The Constitutional Court on Thursday largely unravelled the social protection reform introduced in 2021 by the Flemish government by annulling several of its provisions.
The Court deemed unconstitutional the way in which the then Minister for Social Affairs, Wouter Beke, had linked additional residence and integration conditions to the right to a health budget or a socially corrected health premium.
The Flemish social protection is an add-on to federal social security. It provides monthly care budgets for people in need of extensive care, disabled persons and elderly people in need of care.
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In 2021, the Flemish government added new rules to the system. Since then, anyone wishing to claim a care budget must have 10 years’ residence – instead of five previously – in Flanders or the Brussels-Capital region, and also needs to have an integration certificate.
A series of associations, as well as the three major trade unions (CSC, FGTB and CGSLB) instituted a court action to annul six articles of the Flemish Community decree of 18 June 2021 amending the regulations, criticising the text for creating two categories of citizens.
The Constitutional Court ruled in their favour on Thursday, annulling four provisions of the decree.
In its ruling, the Court considered that the additional conditions introduced for the care budget lead to “a significant deterioration in the level of social protection previously offered.”
According to the Court, there is also “no reasonable justification” for the introduction of the civic integration condition.
