The Walloon Government has adopted, at first reading, the preliminary draft framework decree organising the integration of employment support schemes into sectoral policies.
The APE scheme will be abolished on 1 January 2027.
A decisive step in the reform of the APE scheme, with a clear ambition: to put an end to a system that had become illegible and to build a more coherent, more targeted and more effective employment support system.
For the Minister of Employment, Pierre-Yves Jeholet:
“With this framework decree, we are clearly taking action. We are putting an end to a system that had become illegible, in order to build a fairer, simpler and more effective model.
Our direction is clear: to restore coherence to public action and ensure that employment support truly serves employment.
It is a reform of responsibility, setting demanding rules for less fragmentation, more clarity and greater impact.”
Putting an end to an outdated system
The APE scheme will be abolished on 1 January 2027.
Originally designed as employment aid, it gradually became a structural funding mechanism, without sufficiently targeting people far removed from the labour market.
The reform therefore aims to align employment support with the realities of the sectors and, through the reform of the single hiring incentive, to refocus employment policy on those who really need it.
Clear rules for all sectors
The framework decree sets a common direction and imposes simple principles:
- Transparency: annual publication of a register of beneficiaries;
- Fairness: allocation of support based on objective and verifiable criteria;
- Simplification: no more scattered mechanisms, funds will be pooled into sectoral schemes, to improve clarity and efficiency;
- Sustainable support for the sectors by keeping subsidies exclusively allocated to workers' remuneration;
- Accountability: regular evaluation of the schemes and correction mechanisms in case of deviations.
This framework guarantees a clearer, fairer and more effective use of public funds.
Guaranteed funding, distribution being finalised
Thanks to the new register of beneficiaries currently being finalised, and in consultation with employers' representatives, the distribution of funding envelopes among the various functional policies will be set during the budget conclave for the 2027 budget. This distribution will continue to apply in subsequent years, ensuring the sustainability of support for the various operators selected on the basis of the above principles.
This method guarantees a distribution based on updated and transparent data, while ensuring continuity of employment support.
A gradual and secure transition
The reform will be implemented gradually:
- Transfer of funds from 2027;
- Transitional period until 2029, if necessary, during which the list and amounts for current beneficiaries will remain unchanged, subject to compliance with applicable regulations. The Forem will ensure, if necessary, continuity of payments during this phase;
- Once the functional Minister receives the funds, a possible phasing-in, spread over a maximum period of six years, is planned to ensure the transition between the current distribution and the revised distribution based on the aforementioned objective criteria.
Each employer concerned will be informed individually to ensure a transparent and controlled transition.
A joint initiative with the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, in clarity and responsibility
The reform will be accompanied by a cooperation agreement with the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
The aim: to apply the same logic across all sectors, whether they fall under regional or community competences.
For Minister Jeholet:
“This reform will guarantee lasting support for sectors that matter to all French-speakers, while always maintaining an essential link with employment. This is a budget of more than 1.2 billion that will finally be distributed in an objective and transparent way, putting an end to so many years of unfair support for operators in sectors essential to our society.”