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Belgium: Constitutional Court restores the possibility of financial assistance for asylum applicants in exceptional circumstances
On 21 May 2026, the Belgian Constitutional Court delivered its judgment no. 66/2026 . The case concerned legislative amendments to the asylum reception regime introduced by two Laws of 14 July 2025: (i) the limitation of material assistance for asylum applicants already benefiting from protection in another EU Member State, and (ii) the abolition of the possibility to grant reception in the form of financial assistance in exceptional circumstances. In its previous judgment no. 23/2026, the Constitutional Court suspended both measures and referred a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union. In the present judgment, the Court ruled only on the second measure, while the first measure remains pending before the Court of Justice.
The Court recalled that Directive 2013/33/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (the recast Asylum Procedures Directive (rAPD)) grants Member States a margin of discretion as regards the form and level of reception provided to asylum applicants, including the possibility to only provide material reception in accommodation centres. It held that where the system is saturated and there is no place available in reception centres, or where material assistance is unavailable or inadequate, the exclusion of any possibility of financial assistance creates a risk of substantial impairment of the right to human dignity. Therefore, the contested provisions would constitute a breach of EU law.
The Court further held that the abolition of financial assistance in exceptional circumstances resulted in a significant and unjustified deterioration in the level of protection of the rights to human dignity, social assistance and adequate housing under Article 23 of the Constitution. It also found that the measure was incompatible with the right to respect for private and family life under Article 22 of the Constitution.
The Court therefore annulled the provisions abolishing the possibility to provide asylum applicants s with reception in the form of financial assistance in exceptional circumstances.