Ever wondered what elected officials get? Belgium's diffuse system of governments means that regional politicians receive less public scrutiny than those at the federal level. But though their function is regional rather than national, the perks are not insignificant.
Regional representatives have a starting wage of €6,900 net per month and other benefits, La Libre Belgique reports. After questioning the 23 deputies of the Walloon provinces about their wages and perks, the news outlet ascertained that the gross annual pay of a regional minister rose to €100,219 in 2022.
In addition, a holiday allowance of €7,431 and an end-of-year allowance of €3,479 are also granted. Cars and mobile phones for professional or personal use are some of the other benefits they enjoy. Ministers can also earn extra income by occupying multiple positions at once and commonly hold roles in several regional departments and agencies. This might even be augmented by positions at the federal level.
With Flanders and Wallonia each being divided into five provinces, ministers make decisions on matters of education, culture and tourism. Provincial Councils make up the legislative branch of the provinces, and Provincial Colleges (Wallonia) or Deputations (Flanders) are on the executive side. Provincial Councillors are elected by direct vote, with Provincial deputies then being selected from the pool of elected councillors.
Chauffeurs and untaxed allowances
Provincial councillors receive attendance pay but no remuneration. The President of the Provincial Council has a gross monthly salary of €2,773. Pay for local politicians increases exponentially from councillor to deputies, La Libre notes – besides the €6,900 net monthly salary, they are also entitled to a yearly allowance for expenses, which rises to €28,061 and does not require expense justifications (such as receipts) to be submitted. This allowance is not subject to taxes.
Besides the expenses allowance, many provinces also provide perks to deputies: last year in the Walloon Brabant, deputies received up to €2,225 for a car. In the Walloon Brabant, Liège and Hainaut provinces, deputies have chauffeured cars at their service.
Provincial deputies can also accumulate multiple paying functions, like chairmen of committees or members of specific offices. Socialist Luc Gillard – President of the Provincial College of Liège – had a total of 17 mandates in 2021, of which 7 were remunerated. Among these, he was an administrator at the Liège Airport, which brought him €3,801 per year.
At the end of their term, deputies can request severance pay, which provides two months' pay for every year they were in office but is capped at a total of 24 months.
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Regional politicians receive less media attention and their role is more abstract, La Libre explains. Walloon politicians – particularly from the Reformist (MR) and the Ecolo parties – have proposed scrapping the province subdivision altogether.
Maxime Daye (MR) told La Libre that these functions are part of Belgiu's "indigestible institutional lasagna". But they are also embedded in the country's constitution and linked to the language communities, which would complicate getting rid of them.
