Belgian Prince loses a legal battle to receive benefits for social security at the top of the real allowance | Belgium
A Belgian prince has lost a legal battle to claim the social security benefit at the top of his real allowance, with a court that decides his request-the first of his kind in the history of almost 200 years of the country-“unfounded”.
Prince Laurent, the youngest of three children of the former king and queen, had argued that his work had the right to the coverage granted to independent entrepreneurs – and that he was acting for “principle” rather than for money.
But a Brussels court discovered on Monday that the 61 -year -old duties were more similar to those of the civil service, in which the categories of workers receive specific benefits but there is no general social security system.
A lawyer for the prince, Olivier Rijckaert, said that his client was considering whether to appeal. “We are not where we wanted to be, but the judgment is very detailed, very reasoned, I understand the reasoning,” said Rijckaert to Agence France-Presse.
In 2018, his annual state allowance was reduced by 15% for a year because he met foreign dignitaries without the approval of the federal government.
Laurent received € 388,000 (£ 333,000) last year from the state coffers and lives in his home without rent. “These are not financial means but principle,” he told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF. “When a migrant arrives here, he recorded, he has the right. I could also be a migrant, but one whose family has established the state on the spot,” he added.
The prince has not taken legal actions for a “whim”, said lawyer Rijckaert in an article in the newspaper Le Soir. Social security is “a right granted by Belgian law to every resident, from the poorest to the largest billionaire,” he said.
He said that Laurent received a salary worth only 25% of his allowance, because the rest continued to cover professional expenses including travel and wages for a staff member.
Rijckaert said that this translates into a monthly net salary for the prince of € 5,000, which is comparable to the “average salary of a senior manager in Belgium” but without the usual “complete cover of social security”.
Laurent and his British wife, Claire, have three children of 20 years now. He indicated medical costs and his concerns about the financial well -being of his family, since the real allowance will be cut when he dies.
Without the coverage of social security, Laurent cannot request a refund for certain medical expenses or the remuneration of the sick if it is unable to work.
The prince had a foundation for the welfare of animals that offers free veterinary care in clinics in the last 10 years. He said that the foundation work, together with dozens of visits that represent Belgium and participation in different advice, meant that it has an intense program.
It is not the only Belgian real to have been unhappy for the money. When King Albert II abdicated in favor of his son Philippe In 2013, after re-founding for 20 years, the ex-monarch found his € 923,000 insufficient per year.
