Clémentine Forissier

1 week ago | leuropeennedebruxelles.com | Clémentine Forissier

Belgium’s insurance ombudsman opened more than 8,300 cases last year concerning problems arising between a customer and an insurance company, its new annual report has revealed. The number of complaints about insurance firms is similar to the number recorded in 2023. In almost a third of cases, customers said insurance companies were not sufficiently available and that handling times were too long, particularly for motor and fire insurance claims.

1 week ago | leuropeennedebruxelles.com | Clémentine Forissier

Belgium’s population grew by 0.52% last year, bringing the total to 11.82 million, according to newly released official figures from national statistics office Statbel. This population growth is attributed to an increase in migration, which exceeded the number of people leaving Belgium. The growth offsets the negative natural balance (-3,879) resulting from the number of deaths exceeding the number of births.

1 week ago | leuropeennedebruxelles.com | Clémentine Forissier

No passenger flights will depart from Brussels Airport on Wednesday 25 June due to a strike, with disruptions to arriving flights also expected. The disruption is part of a broader nationwide pan-industry day of strike action that is also likely to affect public transport, schools and other public services.

1 week ago | leuropeennedebruxelles.com | Clémentine Forissier

American credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded the rating for the Brussels region from A+ to A with a negative outlook. The rating downgrade was expected, Bruzz reports, as the rating was already downgraded from AA- to A+ (on a scale ranging from AAA to D) last March. At the time, the Brussels government promised to keep the debt ratio below 210% and to follow a budgetary path to eliminate the structural deficit of €1.5 billion in the long term.

1 week ago | leuropeennedebruxelles.com | Clémentine Forissier

Between 75,000 and 110,000 residents and represenatives from trade unions, youth organisations, cultural centres and associations joined a protest on Sunday in support of Palestine. The participants wore red to symbolically draw a line against Israel’s violence in Gaza, Bruzz reports. “The message was loud and clear: war crimes must not go unpunished, aid must not be blocked, impunity must end,” said 11.11.11, one of more than 100 organisations behind the demonstration.