Belgium’s Defence Ministry has launched a new initiative to strengthen collaboration with employers and promote support for reservists, introducing the Employer Engagement & Support Initiative (EESi) and a 'Resilience' label.
On Wednesday, about 100 business leaders were invited to the Royal Military Academy in Brussels to discuss partnerships between employers, reservists, and public institutions.
Representatives of major Belgian companies, including Brussels Airlines, ING Belgium, Proximus, Ethias, and Infrabel, attended the event, which explored ways of fostering cooperation between the civilian and defence sectors. Delegates from France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden also participated, sharing their experiences in collaboration on similar initiatives.
The event was backed by business organisations such as the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB), AKT for Wallonia, Brussels Chamber of Commerce (Beci), and the technology industry federation Agoria.
In a statement, the Defence Ministry emphasised that supporting reservists benefits both businesses and the nation, highlighting the EESi’s focus on trust, mutual recognition, and collective resilience.
This initiative is part of Belgium’s national strategy to boost the number of active reservists to 12,800 by 2034.
