Belgian Government Strikes Sweeping Deal on Leave, Work, and Security
After a marathon 20-hour meeting, the Belgian federal core cabinet (kernkabinet) reached a sweeping agreement early Saturday morning covering birth leave, flexible working weeks, an import ban on products from occupied Palestinian territories, social agreements for defence and police, and a host of other measures. The deal, struck just as parliament closed for the summer recess, has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties who have called for emergency parliamentary committee meetings.
A Broad Legislative Push
The core cabinet, comprising Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) and his top ministers, convened on Friday morning and worked through the night to finalise agreements on more than a dozen dossiers. According to VRT NWS, the package represents one of the most ambitious legislative pushes by the Arizona coalition — comprising N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR, and Les Engagés — since taking office in early 2025.
Key Measures Agreed
Birth Leave Expansion (Familiekrediet): The government approved five additional days of birth leave per child, applicable to births from January 2026. The days can be taken individually or consecutively within the first year after birth and are available to employees, civil servants, and self-employed workers. Minister of Social Affairs Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) said the measure is primarily intended for fathers, adding: “We find that fathers should get that chance… Hopefully we can change that mentality.”
Flexible Working Weeks (Accordeonweken): Working time will now be calculated on an annual basis rather than weekly, allowing employers to better manage seasonal fluctuations without resorting to temporary unemployment. The system can only be introduced with explicit employee consent and guarantees the same monthly wage regardless of hours worked in a given month. Any loss of purchasing power must be compensated.
Import Ban on Occupied Palestinian Territories: A ban on the import of products from Palestinian territories occupied by Israel was approved. The measure was originally agreed in principle in September 2025 as a response to the conflict in Gaza but had been delayed due to political linkage with the working time reform.
Social Agreements for Defence and Police: The government allocated €60 million to improve police pay and attractiveness of the profession. Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA) confirmed the social agreement for the military includes allowances and compensation during exercises and operations, increased weekend premiums, and career-end measures. “Our military personnel will finally be correctly compensated for their service,” Francken said.
Other Measures: The agreement also includes a minimum service requirement in prisons (including during short strikes), a temporary administrative ban on radical and extremist organisations, enhanced measures against organised crime (including identity protection for magistrates and reform of recusal procedures), criminalisation of shadow fleet operations and false document trading, stricter football stadium sanctions with a national ban database, and the right for parents to give a family name to stillborn children (140-179 days gestation).
A planned increase of the flight tax was moderated from €10 to €7 for flights over 500 kilometres. Pension savings reform and the partial privatisation of Belfius were postponed.
Opposition Backlash
The timing of the agreement — reached just as parliament closed for the summer recess — has sparked significant controversy. Groen (Green party) MP Meyrem Almaci described the package as a “crude and cynical deal” and accused the government of engaging in “blatant ideological horse-trading,” as reported by the Brussels Times. Groen has called for an emergency meeting of the relevant House committees.
Anders (the Flemish liberal party) has also requested an urgent meeting of the Committee on Interior Affairs. Floor leader Alexia Bertrand said: “The government is patting itself on the back and heading off on holiday, but that’s not how it works. There are many questions and parliament must be able to ask them.”
PVDA (Workers’ Party) MP Peter Mertens condemned the agreement as an “authoritarian attack on democratic rights,” arguing that the government is restricting the right to association, breaking strike rights, and hollowing out labour rights. PS chairman Paul Magnette criticised the deal on X, saying it amounts to “fewer rights for workers and less public ownership.”
Analysis and Implications
The breadth of the agreement demonstrates the Arizona coalition’s ambition to push through significant reforms before the summer break. However, the method — bundling unrelated dossiers into a single overnight package — has raised concerns about democratic scrutiny and the quality of decision-making. Political analyst Rik Van Cauwelaert had earlier warned that attempting to handle so many dossiers simultaneously was “not a good method of governance.”
Key tensions remain unresolved: the exact amount of the familiekrediet allowance has yet to be determined, purchasing power compensation details for the accordeonweken are pending, and the specifics of the import ban on Palestinian products require further elaboration. The postponed reforms to pension savings and Belfius privatisation are expected to return to the agenda later this year.
What’s Next
Opposition parties are pushing for emergency parliamentary committee meetings to scrutinise the agreements in detail. Whether these will be convened before the summer recess remains uncertain. The government, meanwhile, will need to translate the political agreements into concrete legislation, with several measures requiring royal decrees and further consultation with social partners. The coming weeks will reveal whether the coalition can maintain its momentum or whether the controversy over process will overshadow the substance of the reforms.