Language Act
The majority of recruitments in Brussels local authorities later have to be suspended because the person does not speak both national languages.
These are striking figures. As many as 68.2 percent of contractual recruitment at Brussels local authorities had to be suspended by the Brussels vice-governor due to a violation of language legislation. That is no less than 2,252 recruited people who saw their contracts annulled because their knowledge of the other national language was not good enough.
According to the language law, almost all employees of Brussels municipalities and OCMWs must have a language certificate in the other national language. This legislation is therefore being violated on an ongoing basis, as is evident from the 2022 annual report of Brussels Deputy Governor Jozef Ostyn.
The situation is better when recruiting statutory staff. In 119 cases (27.3 percent) the appointment had to be suspended. In the other 317 cases (72.7 percent) the candidate was proficient in both national languages. The deputy governor made an exception for 762 candidates (23.1 percent) of the contractual recruitments, because the recruitment was for a short period.
N-VA reacts shocked. “The language laws in Brussels have been ignored for 30 years and a fully Dutch-language service in a Brussels municipality is almost unthinkable,” says Karl Vanlouwe. N-VA points out that the deputy governor does not have the authority to prevent recruitment and can only suspend it afterwards.
