Living and Working in Belgium

Belgium… the of Europe

Belgium  A small federal state km 2 / Population: 10.6 million inhabitants  A multicultural society (> 8% of residents are foreign nationals  Brussels is the capital: officially recognised as the capital of Europe and the home of the key political and and decision-making institutions of the EU  3 Communities: Flemish, French and German (each with its political institutions and administration)  3 Regions: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels-Capital Region  3 Official languages: Dutch, French and German

Typical Belgian

Regional Employment Services VDAB FOREM ACTIRIS ADG

Vocational Training on Regional Level WALLONIA FrenchLE FOREM FLANDERS DutchVDAB THE BRUSSELS- CAPITAL FrenchCarrefour Formation DutchVDAB

Unemployment Rate in the 3 Regions (2008) Shortage of qualified workers Surplus of unqualified workers High Interregional Mobility

The Belgian Labour Market  Most relevant sectors –Services 72 % –Industry 26.3% –Agriculture 1.7%  Active population –Active (working) population: (on a total population of )

Some characteristics  Differences in contracts “laboureres/workers” and “employees” !!  Different languages in Belgium (Dutch, French, German)  Regulation of annual vacation days (based on prestations of the previous year)

Labour Shortages The professions suffering from a labour shortage vary from region to region Most wanted:  Engineers  Trilingual secretaries + Translators  Nurses  IT- Specialists  Plumbers / Welders  Truck drivers Licence C/E

Labour Surpluses  Fishermen  Unskilled workers (cleaners, salesmen, supply clerks,…)  Monolingual clerks  Social profit sector workers  Beauticians

Looking for work  Registration Registrate at the local municipality  Attention: As Polish citizen, you still need a work permit ! Each Belgian PES has an official list of shortages, e.g. IT, construction, health sector (employer can obtain work permit within 5 days)

Career in the EU Institutions EPSO (The European Personnel Selection Office) Address: Info-Recruitment C-80 00/ Brussels Belgium Website:

Work Experience for Graduates at the EU Institutions To give young university graduates a taste of what working for the EU is like,the Institutions organise traineeships or "stages“ each lasting 3-5 months.  The European Parliament  The Council  The Commission  Court of Justice  The Social and Economic Committee  The Committee of the Regions  The European Ombudsman

Useful links

Dziękujemy za uwagę

Questions?