Royal family members without an allowance may pursue a military career
Official title: Wetsontwerp tot wijziging van diverse bepalingen betreffende het statuut van de leden van de koninklijke familie.
Status: Parliament has approved this proposal. (parliament: ‘Adopted by the Chamber’)
In plain language
- Members of the royal family who do not receive a public allowance (dotation) will be allowed to pursue a career in the Belgian armed forces. They will not receive a salary during basic training, and their military status will end automatically if they ever receive an allowance in the future.
- This directly applies to princes and princesses without an allowance who wish to serve in the military, such as Prince Gabriel, and to the armed forces.
- Nothing changes in your daily life, and royal candidates will not take away recruitment spots from other applicants.
Automatically summarised (gemini-3.8-flash). AI can make mistakes: if in doubt, read the official text.
From proposal to law
- Submitted 10 August 2026
- Approved by parliament 22 October 2026
- Given royal assent by the government not yet
- Published in the Belgian Official Journal not yet
- In force not yet
After the vote, the government (or, for a European law, the Council) still has to sign the proposal. Then it appears in the official journal. This usually takes a few weeks; we check every day.
How parliament voted
Passed on 22 October 2026111 for · 15 against · 1 abstention(s)
A parliamentary group is the group of members of parliament from one party. For each group, you can see how many members voted for or against, or abstained.
- For
- Against
- Abstain
- Dot: party colour
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N-VA Voted for
21 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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MR Voted for
17 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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VB Voted against
0 for · 15 against · 0 abstentions
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Les Engagés Voted for
14 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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PVDA-PTB Voted for
12 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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Vooruit Voted for
12 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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cd&v Voted for
10 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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PS Divided
9 for · 0 against · 1 abstention
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Anders. Voted for
8 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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Ecolo-Groen Voted for
6 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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DéFI Voted for
1 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions
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Onafhankelijk Voted for
1 for · 0 against · 0 abstentions