At the May Day congress, the Mouvement Réformateur devoted a central panel to employment issues, bringing together two ministers holding this key competence: Pierre-Yves Jeholet for Wallonia and David Clarinval at federal level. Together, they outlined a policy that breaks with the logic of welfare dependency and social clientelism that has for too long frozen the labour market.
From the opening of the panel, the tone was set: the MR wants to put effort, responsibility and the value of work back at the heart of public policy. No more culture of excuses, laissez-faire, or mechanisms that trap people in inactivity. The ambition is clear: to reintegrate every citizen into a professional path, without naivety but with determination.
The ministers recalled a strong measure for young people: the new possibility of working up to 650 hours a year, for 15 years, to better combine studies and employment. This much-awaited flexibility allows students to gradually enter the labour market. Another lever: the reintroduction of trial period clauses in contracts, which had previously been abolished. This will allow companies to hire young people without excluding them outright for lack of experience, giving them a real chance to secure a permanent contract after an initial trial period.
For the self-employed, another pillar of the liberal economy, a major shift in direction has been secured: retired self-employed workers can now continue working without limit, without needing a special status. This simple principle puts an end to an administrative absurdity and frees up work after retirement for those who wish to continue.
The MR's action is also marked by a far-reaching tax reform refocused on valuing work. Several billion euros will be mobilised to improve workers' purchasing power. A targeted reduction in social security contributions is also planned, with particular emphasis on SMEs to the tune of €200 million. The aim is clear: to make work more rewarding, more accessible, and to ease the burden on those who take entrepreneurial risks and create jobs.
Pierre-Yves Jeholet and David Clarinval also reaffirmed their commitment to a modernised labour market: expanding flexi-jobs into new sectors, recognising environmental overtime, and measures to support the hospitality sector. These reforms reflect a single ambition: to adapt our legislation to today's economic realities while rewarding those who commit themselves.
The May Day employment panel was a true reflection of the MR's reformist identity: a policy of responsibility, fairness and merit.
A policy that relies on freedom of enterprise, but also on concrete mechanisms to secure professional transitions, ease the integration of young people, and free work from ideological and bureaucratic constraints. A policy that turns its back on stagnation to get Belgium moving again.