Sexual criminal law reformed
A thorough reform of the sexual criminal law will come into effect from June. The concept of ‘consent’ is central to this reform, and one of the most notable measures is a doubling of the maximum penalty for rape.
One of the basic principles is that a minor under the age of 16 cannot give permission to perform sexual acts. There is an exception for young people between 14 and 16, if the age difference with the other person is no more than three years.
READ MORE. Sexual criminal law reformed: maximum penalty for rape doubles
Rate increases at Orange and Telenet
Different rates at telecom company Orange will become more expensive on 1 June. This mainly concerns less popular or less used services, such as MMS or international calling. Roaming will be twice as expensive. The company refers to the current economic context for an explanation. At the same time, the data volumes are being increased. At Telenet, subscription rates for internet, television and telephony will be increased by 4.7 percent on June 19, partly due to high inflation.
READ MORE. Rate increases at Orange and Telenet
For Orange’s mobile subscriptions, the monthly price for the Go Light formula will be increased from 10 to 11 euros, for Go Plus from 20 to 21 euros, for Go Intense from 30 to 32 euros and for Go Extreme from 40 to 43 euros. The data volumes are increased at the same time. For example, Go Light is an increase of 0.5 GB to 2 GB and Go Plus is an increase of 1 GB to 11 GB.
Wages for civil servants up
Government employees will see wages rise again by 2 percent in June. It is the third time already this year that the wages are indexed to keep up with the rising longevity.
Wage indexation is a result of high inflation. As a result, the spindle index is exceeded much faster than normal. If the pivotal index is exceeded, social benefits and civil servants’ wages are increased.
Civil servants’ wages were also increased in February and April. And there may be a fourth wage indexation in this year, because the Planning Bureau expects the pivotal index to be exceeded again in October. That would mean that benefits in November and government employee wages will rise again in December.
Doctors’ fees indexed by 2 percent
Doctors’ fees will be indexed by 2 percent from 1 June to meet the rapidly rising costs of personnel, materials and energy. The previously agreed indexation of 0.71 percent fell short, which is why the Council of Ministers agreed a few weeks ago with a one-off extra budget of 207 million euros to financially support the care providers. Of that amount, 112 million euros is intended for doctors.
Reinforced consumer warranty rules
Producers or sellers must be able to demonstrate for a period of two years from 1 June that the consumer is responsible if it appears that a purchased product is malfunctioning. Today, the obligation of proof only applies to the seller or producer in the first six months.
Consumers can invoke the legal guarantee to have goods repaired, replaced or reimbursed free of charge if they become defective during the first two years after purchase due to the fault of the seller or the manufacturer, for example due to a manufacturing defect. Under the current scheme, consumers must be able to demonstrate between six months and two years after purchase that a defect was already present at the time of delivery. This also meant that sellers or manufacturers only had to prove in the first six months that the defect had only surfaced after delivery.
Our country is thus transposing two European directives on the sale of goods to consumers. The warranty period was previously two years, but now the reversal of the burden of proof in the event of a defect has been increased from six months to two years.
For second-hand goods, the seller will only be able to fix a term of less than two years (with a minimum of one year) if he informs the consumer in a clear and unambiguous manner about the term of less than two years.
What’s new is that from now on the warranty rules will also apply to goods with digital elements, such as connected smartwatches; the provision of digital content, for example, videos, audio recordings, applications and video games; digital services such as video on demand, streaming and cloud storage; and the delivery of digital content on a tangible medium such as DVD, CD and USB sticks. The new rules apply to products purchased after May 31 of this year.
Ukrainians can exchange hryvnia for euro
Ukrainian refugees registered in Belgium will be able to exchange banknotes from their home country (hryvnia) into euros at various banks from June. It concerns a maximum of 10,000 hryvnia per person, or about 310 euros.
The refugees can exchange their 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 hryvnia notes for euros at the National Bank in Brussels. They can also go to the counters of the banks Belfius, Beobank, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, KBC, CBC and KBC Brussels. They must already have an account with the bank in question. The euro money will be deposited into that account. The banks will not charge any fees or commission for the exchange.
Proof of refugee status will be requested for the transaction. Anyone in possession of a Belgian identity card cannot exchange a hryvnia for euros.
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