The 19 Brussels CPASs: three authorities, one operator, three simultaneous shocks

A CPAS (public centre for social welfare) is the public operator of last resort in matters of social assistance. Its mission, set by the federal organic law of 8 July 1976, is to guarantee every person the right to lead a life in keeping with human dignity. In Brussels, nineteen CPASs coexist, one per municipality, legally distinct but all under the supervision of the Common Community Commission (Cocom).

This architecture is the Brussels-specific dimension of this dossier. The federal level defines the framework (organic law 1976, DIS law of 26 May 2002 on integration income) and finances the majority of individual assistance (RIS reimbursed proportionally, targeted subsidies, MediPrima). The Cocom exercises organic supervision via the Joint College, its Vivalis administration and the public interest body Iriscare. The Region and the municipalities complete this: triennial plan and general municipal grant (DGC), variable co-financing, and ultimately a deficit covered by the municipality to which the CPAS belongs. Three authorities, one operator, no native coordination.

This architecture explains the current friction. When the federal level withdraws a subsidy, the CPAS is the one that registers it and the municipality that pays. When the Cocom acts as supervisory authority, it has no equivalent financial lever. When the Region partially compensates, it does so via the DGC, without earmarking for the CPAS. The shocks documented below strike all three of these levels simultaneously.

The 1976 organic law defines the ordinary missions of the CPASs: RIS (integration income, a minimum income floor for persons without resources), urgent medical assistance (AMU, essential care for persons in an irregular residence situation or without open entitlements), employment placement via article 60 §7 (subsidised reintegration employment contract), specific assistance (medical cards, RIS equivalent for foreigners, debt mediation), and general social support.

The Brussels CPASs are not going through a new crisis. They are going through a crisis long documented, which is worsening under two recent federal decisions. This section sets the context without which the following sections would be unreadable.

The 2024-2029 memorandum on the financing of local authorities published by Brussels Local Powers raises the structural question: municipalities and Brussels CPASs have been absorbing cost transfers without equivalent compensation for several years. On 11 March 2026, Brulocalis, the Conference of Brussels Mayors and the Federation of Brussels CPASs published a refined study quantifying this deficit: 1.718 billion euros over 2025-2029, i.e. more than 340 million per year. The announced federal compensation would cover only 26.7% of this need, leaving municipalities, CPASs and police zones to find 1.258 billion euros on their own.

Brulocalis underlines that the impact of these federal decisions weighs more heavily on Brussels than in other regions, for three cumulative reasons: a specific social fabric (concentration of precarity, youth, immigrant-origin populations), a capital city role at the regional, national, European and international levels that multiplies missions without corresponding financial transfers, and greater regional support for the financing of Flemish municipalities by their Region. This inter-regional imbalance is a recurring structural argument in Brussels advocacy.

On the ground, CPAS presidents have been speaking since 2025 of an institution «beyond its limits». Elected in April 2025 as president of the Federation of Brussels CPASs (an entity hosted by Brulocalis), the president of the Federation, who also serves as president of the Evere CPAS, has been driving this communication and has repeatedly stated that «by the end of the year, it is impossible to find the staff for the CPASs». The tone is not militant: it is institutional and measured. But it is unusually direct.

The PAS subsidy (Participation et Activation Sociale, Social Participation and Activation) was created by the federal level in 2003. It funds, at approximately 15.5 million euros per year nationally, projects carried by CPASs along two lines: social participation and activation on the one hand, and the fight against child poverty on the other. In practice: socialisation workshops, coverage of cultural and sports activities, specific support for families in precarious situations.

The timeline of its abolition is documented. For 2024, the royal decree of 21 March 2024 had committed 15.5 million euros for the subsidy. For 2025, the federal budget reduced the envelope to approximately 11.8 million euros (a cut of approximately 30%). From 1 January 2026, the subsidy was abolished entirely. The local press reported the decision (RTBF, BX1, 21news, Guide Social) as a «major and brutal social regression» according to the Brussels CPASs.

The Brussels CPASs radically dispute the federal justification. In their view, the special laws governing the distribution of powers clearly place general social welfare and the integration income framework via CPASs within federal competence. Several Brussels CPASs filed an annulment application before the Council of State at the end of 2025. The proceedings were ongoing at the time of drafting, with no public hearing date.

The context for this abolition is broader: in autumn 2025, the federal level had also abolished the subsidies for the Grand Froid plan, another federal arrangement channelled through CPASs and adjacent actors (notably Samusocial). For front-line operators, these decisions form a series of cuts rather than an isolated adjustment.

