Animal welfare, sex workers, “Frontex” law…: the Chamber has adopted a series of important bills, here is everything that will change in your daily life
The House adopted a whole series of bills in plenary session on Thursday, notably on animal welfare.
Published on 03/05/2024 at 07:12
Modified on 03/05/2024 at 10:22
The Chamber adopted during the night of Thursday to Friday in plenary session a proposal which enshrines animal welfare in the Constitution, to the great joy of the Gaia representatives present in the gallery.
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The amendment adopted aims to add the following words to article 7 bis of the Constitution: “In the exercise of their respective powers, the Federal State, the Communities and the Regions ensure the protection and well-being of animals as sentient beings.
However, a legal question emerged in the debates, making the outcome of the vote uncertain until the last minute.
During the general discussion last week, the question of the “stand still” principle was at the heart of this questioning. This legal principle aims to prevent the legislator from significantly reducing protection enshrined in the Constitution.
In the environmentalist, but also socialist, ranks, we confirmed a “relative stand still”. In other words, the article of the constitution gives “guidelines to the federated entities”, competent for animal welfare, explained in particular the deputy Claire Hugon (Ecolo), followed by Hervé Rigot (PS) and Kris Verduyckt ( Vooruit). The choice of article 7bis and not article 23 speaks in this direction.
The social status of sex workers validated
The House passed the bill which allows sex workers to be given employment contracts.
Two laws from spring 2022 took important steps in the decriminalization of sex work, while maintaining pimping in the Penal Code. The other expected reform resided in the granting of social status to prostitutes who until now had operated in a gray zone where their work was tolerated without being recognized.
The text from the Minister of Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS), written with his colleagues from Justice and Health, Paul Van Tigchelt (Open Vld) and Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), sets the conditions in which workers sex can be held by an employer under an employment contract.
Employers must have obtained prior approval. The employment contract will guarantee social security coverage and compliance with the rules relating in particular to the duration of working time or remuneration. These workers will be able to refuse clients and sexual acts without this being grounds for dismissal. The employer will also be obliged to guarantee the permanent availability of a reference person. He will also be responsible for equipping the rooms where sex work is carried out with an emergency button.
The “Frontex” law adopted
The House adopted a bill allowing personnel from the European agency Frontex to carry out checks at Belgian borders and escort forced returns of foreigners.
Supported by the Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), this bill will give these agents the opportunity to carry out these border controls in airports, ports, the Brussels-South station as well as in its Eurostar terminal , or at the external borders of the Schengen area.
The text was adapted following the opinion of the Council of State. Thus, Frontex intervention can only take place in the presence and under the authority of Belgian police officers. The number of Frontex agents active on Belgian territory will be limited to one hundred. These actions will also be carried out under the control of Committee P. In the majority, Ecolo-Groen, the PS, but also the minister recalled these guidelines during the general discussion.
Law “on the proactive return policy”
This text intends to pave the way for repatriations carried out not only by the police, but also by officials from the Foreigners Office. However, they must be trained for this purpose and can only act under the control of the police.
The bill also plans to increase reception capacities in closed centers. Foreigners who commit crimes can be forcibly repatriated more quickly. The text, however, prohibits the confinement of minors in closed centers.
Player control extended to bookstores
The House has adopted a new bill aimed at better protecting players engaged in games of chance.
Supported by the Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt (Open Vld), the text concerns precisely a modernization of the EPIS list, of people excluded from gambling (Excluded Persons Information System).
Since December 1, 2023, betting agencies must once again carry out identity checks to verify that their customers are adults and that they are not on the list.
After the entry into force of the new law, the EPIS list will also apply in racetracks, mobile betting agencies and bookstores. Cafes will not be affected.
Concretely, a player who wishes to place bets in a bookstore will have to enter an identification document into the machine. This, via the computer system placed on the device, will control on the one hand, the age of the player and on the other hand, if the player is authorized to play and therefore does not appear on the EPIS list.
Compensation for victims of attacks
The House adopted the bill on compensation for victims of attacks.
