The affair is causing a stir at the moment: Prince Laurent believes that he is working for the monarchy as a self-employed person and that he therefore has the right to join the social status of self-employed workers.
A salary endowment, not so astronomical as that
The Prince is entitled to a global allocation of around EUR 400,000 per year. But, contrary to what we have read or heard, he does not have the entire amount at his disposal, which is divided into two parts.
The first part of this allowance is explicitly defined by law as a "salary": it is a salary, paid in return for the numerous representation services that the Prince performs for the monarchy. This part amounts to 100,000 EUR gross per year and is taxable (and taxed) as self-employed income. In the end and after tax, the Prince keeps around 60,000 EUR as "pocket salary", to support himself and his family.
The other part of the endowment, of approximately EUR 300,000, is an "envelope" available to cover the Prince's significant professional expenses: salaries of his staff, administration and secretarial work, office, numerous trips, driver, gifts, entertainment and restaurant expenses, etc. The Prince does not dispose of it freely and must always produce adequate supporting documents. It is therefore out of the question for him, for example, to use this money to build up savings, make a property purchase or even take out private insurance (health care, life insurance, supplementary pension, etc.).
In reality, the Prince therefore receives, for his work, approximately EUR 60,000 net per year, or EUR 5,000 net per month. This is not insignificant, of course, but it is not indecent either: it corresponds to the average salary of a senior executive in Belgium, whose remuneration fluctuates between EUR 4,000 net and EUR 8,000 net (in 2023). The difference is that the senior executive benefits, in addition to this salary, from full social security coverage. Not the Prince, nor his family...
"This is not a job"
Magritte could have painted a picture of it: to claim that the Prince's activities are not work is to honour the long surrealist tradition of our country.
Looking through his diary for the last five years, I count an average of 90 representative activities (of King Philippe, the royal family or the state) per year, or two to three per week - excluding the Covid period. Each of these activities, in the four corners of the country (in order to respect the delicate Belgian-Belgian balance), very often represents a day's travel and a few hours of preparation the day before. Do the math.
And if you think that cutting ribbons, shaking hands and listening to people at length while showing interest (real or feigned) in their activities is not work, give it a few days. I, in all honesty, wouldn't want that...
The law is clear
The regulation of the status of the self-employed is very clear: if a person carries out regular work in Belgium which provides them with remuneration subject to the self-employed tax, then this person automatically has the right to join the social status of the self-employed, to pay contributions and to receive social security cover if necessary (health care, retirement pension, survivor's pension, etc.).
I therefore think that, on this basis, INASTI has no right to decline the Prince's affiliation, nor to refuse that he pays his quarterly social security contributions. Moreover, for once a self-employed person would be happy to pay them...
Addressing the judge is an elementary right, also for a Prince
The Prince is not "attacking" the Belgian State in court, as we have read. He has not gone on a crusade against our institutions.
He simply believes that one of his rights is being violated by an administration. And in our democratic system, where arbitrariness has no place, he has the possibility of submitting the matter to the courts, which will decide. Thousands of citizens do the same every year, quite legitimately, when they are faced with an administrative decision that they consider unfair. The Prince has the right to do so, too.
Asserting a right is not a "whim"
Whatever people say, Prince Laurent is not taking legal action over trifles. He is asking that, when the difficult circumstances of life strike him - or his family - he can receive the social protection that is guaranteed to each and every one of us, from the poorest to the biggest billionaire. This right to social protection is granted by law to every Belgian resident in a non-discriminatory manner, regardless of their origin or wealth. This so-called "universal" character is the beauty of our social system and even its originality: it is almost unique in the world, in its scope and generosity.
If the Prince and his family are deprived of their right to social security, the consequences are not insignificant: obligation to finance health care coverage privately, no retirement pension if the endowment ends and, above all, in the event of the Prince's death, no survivor's pension for Claire and her children, who would find themselves deprived of the income from the endowment overnight.
Our social security system was designed so that no one is excluded. Prince Laurent is therefore right to peacefully request the benefit of a right that belongs to every working citizen. This is why I fully support him in this request.