Belgium passes Brexit act, covers employment & social security issues

On 28 March 2019, the Belgian parliament passed the Brexit Act, which aims to temporarily deal with the consequences of a possible Hard Brexit and contains the following measures in the field of employment law and social security law:

• The right of residence Until 31 December 2020, the Brexit Act maintains the right of residence of British nationals and their family members on Belgian territory. In addition, a Royal Decree has recently been adopted which also provides that British citizens will be able to continue working in Belgium until the same date and without any particular formalities. At the same time, in the event of a Hard Brexit the European Council and Parliament have agreed to grant visa-free travel for UK nationals coming to the EU for a short stay. This European initiative, however, is subject to reciprocity from UK.

• Social security coordination Belgium will temporarily continue to apply the principles laid down in EU regulations on social security coordination for British nationals, provided that UK grants a reciprocal commitment for Belgian citizens.
• First job convention In the framework of the first job convention, British nationals will be treated as EU nationals during the transition period. As a reminder, this convention concerns workers under 26 years of age and employers who hire young workers can benefit from financial advantages.

Note that all these transitional measures will cease to apply on 31 December 2020 and are subject to reciprocity. For more information on this eAlert, feel free to contact the following local CMS experts.