PoliticsOn Wednesday morning, the Board of Directors of the Chamber will once again consider the dossier of pension extras. To prevent the scandal from spreading even further, the Chamber is taking a number of ‘protective measures’.
For example, the current Director of Finance Brigitte De Clercq has already been banned from recent meetings about the pension file. Her name appears in notes that helped maintain the ‘illegal’ system. But it doesn’t stop there. The Management Committee of the Chamber, in other words the management of the federal parliament, which consists of a handful of MPs and top officials, is also deciding today on the further fate of Brigitte De Clercq. In the memorandum before us, which our editors have already had access to, it is proposed to place her on non-active until at least the end of May “but her absence may also be extended after this date”. De Clercq is on sick leave with full pay and will remain so for some time to come. Group leader Peter De Roover (N-VA) already urged at the end of March to keep her out of all meeting rooms, and this request now seems to have been granted.
In the meantime she is replaced by another board director – LS Who takes over the position, albeit without taking the corresponding salary increase. Spicy detail: The supposed successor to the top job, VDS, kindly declined because he/she had just submitted an application to enjoy a career-ending bonus. The latter favorable arrangement means that civil servants who work for the House can stay at home from the age of 60 (!) while retaining 70% of their salary. Serious questions have also recently arisen about the legality of this last pension perk.
LOOK. Why the House is reclaiming the pension extras, even if it costs more than it would yield
Current top officials knew about ‘illegal’ super bonus: party leaders demand their suspension (+)
Pension scandal Chamber: more than 7 million euros in benefits deliberately hidden
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