Protest continues against ruling on police retirement age

Police unions have warned the government to expect “tough action”, including protests during this week’s European summit in Brussels, after the failure of talks with the new federal interior minister, Jan Jambon.

The action is the latest stage in the police protest against a ruling by the Constitutional Court which declared unlawful an agreement made with the last federal government – and ratified by the new government in its governing accord – covering early retirement for police officers. The court said the agreement was discriminatory, a decision which placed police officers back on a par with other government employees, who may not retire before the age of 62.

In a meeting with Jambon, unions heard how the government is considering a plan that would allow older officers to take up jobs more suitable to their age, in order to more easily bridge the time until they reach 62. Alternatively, a system could be worked out that would reduce the minimum retirement age to 58.

Both unions and government described this week’s meeting as “constructive”, and talks will continue on 12 November. However, unions said they had not yet received sufficient assurances from the minister, so protest action would continue.

“The government has recognised that this is a difficult job, but we are still waiting to see exactly what the new framework will look like, and which conditions can still be changed,” said Vincent Houssin of the VSOA union. “We still don’t know what mandate the minister has been given.”

Meanwhile, an EU summit is due to take place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, and some action is expected from traffic police who escort the vehicles of the heads of state and government attending, as well as police ensuring security at meeting places.

Photo: Police face protesters at a previous EU summit in Brussels. Photo by Belga