That he might have to return the amount to the state is impossible in his eyes. “That money is 100 percent legal. Politicians who claim otherwise should go back to school. This compensation is stated in the budget, which has been approved by the House and published in the Staatsblad: het is a law.”
De Croo says that in the past he was in no way involved in the decision to award the extra pension to former Presidents of the House, nor in the later decision to increase that amount. “I don’t want anyone to label me as a freeloader. I worked for my money. They will not defame me”.