The Belgian government is pushing ahead with measures to limit the automatic indexation of the country’s highest pensions, a move widely seen as targeting generous public-sector and EU-related retirement packages that can reach up to €16,000 per month for senior eurocrats.
As part of the major 2025–2029 pension reform approved in late May 2026, indexation of pensions above roughly €5,250 gross per month will be capped or significantly reduced.
An absolute maximum pension ceiling has already been introduced, the “Wijninckx ceiling”, putting the max at €8,291.60 gross.
The current government agreed to expand this ceiling to those who have had a mixed Belgian-international career.
These cuts come amid discussions of raising the pension age across the board and other cuts to keep the system affordable as Belgium is struggling to balance its budget.
EU officials’ pensions, calculated on final salary with accrual rates up to 70 per cent after a full career, have long been a source of resentment in Belgium.
Senior grades (AD 12–16) can receive pensions well into five figures monthly, tax advantages and cost-of-living adjustments included. Many retirees settle in Brussels and its affluent suburbs, where their benefits stand in sharp contrast to average Belgian pensions.
The De Wever government has framed the changes as necessary to restore fairness and sustainability in the Belgian pension system amid rising budget pressures.
The Belgian Federal Pensions Service has asked 629 individuals who previously worked for European or international institutions to declare exactly how much pension they receive for those years of service.
So far, only 188 have responded.
The government now wants to authorise the pension service to suspend temporarily payments to the 441 people who have failed to reply, until they provide the requested information.
Limiting indexation on the highest pensions is presented as a way to protect lower and middle pensions while asking higher earners to contribute more to the overall effort.
The reform has particular resonance in Belgium because thousands of current and former EU staff live in the country and draw pensions paid from the EU budget, money that Belgian taxpayers also contribute to.
Notable names drawing big EU pensions are former PM and Ex-MEP Guy Verhofstadt, ex-President of the Council Herman Van Rompuy and ex-Commissioners Louis Michel, Karel De Gucht and Didier Reynders.
Former European Commissioner of Justice Didier Reynders, being investigated for alleged possible money laundering, earns a double pension, it has been revealed. https://t.co/HKvypjvedF
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 18, 2024
