Context

Non-EEA nationals need a work permit to be employed in Belgium. If their employer is situated in the European Economic Area (EEA), non-EEA employees can be exempted from a work permit for their temporary employment in Belgium within the framework of a service agreement.
According to section 2,14 of the Royal Decree of 9 June 1999 relating to the employment of foreign workers, a non-EEA national can be exempted from a work permit under the following conditions:

a) he is in possession of a regular employment contract with an employer based in the EEA and comes to Belgium within the framework of a service agreement;
b) has a right or residence permit allowing to stay more than three months in the EEA Member State of his residence;
c) is legally authorised to work in the Member State of his residence and this authorisation is at least valid for the duration of the services to be carried out in Belgium;
d) is in the service of the company for at least 6 months without any interruption;
e) has a passport and a residence permit valid for 3 months after the end of the employment in Belgium.

News

The Council of Ministers of 7 March 2008 has approved a draft Royal Decree which relaxes the conditions of the above described work permit exemption.

The condition that the employee should be in the service of the EEA employer for at least 6 months (condition d) will be abolished and the residence permit of the other EEA country should be valid until the end of the activities in Belgium and not anymore until 3 months after the end of the employment in Belgium (condition e).

This means that the scope of the work permit exemption will be enlarged. The modifications have been implemented due to a number of judgements of the European Court of Justice, which is of the opinion that the “former” conditions of the work permit exemption were an unjustified obstacle to the free movement of services.