Governance

Employment and entrepreneurship are regulated at the federal level and further supported by the Flemish Region. Both the Flemish and Federal Government have competencies related to employment policy. 

They have different responsibilities regarding this field:

• The Federal Government is in charge of labour laws, social security and the unemployment benefits. Federal level is also responsible for supervising the social dialogue. This institutional system gathers social partners (employers, employees and federal government) in order to negotiate “work conventions” in all activity sectors. They negotiate work conditions, salaries, etc. Social dialogue has an important place in the Belgian work system.

• The Regions are responsible for measures aimed at supporting employment of target groups, training, lifelong learning and local agencies for employment.

Therefore, most relevant policy domains for youth employment are:

At the Federal level:

• Federal Public Service for Employment Labour and Social Dialogue (Federale Overheidsdienst Werkgelegenheid, Arbeid en Sociaal Overleg (FOD Werkgelegenheid)), which implements the federal employment policy, including Labour Law and Social Security Legislation

• The “National Office for Employment” (de Rijksdienst voor Arbeidsvoorziening (RVA)), the public body for social security which manages the unemployment part of employee’s social security

At the Regional (Flemish) level:

• Employment and social economy policy

• Educational policy

• Youth policy

In the following we focus on the regional level and describe for each of the domains the relevant responsibilities. 

Main public bodies

Ministers in charge of Work and Social Economy

Minister Zuhal Demir (The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)) is currently the Flemish Minister for Education, Justice and Work (from 2024-2029).

Minister Hilde Crevits (Christian Democratic Party (CD&V)) is currently the Flemish Minister for Social Economy. She is also Deputy Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, Flemish Minister for Home Affairs, Urban and Rural Policy, Living Together, Integration and Civic Integration, Public Governance, and Fisheries (from 2024-2029).

Department of Work, Economy, Science, Innovation and Social Economy (WEWIS)

On January 1^st 2025, the Department of Work and Social Economy merged with the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation to form the Department of Work, Economy, Science, Innovation and Social Economy (WEWIS). WEWIS, and the domains Work and Social Economy within it, together with the Ministers of Work and Social Economy, are responsible for advice, evaluation, follow-up and coordination on policy regarding Work and Social Economy in Flanders, including youth employment/unemployment.

Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training (Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding, VDAB)

The public employment services are also organised at regional level and are in charge of counselling, job search assistance, intermediation services and training of (un)employed workers.

The Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training (VDAB) has the mission of creating for all Flemish citizens the space necessary for them to develop themselves and their careers as effectively as possible. The aim is to improve labour market functioning and promote prosperity for all. As a service provider, VDAB helps citizens to develop their careers according to market demand. VDAB cooperates strongly with other service providers and has a special focus on disadvantaged citizens. A Flemish Parliament Act in 2020 has extended the mission and tasks of VDAB and states that it also has to become the central data driven and result oriented director of employment and careers in the Flemish policy of activation for employment.

As an external autonomous agency VDAB is not directly governed by the Minister of Work but is managed by a governing board. As part of the Flemish authorities, the agency is accountable to the Flemish Government. VDAB is financed by the Government and ministers determine its policy priorities.

Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO)

VLAIO is the Flemish government's contact point for all entrepreneurs in Flanders. VLAIO supports innovation and entrepreneurship. VLAIO stimulates and facilitates an entrepreneurial spirit and the development of entrepreneurial competences of youngsters within and outside of education; it supports entrepreneurial education and learning at all levels of formal education and  supports and coordinates the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems for students (18->25 years of age) in 10 Flemish student cities.

Minister in charge of Education and Training

Minister Zuhal Demir (The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)) is currently the Flemish Minister for Education, Justice and Work (from 2024-2029).

Ministry of Education and Training

The Department of Education and Training together with the Minister in charge of Education and Training is responsible for the advice, evaluation and follow-up on education policy in Flanders.

SYNTRA Flanders

From 2004 - 2024 entrepreneurial training in Flanders has been coordinated by the Flemish Agency for Entrepreneurial Training – SYNTRA Flanders.

SYNTRA Flanders collaborated with several entrepreneurial education and training providers in Flanders, in particular with the five regional SYNTRA Training Centres. These deliver apprenticeship programmes for young people aged 15 to 25. Apprenticeship trainees gain practical experience in a work environment (four days a week) under the guidance of a tutor-supervisor and attend classes, including General Knowledge modules, at one of the Training Centres (one day a week) which complement the practical work experience. 

