12 JUIN 2002. - An Act to amend the laws on the employment of languages in administrative matters, coordinated on July 18, 1966 (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. An article 43ter , written as follows, is inserted in the laws on the use of languages in administrative matters coordinated on 18 July 1966:
"Art. 43ter. § 1^er. The provisions of this section apply to central departments of centralized federal public services, except for departments to which the provisions of section 43 remain applicable.
§ 2. Whenever the nature of the business and the number of officers warrant it, central departments are grouped into Dutch and French branches, offices and sections.
§ 3. All jobs, except for the job of the Chairman of the Steering Committee if the number of jobs corresponding to management functions and the equivalent jobs are odd, are divided between two frameworks: a Dutch framework and a French framework.
All agents are registered on a linguistic role: the Dutch role or the French role.
§ 4. The King determines for each central service, for a maximum of six years, renewable if there is no change, the percentage of jobs to be allocated to the Dutch framework and to the French framework, taking into account, at each linguistic level, the importance of the Dutch language region and the French language region respectively for each service.
However, the jobs corresponding to the management functions, except for the use of the Chairman of the Directon Committee if the number of jobs is odd, and the equivalent jobs are divided between the two linguistic frameworks in percentages equal to each language level.
In addition, all the positions of Chair of the Steering Committee are allocated as equal percentages to the French language framework and the Dutch language framework on the understanding that, in the event that horizontal services are created within centralized federal public services, at least one of these positions as Chair of the Steering Committee must be attributed to the other linguistic role.
However, when the total number of jobs of chair of the Steering Committee is odd, the employment of delegated administrator of the SELOR - selection office of the Federal Authority is counted in order to obtain an equal number of jobs. The number thus reached is equal to the French language framework and the Dutch language framework.
For the purposes of the above rules, the King determines the various jobs that constitute the same linguistic degree.
Proposals for the distribution of employment between language frameworks are submitted to the Standing Committee on Language Control.
Each service forwards its proposal to the Standing Committee on Language Control within one month of the expiration of the sixth year. The Commission shall render its opinion no later than three months from the receipt of the proposed distribution of jobs. This is a deadline. This procedure does not affect the new six-year period.
After consultation with the same commission, the King may, by a reasoned and deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers, derogate from the rule of distribution of jobs corresponding to management functions and equivalent jobs, in favour of central services whose functions or activities are of unequal interest to the French-language region and the Dutch-language region.
By derogation from the preceding paragraphs, the replacement provided for in section 5 of the Act of 10 April 1995 on the redistribution of work in the public sector is carried out in the same linguistic proportion as that applicable to staff of the central service in the same function.
§ 5. If imposed, officers undergo their admission examination in French or Dutch, following that the required degree, the required certificate of study or the declaration of the school director attests that they have been educated in any of these languages unless they are shown by a screening of such a good knowledge of the other language as well as the Vehcular language of their studies.
The linguistic regime of the admission examination determines the linguistic role to which agents are assigned. In the absence of such a review, the assignment is determined by the language that according to the required degree, the required certificate of study or the declaration of the school principal was the vehicular language of the studies.
Candidates who, abroad, have studied in a language other than French or Dutch and who are prevalent in an equivalence of diplomas or certificates of study recognized by law, undergo the examination of admission in French or Dutch to the choice. If the appointment is not preceded by an admission examination, the knowledge of the language of the role, to which the interested person wishes to be affected, is determined by a preliminary examination.
Candidates who have studied in the German Language Region may present their admission examination in German provided that they are also subject to a review of the knowledge of French or Dutch, as they wish to be assigned to the French role or the Dutch role.
The shift from one role to another is prohibited, except in the event of a manifest error during assignment.
Promotion examinations take place in the language of the role to which recipients are assigned.
§ 6. Promotions and designations take place by framework.
§ 7. In order to be able to assess officers of the other language role, the officer must first provide proof, before a review board established by the delegated administrator of SELOR - Bureau de Sélection de l'Administration fédérale, of the knowledge of the second language, adapted to the nature of the task, namely the exercise of the evaluation task. This examination includes, in this order, on the one hand, a test concerning the oral expression of the second language and, on the other, a test concerning the understanding of the writing and the ability to control the content of a text, written in this second language. The officers who passed the examination referred to in § 5, paragraph 1 shall be exempted from this examination.^erFine.
In order to be able to perform a management function, the candidate must, no later than six months after his or her appointment, provide proof of the knowledge of the second language referred to in the preceding paragraph.
This functional knowledge of the other language adapted to the assessment is therefore an active and passive oral knowledge and passive written knowledge of that language. This knowledge aims to improve communication and collaboration between management, the evaluator and its employees.
By derogation from Article 39, § 1^er, evaluators and management function holders may use translators in centralized federal public services to prepare any document related to the evaluation of an agent.
To perform a task that must ensure the unity of jurisprudence, officers must also provide, in advance, evidence of the knowledge of the second language referred to in paragraph 1^er, proof of knowledge, adapted to a task, which must maintain the unity of jurisprudence, and this before a review board constituted by the delegated administrator of SELOR - Bureau de Sélection de l'Administration fédérale. This implies evidence of knowledge of administrative and legal vocabulary in this second language. A syllabus is made available for this purpose by SELOR - Bureau de Sélection de l'Administration fédérale. The officers who passed the examination referred to in § 5, paragraph 1 shall be exempted from this examination.^er, fine.
