The debate on whether 8 May should again become a public holiday developed as a General Affairs Committee in Brussels unanimously approved legislation to that effect.
Civil servants in Brussels are given paid leave on that day in celebration of the Iris Festival, with events, music and general merrymaking. Now, government parties want to make it a paid public holiday for everyone to commemorate the liberation from the Nazi regime in 1945.
Now, the Brussels government wants to discuss the matter at a federal level. Yet it is still unclear whether it will be added to the list of paid public holidays.
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For now, the resolution needs to be approved in a Brussels Government plenary before it enters discussions with the Federal Government, where a final decision will be made.
Why celebrate 8 May?
The Brussels Region celebrates the victory of the Allies over the Nazi regime in 1945 in the festivities of the Iris Festival on 8 May.
8 May (Victory Day) used to be celebrated with a public holiday, but that stopped in 1974. Since then, the Brussels Parliament has made clear its intention to restore the date in the public calendar. In addition, the Flemish Greens recently made the same proposal in the Flemish Government.
