The Central Economic Council that has the task of submitting to the government and/or Parliament formal opinions on issues relating to the national economy and to issue twice per year a report and an opinion on the competitiveness of Belgian enterprises has predicted that the pay gap with the three biggest neighbours will fall to +3.8% during 2014. Normally these predictions serve as a basis for determining the so-called ‘wage norm’, or the percentage that private sector wages are allowed to rise. In 2013, the wage norm has not been applied, as an agreement between management and unions across the private sector did not allow for wage increases above the rate of inflation.
English: http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/Economy ...
Focus on the Central Economic Council: http://www.ccecrb.fgov.be/txt/en/2011182_1.pdf
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/BELGIUM ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.