The King determines, by a deliberate decree in the Council of Ministers, for each centralized federal public service, the functions that maintain the unity of jurisprudence.
The conditions and program of the review referred to in paragraph 1^er and paragraph 5, together with the composition of the review board referred to in paragraph 1^er and paragraph 5 are determined by a Royal Decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers.
Until the entry into force of this paragraph, the examination referred to in Article 43, § 3, paragraph 3, shall be as proof of the knowledge of the second language referred to in paragraph 1^er and 5.
§ 8. The King shall establish, by a reasoned and deliberate order in the Council of Ministers, transitional measures in favour of officers who are in service on the date of the effect of this article. However, these transitional measures may not exceed five years from the date of entry into force of § 7.
For the application of § 4, by means of a transitional provision, the jobs of agents who are transferred to centralized federal public services and who have a rank in rank 13, 15, 16 and 17 are considered to be equivalent to management functions.
Agents who in accordance with Article 43, § 3, paragraph 3, Article 43, § 4, paragraph 1^er, in fine or Article 46, § 4 provided evidence of the knowledge of the second language referred to in these paragraphs or that paragraph, before the date on which § 7 comes into force, are exempted from the examinations referred to in § 7, paragraph 1^er and 5.
The Career Officers of the Foreign Service and Careers of the International Cooperation Officers of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs who have successfully completed the linguistic examination conducted under Article 47, § 5, second paragraph, are exempted from the examinations referred to in § 7, paragraph 1^er and 5. "
Art. 3. An article 44bis, as follows, is inserted in the same laws:
"Art. 44bis . - By derogation from section 44, the provisions of section 1^re, with the exception of section 43, are applicable to the delivery services of centralized federal public services whose headquarters are located in Brussels-Capital and whose activity extends to the entire country. "
Art. 4. An article 46bis, as follows, is inserted in the same laws:
"Art. 46bis . - By derogation from Article 46, § 1^er and without prejudice to the requirements of section 46, paragraphs 2 to 6, the provisions of section 1^re, with the exception of section 43, are applicable to the delivery services of centralized federal public services whose headquarters are located outside Brussels-Capital and whose activity extends to the entire country.
Upon entry into force of Article 43ter , § 7, the knowledge of the second language referred to in Article 43ter , § 7, paragraph 1^er is considered to be sufficient knowledge of the second language referred to in Article 46, §§ 4 and 5. "
Art. 5. An article 53bis, as follows, is inserted in the same laws:
"Art. 53bis . - The competent authority shall, in consultation with SELOR - Bureau de Sélection de l'administration fédérale, organize the appropriate training that is necessary in order to obtain proof of the required language proficiency in these coordinated laws. A staff member who is enrolled in a language examination may follow the training, adapted to this examination. The periods of absence, justified by participation in these trainings, are equivalent to a service activity. "
Art. 6. Article 61, § 4, of the same laws, paragraph 2 is supplemented as follows:
"It must also assess the adequacy of the content of the review with the nature of the function or the task that the holder of the position will perform and for which these coordinated laws impose the required linguistic fitness. It is assisted by a representative of each registered association for this purpose and whose social purpose is to defend the rights of their affiliates with regard to the use of languages in administrative matters. It organizes, for this evaluation, a survey assessment. The results of the evaluation are mentioned in the detailed report referred to in section 62, paragraph 2. The Commission may make the necessary recommendations in this regard. "
Art. 7. Article 69, as follows, is inserted in the same laws:
"Art. 69. - Federal police personnel and personnel listed in section 235 of the Act of 7 December 1998 organizing an integrated, two-tiered police service, which operate in an integrated, two-tiered police service, where a certain knowledge of another language is required by these coordinated laws, retain their employment during the period determined by a Royal Decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, even if they do not demonstrate that. Over the years, they will have to meet the requirements of linguistic knowledge.
The period referred to in paragraph 1^er is up to five years and may differ depending on whether it is a member of the operational framework or a staff member of the administrative and logistical framework of the police services.
Services in which police personnel referred to in paragraph 1^er perform a function, shall be organized in such a way that, in accordance with these coordinated laws, it may be made use of French, Dutch or German in relations with the public. "
Art. 8. Article 70, as follows, is inserted in the same laws:
"Art. 70. - Article 43ter , § 7, these coordinated laws come into force on the date fixed by royal decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers. "
Art. 9. This Act produces its effects on 1^er April 2001.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed in the Seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 12 June 2002.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of the Interior,
A. DUQUESNE
Minister of Public Service and Modernization of Administration,
L. VAN DEN BOSSCHE
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
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Note
(1) See:
Documents of the House of Representatives:
Session 2001-2002:
Documents 50-1458.
1458/1: Bill.
1458/2-7: Amendments.
1458/8: Report on behalf of the Commission.
1458/9: Text adopted by the Commission.
1458/10 : Opinion of the Council of State.
1458/11: Amendment.
1458/12-13: Conflict of interest.
1458/14: Supplementary report.
1458/15: Text adopted by the Commission.
1458/16: Amendments.
1458/17: Opinion of the Council of State.
1458/18: Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate.
1458/19: Supplementary report.
Senate documents:
Session 2001-2002.
Documents 2-1105.
2-1105/1: Project referred to by the Senate.
2-1105/2: Amendments.
2-1105/3: Report on behalf of the Commission.
2-1105/4: Amendments filed after approval of the report.
2-1105/5: Decision not to amend.