During the 2019-2024 policy period, SYNTRA Flanders was (gradually) abolished and the various responsibilities were transferred to WEWIS (in particular to the domains of Work and Social Economy), the Department of Education and Training, the Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training (Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding, VDAB) and Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). The term ‘SYNTRA’ currently remains in use towards the broader public (e.g. the regional SYNTRA training centres remain), but the policy responsibilities are embedded in different governmental departments and agencies. 

Minister in charge of Youth

Minister Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit) is Deputy Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, Flemish Minister for Housing, Energy and Climate, Tourism and Youth (from 2024-2029).

Thus, Melissa Depraetere is the coordinating minister for the Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan.

Department of Culture, Youth and Media

The ‘Division Youth, Media and Transversal Policy’ – embedded in the Department of Culture, Youth and Media – ensures the administrative follow-up of the Flemish policy on youth and children’s rights and is responsible for the coordination of a horizontal Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan (on leisure, education, work, equality, etc.).

Main non-public actors

Trade unions

There are three trade union confederations in Belgium, each reflecting a socio-political movement in the country. The two largest are ACV (Algemeen Vakverbond) and ABVV (Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond), affiliating with the Christian and socialist movements respectively, while the smaller ACLVB (Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België) is rooted in liberalism. Each trade union has departments in the Flemish Community.

The several trade unions in Belgium are responsible for:

• the representation of employees in wage and collective bargaining in companies and economic sectors

• defending the interests of employees

• the payment of unemployment benefits and the integration allowance

ACV, ABVV and ACLVB use the following youth structures. Each confederation has a specific department or section for youth, with union officers working solely on such issues. In the case of ACV and ABVV, there are two national representatives, for the country’s Dutch- and French-speaking parts respectively. There is also at least one regional youth representative in every province, working rather independently from the national level. This is different in the liberal trade union, which employs three national representatives, one for Brussels (part-time), one for Flanders (full-time) and one for Wallonia (part-time). Youth representatives at the regional level, in contrast, are mostly volunteers who take up this role on top of their normal functions.

Representatives of young people

The Flemish Youth Council is the official advisory council for the Flemish Government on all areas that affect children, young people and their organizations in Flanders. They ensure that the voice of children and young people reaches out to policymakers and defend the interests of youth work organizations in Flanders and Europe.

The Flemish ministers must seek the advice of the Flemish Youth Council every time they want to take decisions that have an impact on children and young people. But the Flemish Youth Council also provides advice on its own initiative. In committees, working groups and other meetings, they prepare positions and advice. Each opinion then passes through the advisory council of the Flemish Youth Council, which consists of 16 elected youth and youth work advisers. The advisers deliver the final result to the Flemish government. In this way, everyone can take into account the wishes and needs of Flemish youth and the interests of youth work. And this with one specific goal: to make policy in our country and far beyond more youth friendly. The Flemish Youth Council is supported by the support centre for youth work and youth information, secretariat of the Flemish Youth Council (De Ambrassade vzw). It has developed a specific advice concerning the topic of ‘work’.

Organizations with a special focus on young people       

Many organizations with a special focus on young people are commissioned to set up, support and monitor youth employment and entrepreneurship: the Ambrassade (support centre for youth work and youth information, secretariat of the Flemish Youth Council), nationally organized youth associations, and NGOs in the field of development co-operation. As part of the aforementioned work- and entrepreneurship-related objectives of the Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan 2020-2024, the Department of Youth subsidizes organizations, such as the umbrella organisation of open youth work initiatives (Formaat) and the cooperation for young entrepreneurs (Haven, also subsidized by VLAIO). Other organizations who pay attention to work- and entrepreneurship-related topics for young people include Group Intro (Groep Intro) and a youth organisation for young people in the cities of Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent (Jes).

General distribution of responsibilities

As outlined above, employment and entrepreneurship are regulated at the Federal level and further supported by the Flemish Region.

Cross-sectorial cooperation

In Flanders, youth employment and entrepreneurship are a joint responsibility of the Flemish Ministers of Work and Social Economy, the Flemish Minister of Education and the Flemish Minister of Youth. 

In Flanders, youth policy is a transversal policy (for more information see section 1.3 National youth strategy). This means that each ministry takes its own responsibilities and defines tasks linked to the implementation of specific goals within the Youth Policy Plan, while the Minister for Youth is in charge of overseeing the process and reporting on the Plan’s implementation to the government.

Besides the Flemish Policy Plan, the Act on Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy envisages other instruments of youth policy, such as:

• Impact assessment of new legislation on children and youth (JoKER)

• Contact points for youth and children’s rights and a coordinating administration

• Youth Progress Report