The federal unemployment reform, carried by the «Arizona» government, entered into force on 1 January 2026. It limits the duration of unemployment benefits to one or two years depending on individual profiles. The legal basis was built in two stages: the programme law of 18 July 2025 (main framework), then the law of 17 November 2025 on compensation paid to CPASs, whose royal decree of 7 January 2026 set the entry into force at 1 January 2026 (published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 19 January 2026; with an exception for article 5, 1° on the PIIS subsidy, whose modifications apply only from 1 January 2028). For profiles distant from the labour market, the end of benefits leads to an automatic transfer to the RIS, and therefore to the CPAS of the municipality of residence.

The exclusion timetable in Brussels

The federal government phased the exclusions in several waves. For 2026, ONEM transmitted to Brulocalis (Federation of Brussels CPASs) the following timetable for the Brussels Region:

A further wave will be added on 1 July 2027, bringing the total ONEM projection to 40,775 persons (the 35,799 of 2026 representing 88% of the total). These figures replace in this dossier the vaguer range («between 32,000 and 42,000») that the press had projected in summer 2025 based on estimates prior to the finalisation of the law.

An additional layer entered into force on 1 March 2026: a legislative change requiring CPASs to take into account the income of certain cohabitants (partner, adult children, ascendants) when calculating the RIS. In the absence of a known income, a monthly flat rate of 240 € applies. The Schaerbeek CPAS, like other Brussels CPASs, introduced weekly dedicated sessions for unemployment exclusion cases to absorb the influx and explain the new framework.

The announced compensation: two official figures in tension

The federal government and the Court of Auditors do not agree on the real cost of the reform for CPASs. The Court of Auditors, in its 2026 report on the draft budget, explicitly challenged the federal compensation calculation, finding the envelope to be underestimated. The compensation decision taken by the government on 19 September 2025 and the law of 17 November 2025 provide, at the national level:

The actual disbursement of the 26 million advance payment for 2025 took place on 21 January 2026 (royal decree of 18 January, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 26 January). This compensation, voted in the Chamber Finance Committee on 10 December 2025, is intended to cover part of the increased workload linked to the arrival of new beneficiaries.

For the detailed mechanics of the ONEM-to-RIS transfer and the cascading effect on BIM status, see the BIM dossier.

The operational response: 2,000 posts to fill, including 550 in Brussels

To absorb this influx, CPASs need to recruit at pace. According to Guide Social (article of 27 January 2026), approximately 2,000 posts need to be filled nationally, including 550 in Brussels, a figure consistent with the Brulocalis projection (306 social workers + 245 administrative staff = 551). Brussels-City CPAS alone announces a dedicated effort: 500,000 € of budget to strengthen social worker teams, 800 article 60 §7 activations in 2026, three new local offices, 3,550 new beneficiaries expected and 6,000 persons supported over the year (sources: Brussels-City CPAS; budget 2025 presentation to the municipal council). Wallonia and Flanders announce comparable proportional efforts.

The timeline is short and the social work labour market is already tight: social workers are among the critical occupations in the Brussels Region.

Legal proceedings: two fronts pending before the Constitutional Court

Two distinct proceedings are challenging the unemployment reform before the Constitutional Court.

On one side, in summer 2025, the CPASs of Saint-Gilles, Forest, Mons and Andenne joined a municipal challenge against the programme law of 18 July 2025. On the other, on 29 October 2025, a coalition of fourteen ASBLs (including the Belgisch Netwerk Armoedebestrijding/BAPN, the Ligue des familles, the Ligue des droits humains, Soralia, Vie féminine), four unincorporated associations and nine unemployed individuals, backed by the joint trade union front (CSC, FGTB, CGSLB), filed an annulment application together with a suspension request.

The Constitutional Court ruled on the suspension request in its ruling no. 11/2026 of 15 January 2026: the suspension was rejected, on the grounds that the applicants had not demonstrated the existence of a «risk of serious harm that is difficult to repair» sufficient to suspend the immediate application of the law. The articles challenged are essentially articles 142 (insertion allowance reduced from 36 to 12 months), 169 (duration of unemployment benefits) and 207, 209, 212 and 216 (transitional provisions). The ruling does not prejudge the merits: the annulment proceedings remain pending on both sides and no hearing date has been set for the annulment proceedings on the merits. A more thorough analysis could lead to a partial or total annulment.

On 30 June 2025, during a debate organised by CSC Brussels, the presidents of the CPASs of Saint-Gilles, Forest and Brussels-City presented their analyses publicly. The positions are divergent: the presidents of Saint-Gilles and Forest denounced the measure as «unjust, ineffective and unmanageable», while the president of Brussels-City CPAS supported the activation objective while calling for strengthened support. However, all three agreed on the operational finding: the Brussels CPASs are absorbing a shock whose execution the federal level delegated to them without controlling the timing.

