Brussels – 22 July 2026. The European Commission today published a Communication entitled “A renewed commitment to protect and empower the EU’s citizens”, taking stock of the nine-year-old European Pillar of Social Rights and mapping three priority areas for the next legislature: 1) easing cost-of-living pressures, 2) preparing labour markets for artificial intelligence, and 3) reducing inequality. For global-mobility and HR teams in Belgium, the paper is more than a social manifesto. The Commission explicitly links the pillars on ‘fair working conditions’ and ‘social protection’ to the needs of the EU’s 13 million cross-border workers. It promises legislative follow-up to the recently updated coordination rules on unemployment, family and long-term-care benefits, and announces a High-Level Expert Group that will examine how AI-driven job matching and remote work can be mainstreamed without eroding portable rights. In practical terms, expatriates posted to or from Belgium can expect simpler benefit export procedures, faster electronic exchanges between the Belgian ONSS/RSZ and other Member-State institutions, and clearer rules on minimum wage top-ups when staff are seconded into Belgium’s high-cost housing market. The Commission also hints at financial support for small businesses that struggle to apply the new social-security coordination rules when they send staff abroad. The Communication reaffirms that mobility-related actions will be financed through Belgium’s share of the European Social Fund Plus and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. It further urges Member States—including Belgium, which still has shortages at its National Social Security Contact Point—to “fully deploy” the Electronic Exchange of Social-Security Information (EESSI) platform by year-end. Global-mobility specialists should therefore review assignment policies, update cost-projection tools for the upcoming changes in benefit export ceilings, and ensure HRIS systems can handle the new EESSI workflows. Belgian employers who rely heavily on third-country nationals are advised to watch for the AI expert group’s recommendations, expected in early 2027, as these could influence future Blue-Card salary thresholds and skills-matching algorithms maintained by the Flemish, Walloon and Brussels employment services.
Source: European Commission – Newsroom
