Accordion weeks, ban on Occupied Palestinian territory imports, U-turn on air tax and clamp down on Shadow fleet

Accordion weeks

Under the new ‘accordion weeks’ system – known in technical terms as the ‘annualisation’ of working time – working hours will no longer be calculated on a weekly basis, but on an annual basis. This should make it easier for employers to cope with seasonal fluctuations without necessarily having to get workers to sign on for unemployment benefit temporarily.

The system can only be introduced if employees give their explicit consent. Annualisation guarantees the same wage every month, regardless of the number of hours worked that month.

Flemish socialist Vooruit, one of the parties in the 5-way federal coalition, held up the plan for a long time, as the system could lead to a loss of purchasing power, for example through the loss of paid overtime. However, according to the agreement, any loss of purchasing power will be compensated.

Import ban on products from the occupied Palestinian territories

A ban on the import of products from the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel is to be introduced. This already formed part of last summer’s agreement following the heavy bombardment of Gaza, but for months it has been politically linked to agreement within the coalition on the annualisation of working hours.

The precise details of how this will be implemented are not yet available.

Air passenger tax capped

Plans to increase airport boarding tax are being partially reversed. The inner cabinet decided that the boarding tax – also known as the air passenger tax – will not be increased to 10 euros for flights longer than 500 kilometres, but only to 7 euros.

Measures against organised crime

More measures to combat organised crime have also been approved.

Examining magistrates, public prosecutors and court clerks working on investigations into terrorism and criminal organisations will henceforth be better able to protect their identities. The aim is to ensure that they cannot be intimidated or threatened.

In addition, restrictions are being placed on the abuse of challenge procedures, which can delay major criminal trials.

Justice Minister Verlinden (Flemish Christian democrat) is also establishing specialised units in prisons for prisoners with a high-risk profile and links to organised crime. A tailored and stricter detention regime will apply there.

Work is also underway on a scheme to require prisoners convicted of serious offences relating to drug trafficking, human trafficking and organised crime to contribute towards the costs of their detention. The principle is that anyone who derives substantial profits from serious crime must also contribute to the costs that their detention.

Tackling shadow fleet and forged documents

Operating merchant ships without a valid nationality or flag in Belgian waters will explicitly be made a criminal offence. In this way, the government aims to take action against so-called shadow fleets, which circumvent international rules and are increasingly being used to evade sanctions or facilitate illegal activities. Ships operated to circumvent sanctions on the Russian Federation are a clear example.

The trade in travel and identity documents will also be tackled much more rigorously from now on. Criminal organisations are currently using this technique on a large scale. Existing legislation proved insufficient.

Ban on radical organisations

The cabinet also approved a draft bill, which allows the banning of activities or groups that threaten national security or the foundations of the rule of law.

Last year, the Council of State that vets Belgian draft legislation issued a critical opinion on the draft bill.  This criticism has now taken into account. As a result, the text is now limited to the possibility of imposing a quick and temporary ban on the activities of radical and/or extremist groups or organisations.

A permanent ban falls under the jurisdiction of the courts. An organisation that is solely of a political, trade union, philanthropic, philosophical or religious nature cannot be subject to an administrative ban.