The Federal Government is sticking to the formula of capping the index, or the “cent index,” which is included in the program law.
Minister of Social Affairs Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) announced this in the Belgian Parliament on Tuesday during a plenary session.
An alternative formula was proposed by the social partners (which includes trade unions), but this does not meet the budgetary objectives and creates discrimination among workers, which the De Wever government cannot accept.
The Chamber resumed its examination of the special law, which had already been postponed several times due to the opposition’s successful referral of the text to the Council of State.
One of the reasons for the parliamentary revolt is the refusal to consider an alternative proposal to revise indexation, which was supported by employers and unions with rare unanimity.
People take the streets for a national demonstration in Brussels on 12 May 2026. Credit: Belga/Marius Burgelman
On Monday morning, the government met with the group of 10.
"The Prime Minister concluded that there was no consensus in favour of the alternative," explained the minister, who is also deputy prime minister. "The program law is what the government will submit to Parliament."
The government relies in particular on an analysis by the Planning Bureau. "Ultimately, we see a budget shortfall of €242 million if we remove the cent index in the private sector compared to the current proposal," he noted.
"There is a major budgetary problem with this alternative that we cannot resolve, and we must be able to," said Vandenbroucke.
The Chamber then resumed discussion of the program law, which contains the measures to implement the budget.
Unions push back
"Frank Vandenbroucke’s reasoning regarding the Group of 10's proposal does not hold up," said Ann Vermorgen, head of the CSC union, during a national demonstration in Brussels on Tuesday.
Socialist minister Frank Vandenbroucke dismissed the alternative on Tuesday, arguing it was financially inadequate and legally risky. The Group of 10 suggested altering how energy price changes are factored into indexation calculations instead of partially scrapping the indexing mechanism.
A government analysis estimates that the Group of 10's proposal misses €242 million in savings compared to the current plan. Unions have raised questions about the methodology behind this calculation and urged renewed discussions.
"We explicitly asked again yesterday to sit down together at a table," Ann Vermorgen said, "but the government insists there is no alternative. Its role should be to assess whether alternatives might work better than what is currently proposed."
Vandenbroucke has also expressed concerns over potential discrimination between civil servants and private sector employees under the proposed alternative.
Vermorgen countered this, stating, "Our proposal ensures no one faces capped indexation but instead receives full and complete indexation. This is certainly to the benefit of civil servants."