Until now, there is no general coverage of victims of a terrorist attack. If the people struck on March 22, 2016 were able to be compensated or are in the process of being compensated, it is because they were able to benefit from fire insurance covering the places where the acts were committed. If they had been attacked in the street or with knives, they would only have been able to rely on subsidiary and lump-sum mechanisms.
Administrative transparency law
This law aims to respond to recommendations from Greco (the “Group of States against corruption”, the anti-corruption body of the Council of Europe) and was to enter into force on April 1, 2024. It provides for a concretization of the active publicity of the various documents of the federal administrations.
Ratings from insurance experts
Concretely, a series of information obligations will be imposed on the insurer, detailed the minister. This includes informing the policyholder in advance of the name of the insurance expert who will come to assess the damage, as well as the code of conduct to which the expert is bound and the contact details of the insurance mediator. .
The text also provides a framework defining the form and content of the reports of these experts. The policyholder will also have a reflection period of at least five working days before accepting the compensation proposal from the ‘insurer.
Furthermore, the bill removes the possibility for lenders to apply a re-employment compensation of three months of interest maximum when internally refinancing a property loan.
Time credit: it will no longer be necessary to reimburse in the event of non-compliance with the minimum duration
The text in question, tabled by the N-VA, modifies the rules for recovery of time credit, career interruption or thematic leave if it is interrupted before the expiration of the minimum duration.
Obligation of a Federal Disability Action Plan for each legislature
The Chamber adopted a bill aimed at anchoring in law the principles of adopting a Federal Disability Action Plan in each legislature, within 12 months following the installation of a new government.
New law on confidential contracts with the pharmaceutical sector
These reforms were the subject of consultation with Inami. They target, among other things, confidential contracts concluded with pharmaceutical companies on the reimbursement of certain innovative specialties. These agreements have attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to the sometimes exorbitant prices demanded by the industry.
These pharmaceutical contracts will thus be terminated immediately if the protection of the drug by a patent, for example, expires since a less expensive solution can then be found thanks to generics or biosimilars. Inami’s drug reimbursement commission will set the target price in advance, so that manufacturers of alternative drugs will have an idea of the price and will have to take fewer risks when entering the market.
Innovative therapies may also be reimbursed before the European Medicines Agency has issued a positive assessment. This will allow patients who need it to access medications more quickly.
Modification of the membership threshold for the 24-25 dento-mutualist agreement
This modification allows the agreement to enter into force, despite this very low agreement rate. Since January 1, the fees of contracted dentists have been indexed by 6.05% under this agreement.
Voluntary conditional treatment for people suffering from mental illness
The law concerns more specifically the possibility of protecting a person and those around them when this person suffers from a psychiatric disorder, presents a danger and there is no alternative.
The aim is to eliminate stigma as much as possible, use coercion as little as possible and maximize the use of alternatives to forced admission, while ensuring the safety of society.
Social status for magistrates
Supported by the Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt, this bill will allow magistrates to benefit from the same leave rights as other workers: annual vacation leave, recovery days and public holidays; special leave and exceptional leave; maternity protection; parental leave ; adoption leave, foster leave, foster parental leave, foster care leave; sick leave with the possibility of performing reduced work for medical reasons and completing a reintegration process; carer’s leave; part-time exercise of the function from the age of 57 or 60.
A bill aimed at better securing ports
The text notably validates the establishment of the “central point of contact”, called “PortWatch”, for any suspicious situation in the country’s port areas, a new tool in the fight against organized crime, according to the authorities. With a simple and anonymized form, they hope to make it easier to report any suspicious behavior, by truck drivers for example.
The bill also extends the scope of maritime security legislation to certain parts of inland navigation, as well as to businesses with an impact on maritime security.
Amendment to the Passenger Data Act (PNR)
The court considered that the collection and processing of PNR data was only permitted for the fight against terrorism and serious forms of crime, and only if there is an objective link with the transport concerned.
The bill adopted Thursday therefore adapts the legislation to this ruling. As a result of this, occasional searches in the PNR database were seriously hampered, for example for the public prosecutor’s office, and even became downright impossible for the other competent services within the passenger information unit. , noted CD&V group leader Servais Verherstraeten.