The consolidated headcount of the 19 Brussels CPASs is approximately 6,500 FTEs, an order of magnitude comparable to that of the STIB or a large regional hospital.

Several trade union notes have documented since late 2024 a workload that has become unsustainable. The CGSP-ALR published in December 2024 a note alerting on the beneficiary-to-social-worker ratio and the deterioration of reception conditions. The FGTB Brussels published in April 2025 an analysis on structural under-funding and turnover. CSC Brussels held a debate with CPAS presidents on 30 June 2025 and organised a march against the «Arizona» reform on 28 April 2025.

Public attention on staff safety crystallised around an incident at Anderlecht on 25 March 2026 (a serious incident at a Brussels CPAS, already documented in the social domain card). The trade union federations and the Federation of Brussels CPASs have since then been calling for structural support and protection arrangements.

Added to this is a structural difficulty: the social worker function is in short supply in the Brussels Region. Recruiting 300 new social workers in Brussels by end 2026, when initial training produces a limited number of qualified profiles per year, requires either revising recruitment criteria (which several CPASs are considering, valuing transferable competences rather than strictly disciplinary training) or broadening entry pathways (mentoring, intensive internal training). Neither of these options is operationally neutral.

Speaking of the «Brussels CPASs» in the plural is not sufficient: between municipalities, the gap is considerable. The smallest CPAS, Koekelberg, has 88 FTEs. The largest, Brussels-City, has 1,690. This asymmetry in headcount reflects asymmetries in demand (density of precarious populations) and asymmetries in fiscal capacity (municipal tax base).

Brussels-City serves here as the reference case precisely because the municipality communicates extensively. Budget 2025 balanced at 461.6 million euros (for the CPAS alone), with a City grant of 105 million euros (up 3.5% on 2024) and 53 million euros of investment. A reinforcement plan announced in January 2026: 500,000 € additional for social worker teams, 800 article 60 §7 activations, three new local offices, 3,550 new beneficiaries expected, 6,000 persons supported over the year.

The new municipal majority following the October 2024 elections, with the CPAS under its new president since February 2025, simultaneously imposed 25 million euros of savings on the 2025 CPAS budget, notably via a sharing of cross-cutting functions between the City and the CPAS (logistics, IT). These savings form part of a broader 100 million effort at City level (sources: RTBF 5 December 2025; L'Avenir 5 December 2025). It is the most visible CPAS, but not the most representative.

More exposed to the structural shock: Anderlecht, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Saint-Gilles, Forest, Schaerbeek. Less exposed: Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Watermael-Boitsfort. The municipal BIM gradient (from 9% in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre to 48% in Molenbeek according to INAMI/AIM data, see BIM dossier) is a reliable indicator of CPAS pressure, without being the pressure itself, which also depends on the local civil society fabric and the budgetary margins of the municipality. Several Brussels CPASs, including Schaerbeek, introduced dedicated weekly sessions for unemployment exclusion cases as early as winter 2025-2026, to absorb the influx and explain the new legal framework to persons transferring from ONEM.

This dossier remains regional for now. A phase 2 plans to enrich each of the 19 municipality cards with a quantified CPAS block (budget, RIS, offices, president), once this regional dossier is published.

Five questions structure BGM monitoring. They will be updated continuously via daily monitoring and flagged in weekly digests.

1. Council of State decision on the PAS subsidy. Hearing timetable not public at time of drafting. An annulment would require the federal level to reinstate the subsidy in the budget or reclassify it; a rejection would definitively confirm the abolition and permanently shift the burden.
2. Unemployment compensation 2027-2029: adequate or not? The gap between 234 M€ and 300 M€ will be resolved within the next 18 months depending on whether the government's return-to-employment assumptions hold or not. The Court of Auditors has already challenged the federal calculation in its 2026 report on the draft budget.
3. Constitutional Court ruling on the merits. Ruling 11/2026 of 15 January 2026 rejected the suspension request but does not prejudge the merits. The annulment proceedings remain pending on both sides and no hearing date has been set. A partial or total annulment remains possible.
4. Recruitments fulfilled. The announced plan (2,000 national posts, 550 in Brussels including 306 social workers and 245 administrative staff according to Brulocalis) will be met if training and working conditions follow. Otherwise, absorption will remain theoretical.
5. Political response to the 1.7 billion requested by Brulocalis and the Conference of Mayors. Compensation covering only 26.7% of the documented need is not structurally sustainable; the Region and the federal level will need to take a position. To monitor in particular the fate of Housing First and MIRIAM, whose uncertainties Brulocalis has flagged.