2023-07-19 19:35:00
The bill on compensation for victims of terrorism will not finally be voted on before the end of the trial of the attacks of March 22, still in progress before the Assize Court. The text, which was to be approved on Wednesday in a plenary session of the chamber, was sent back to the Council of State. The administrative jurisdiction will examine in particular amendments tabled by deputies of the opposition.
The text is carried by the Minister of the Economy Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS) with the Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) and the Secretary of State for Consumer Protection Alexia Bertrand (Open VLD). He has already had a somewhat bumpy ride.
This is a delicate matter from a human point of view, as shown by the hearings of victims of the attacks of March 22, 2016 before the Assize Court. Many victims pointed out the multiplicity of interlocutors and the obstacle course they endured during their contacts with insurance companies. They also pointed out the multiplicity of expertise to which they must submit.
Compensation for the victims of the attacks is a real labyrinth: “Some felt abandoned by the State”
A text immediately criticized
On February 1, when the House Economics Committee began examining the bill, there was plenty of criticism of the text, which led the government to revise its copy.
It was then decided to put an end to the difference made between victims residing in Belgium and others and to extend the period within which a claim for compensation must be submitted from 5 years to 10 years. Another correction: reference was now made to the creation of a one-stop shop which should guide victims and prevent them from having to deal with a multitude of interlocutors, whether with regard to insurance companies or social security bodies .
The main criticism, however, related to the non-creation of a guarantee fund specially dedicated to compensating victims. This was the main request of the associations of victims of March 22, 2016. Yet this was one of the recommendations – voted unanimously – of the parliamentary commission of inquiry “attacks of March 22, 2016”.
The Minister had defended the choice not to create such a fund, considering that this solution would require significant resources as well as expertise that the insurance sector already has.
The two associations of victims of March 22, V-Europe and Life4Brussels, defended the creation of a guarantee fund. But, notes Philippe Vansteenkiste, president of V-Europe, it was a question of moving forward. He welcomes the fact that a single point of contact, where the associations will be integrated, has been created.
”The text does not resolve the many problems encountered by the victims, including the multiplicity and complexity of the procedures. These problems should have been solved by the creation of a guarantee fund, as recommended by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Attacks”, stresses Life4Brussels.
The association has a second criticism. It thus deplores that, as the text currently stands, there is no transitional provision allowing victims of the attacks of 22 March 2016 who were unable to submit claims for compensation within the time limits set, to be compensated. “If most of these victims did not take such steps, it is because they were unaware of their rights, for lack of having been informed of them by the Belgian State”, recalls the association.
One of the amendments, tabled by MP Georges Dallemand (Les Engagés), relates in particular to an extension of this limitation period for claims for compensation.
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