Civil servants to feel the cuts

Cuts worth EUR 800 million are being made in the personnel budget.

The daily De Tijd reports that only one in five retiring civil servants will be replaced.

De Tijd writes that the savings will be spread over five years.

Some 12 percent of savings will be made on the personnel budget, 28 percent of the cuts will affect working costs, while a further 33 percent of cuts will be achieved by cancelling investments.

Union sources suggest that civil service pensions will be affected by the austerity measures too.

Trades unionist Luc Hamelinck told the daily Het Nieuwsblad that civil service pensions would be reduced by 10 percent.

Civil service pensions will in future be calculated in the same way as all other employees taking account of salaries of the entire career and not just the last ten years and that will have a negative impact of the size on the pension.

In future civil servants will no longer be able to have the years they spent studying count as part of their career for the purpose of calculating their pension.

Advantages enjoyed at the minute by magistrates and university lecturers will disappear too.

The working costs budget of the civil service is also being cut too.

Fewer investments are also planned.

The new government claims that the civil service will be able to function properly because cash is being set aside for urgent expenditure.

Flandersnews.be / Expatica