Activa.brussels abolished: the end of a 27M EUR/year employment subsidy

What is Activa.brussels?

Activa.brussels is the main regional employment subsidy scheme, managed by Actiris, established by decree of the Brussels-Capital Region government of 14 September 2017. It combines two components:

• A work allowance paid to the employer, which can be deducted from the worker's net salary — the worker's net pay itself stays unchanged, with part of the cost covered by the payment institution. The standard amount is 15,900 EUR over 30 months (350 EUR/month for 6 months, 800 EUR/month for 12 months, then 350 EUR/month for 12 months). An enhanced amount of 23,400 EUR over 36 months applies to the "Plus" and "reduced capacity" groups: under-30s without an upper-secondary diploma, people aged 57 and over, or people with disabilities.
• A training incentive, on top, of up to 5,000 EUR to offset training costs for a low-skilled young worker.

The average cost per beneficiary was about 2,741 EUR per year in 2021, according to the reference evaluation (IDEA Consult, see below).

History: from the federal Activa Plan (2002) to Brussels regionalisation (2017)

The scheme traces back to the federal Activa Plan, created by Royal Decree of 19 December 2001 (in force from 1 January 2002), which already combined a reduction in employer contributions with activation of unemployment benefits.

Following the 6th State Reform (2011-2014), employment policy — and with it the Activa Plan — was transferred from the federal level to the Regions. The Brussels Region (like the Flemish Region) kept the tool, regionalising it under the name "Activa.brussels", effective 1 October 2017.

Who is it for? Conditions and portability

Two eligibility tracks coexist:

• Standard Activa.brussels: domiciled in the Brussels-Capital Region and registered with Actiris for at least 312 days over the 18 months preceding hiring (with exceptions: under-30s without an upper-secondary diploma, people aged 57+, exiting an article 60/61 contract, etc.). The contract must be at least half-time, of indefinite duration or at least 6 months.
• Activa.brussels "reduced capacity": Brussels domicile and registered with Actiris for at least 1 day, with certified reduced work capacity.

An important point for understanding the 2026 debates: the scheme is portable. The Brussels jobseeker holds the certificate and can use it with any private-sector employer, in Brussels, Flanders or Wallonia. The public sector only has access for certain categories (autonomous public enterprises, CPAS/OCMW, municipalities, provinces).

Timeline of the abolition (2026)

This process follows an earlier announcement: the ACS dossier already mentioned, on 16 April 2026, confirmation of this abolition when the adjusted 2026 Actiris budget was adopted.

Why the abolition? Official rationale and a point of caution

The official rationale, presented in Parliament by MP Moussa Diallo (Les Engagés) and reported identically by RTBF, BX1, La DH and L'Avenir, is as follows: the scheme's evaluation reportedly revealed significant limitations in effectiveness, targeting of beneficiaries, and lasting contribution to employment, as well as windfall effects. Employment Minister Laurent Hublet (Les Engagés) said he was working "in consultation with social partners" on the matter.

Point of caution. A separate statement by Florence Lepoivre (FGTB Brussels), reported by BX1 as early as 30 March 2026, referred to "a study" allegedly showing that Activa premiums "did not benefit Brussels residents." This claim is neither echoed by the government in its official July communication, nor confirmed by the only identified public institutional evaluation on the subject: the IDEA Consult report (March 2023, commissioned by Brussels Economy and Employment). That report instead documents a 31% windfall effect for Activa.brussels — one of the lowest among Brussels employment aid schemes (versus 63% for the 57+ reduction and 62% for the Mentor Premium) — and it is that other measure, the 57+ reduction, which the report documents as having a high share of beneficiaries domiciled outside Brussels (44.8% in 2021), not Activa. BGM can therefore neither confirm nor rule out a possible mix-up between the two schemes in the March 2026 union statement.

Impact: a widely used measure, but high non-take-up

According to the IDEA Consult evaluation (2021 data, as an order of magnitude to situate the scheme):

• Activa.brussels reached 35.1% of Brussels jobseekers benefiting from an employment aid scheme — the 2nd most-used measure after the 57+ reduction
• It reached 42.5% of businesses benefiting from a Brussels employment aid scheme — the most-used measure on the employer side
• Only 12.8% of jobseekers holding a certificate actually activated it that year, a sign of significant non-take-up

In 2025, the last full year before abolition, the scheme counted 9,447 individual beneficiaries at a regional cost of about 27 million EUR.

Not found: none of the sources consulted explicitly link the abolition of Activa to the rise in CPAS/OCMW registrations observed by Actiris in June 2026 (+83.5% year-on-year, see the Employment domain card). BGM does not draw this link unless it is documented by a source.

Sector reactions

• UCM Brussels (Julie Lambotte) called for particular vigilance for SMEs and micro-businesses during the transition.
• Horeca Brussels (Matthieu Léonard) initially feared an immediate halt to new rights; the sector says it obtained a transition period, with new rights for new sector hires ending on 15 July 2026.
• FGTB Brussels (Florence Lepoivre) describes the Activa abolition as "perhaps the least problematic measure" in the 2026 employment savings package, while maintaining broader reservations about regional budget constraints (see the ACS dossier).

The 2027 replacement scheme

The government is announcing a new scheme that will be "better targeted, simpler and more effective" (Minister Hublet's wording), fitting into the regional goal of a 70% employment rate by the end of the legislature (see the Employment domain card).

Timeline: methodology agreed with social partners on 4 June 2026, framework note adopted 14 June, formal opinion requested from social partners, draft ordinance expected at first reading in September 2026, then submitted to Actiris's management committee.

Not found: no concrete details on the content of the future scheme (amounts, precise target group, mechanism) could be confirmed beyond these ministerial statements. Unofficial leads circulate in specialised press but are not treated here as established facts.

Issues to watch

• Content of the new scheme: the draft ordinance expected in September 2026 will clarify amounts, target group and mechanism
• Sector transition: monitor the Horeca transition period (new rights ending 15 July 2026) and SME support
• CPAS/OCMW link: to be monitored, with no causal link established at this stage, the evolution of Brussels CPAS/OCMW registrations (+83.5% in June 2026) relative to the phase-out of Activa
• Consistency of the public narrative: the exact attribution of "domiciled outside Brussels" (FGTB vs. government, Activa vs. 57+ reduction) would benefit from official clarification