain valid until the renewal application is processed.
Aylin Ozturk, from Strelia, a business law firm, told the Brussels Times that this is "the best thing to come from this directive" as, at the moment, renewal applications are often rejected simply for being submitted too late.
In an effort to improve clarity, the new rules also introduce a 90-day limit within which an application needs to be processed by the regional administration. Brussels Economy and Employment states that the current procedure "takes 120 days at most" following the submission of a complete file. However, this is an aim, not a certainty.
Ozturk notes that it is not clear at this stage when the clock would start for the 90 days. At present, Belgian regions have to deem an application as acceptable before it gets processed, only after this 'acceptance' does the 120 days begin.
However, there is no limit on how much time regions can take to 'accept' the application. Peirsman went further, stressing that the system was slow as there are "not enough workers to apply the range of new migration rules, with the federal government tightening the system rather than making it smarter."
Single permits will not be linked to one employer alone
Currently, single permits are granted to work for a specific employer, rather than for access to the whole labour market, but this is set to change.
The updated rules will also allow single permit holders to change employers after six months working with the first, with the administrative requirements for the second and future employers significantly reduced.
The changes improve flexibility for employers in finding non-EU talent already in Belgium. However, regional administrations can still apply a 'labour market test' to ensure non-EU workers are not given jobs in areas where there are a lot of EU workers already available.
Peirsman told the Brussels Times that one of the live questions is whether bottleneck workers should be allowed to change sectors, for example, "do metal workers have to find another job as a metal worker? Or can they go to other sectors?"
Existing provisions in Belgium have also been baked into the revised EU-wide rules. This includes the ability to remain in-country if you have been made unemployed to search for another job. Workers facing this situation will have 3 months to find another job, or up to 6 months if they have been working in-country for two years.
Countries will also have to create a system that enables single permit holders to seek "legal redress against adverse treatment by the employer", according to the European Commission.
"Everything in the directive is a minimum, but countries can go further", notes Ozturk. For example, Belgium or one of the regions could create a more attractive regime to compete with other EU countries for non-EU talent.
Peirsman explained that the tight labour market, particularly in Flanders, needed to be made more attractive, "unemployment has never been so low, so we really do need all kinds of profiles for our labour market". The job vacancy rate in Belgium in June was 4.1%, the second highest in the EU after the Netherlands, concentrated mainly in Flanders.
The risk of delay in Belgium
The original single permit regime was introduced across the EU in 2013, however, Belgium missed implementation by six years, a move that saw the country taken to court by the European Commission and fined a daily penalty of €70,828 until the law was changed. More recently, the country has been fined over €4 million for late transposition of EU directives.
Implementing the updated directive, which was passed in 2024, is subject to discussion and agreement at both the federal and regional levels of government. "The six-year delay in implementing the initial single permit process was down to the complications of the country", notes Peirsman. There was a lack of clarity on who was responsible for what, with 3 different employment systems needing to align with federal oversight on residency.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry told the Brussels Times that implementation will be led by the Minister of Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt (N-VA), and include Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), and the three regions.
It is not clear how the ongoing lack of a Brussels government will affect the new rules being applied. Peirsman was positive that the deadline would be met, "the Flemish administration is preparing", he said, "Brussels has a lack of personnel because there aren't enough people", at the most it will be a "few months later, but it should be done by May."
