Can €2 school lunches keep education affordable in the City of Brussels?
The City of Brussels is keeping compulsory primary-school supplies free and will charge €2 for hot lunches at around 20 disadvantaged French-language schools from 31 August, while reserving almost €1 million for the meal scheme.
The measures directly affect household education costs and pupils’ access to a regular meal. They also provide an early test of whether a municipality can sustain broadly accessible services when another level of government reduces earmarked per-pupil support.
The is keeping essential school supplies free throughout municipal nursery and primary education and will introduce €2 hot lunches at around 20 French-language schools serving many disadvantaged pupils from 31 August. Announcing the measures at Steyls municipal primary school in Laeken on 24 August, Mayor and public-education councillor , both PS, said the city would also continue providing free swimming lessons, after-school activities and morning soup.
For families in the municipality—not the entire —the immediate significance is a smaller and more predictable school bill. reports that the city has reserved almost €1 million for the lunch programme. Pupils experiencing greater financial difficulty can still receive a reduced rate or eat free in every city school, although the municipality has not published the number of children expected to qualify or the precise income criteria.
The decision places the PS-led city government at odds with the budgetary direction of the French Community, formally the , which finances French-language education across Wallonia and Brussels. Close said that school should not become “a source of anxiety”, presenting municipal spending as a shield against higher costs for parents. Hariche called free education “a powerful lever for equal opportunities”, arguing that common provision helps pupils begin on more equal terms.
That local framing matters because the French Community is reducing the per-pupil support attached to its expansion of free basic supplies. According to , primary schools previously received €77 per child for year groups already covered, then years one to three. Coverage extends to years four and five in 2026-27, but the allocation falls to €29 per pupil this year and is scheduled to decline to €24.50 next year. The city says it will absorb the difference for pupils in its own schools rather than pass it to households.
The French Community government describes its wider changes differently. In its 2026-29 budget agreement, it said existing free-provision schemes were being reshaped to target children with the greatest needs, with part of the funding for meals and supplies moved into schools’ general operating resources. Its argument is one of fiscal control and targeted support, rather than an abandonment of affordability. What remains unclear is whether lower earmarked grants will give schools useful flexibility or merely oblige municipalities and families to cover shortages.
Experience elsewhere in Dutch-language education points to the practical trade-off. reported in 2024 that surveyed Flemish primary schools charged about €4 on average for a hot lunch, while parents in financially vulnerable circumstances considered €1 to €3 affordable. The same reporting found that providing meals involves infrastructure, staffing and organisational costs beyond the caterer’s price. Brussels’ €2 charge therefore sits within the range identified by families, but its durability will depend on municipal subsidy, food prices and schools’ capacity to serve meals.
The broader European context supports the objective without prescribing this local model. Under the , EU countries are encouraged to ensure children in need have free and effective access to education, school activities and at least one healthy meal each school day. The proposed strengthening that guarantee in May 2026. Implementation, however, remains the responsibility of Belgian authorities at several levels; the EU institutions based elsewhere in Brussels do not set lunch prices in the city’s schools.
The policy now moves from announcement to delivery. Families should receive school-specific information on menus, registration, billing and social tariffs before the €2 price starts. The key tests will be participation, nutritional quality and whether the city’s nearly €1 million allocation is sufficient for a full school year. Neither the city nor the French Community has yet published a joint assessment showing how the reduced supply grant will affect individual schools, leaving the longer-term division of the bill unresolved.
Impact
Regional — The direct impact is limited to schools run by the City of Brussels municipality. It does not automatically extend to other municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region or to Dutch-language schools, which fall under different organising authorities and community arrangements.
Local — The measures apply specifically to nursery and primary schools organised by the City of Brussels commune. Families at around 20 participating French-language schools will be able to buy a hot lunch for €2 from 31 August 2026, while eligible pupils can still receive free meals or another social tariff. Compulsory supplies, swimming lessons and after-school activities remain free across the city network. Families attending schools run by another Brussels municipality, or Dutch-language schools, should not assume that the same prices and benefits apply.
International — The initiative has a direct EU-policy connection through the European Child Guarantee, which calls for children in need to have effective access to key services, including education and healthy nutrition. The City of Brussels scheme is a municipal measure rather than an EU-funded programme identified in the article, so it creates no new entitlement for families elsewhere in Belgium or the EU. It nevertheless provides a local example relevant to EU officials and policy readers tracking how child-poverty commitments are implemented through practical school services.
What it means for you
Parents and guardians with children in participating City of Brussels French-language schools should check their school’s meal arrangements before 31 August 2026 and budget €2 per hot lunch. Families facing greater financial difficulty should ask the school or municipal education service whether their child qualifies for a free meal or another social tariff. Parents do not need to budget for compulsory primary-school supplies, swimming lessons or after-school activities covered by the city network. Families in another Brussels commune or in Dutch-language education must check separately because these measures do not automatically apply there.
Opposing perspectives
- City of Brussels leadership
Mayor Philippe Close says school should not become “a source of anxiety”, while education councillor Faouzia Hariche calls free education “a powerful lever for equal opportunities”. Their universal-service framing favours the city absorbing costs so pupils share access without families facing a larger bill.
- Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles government
The French Community government presents its reforms as targeted budgeting: existing free-provision schemes are being adjusted so support reaches children with the greatest needs, while some meal and supply funding moves into general school resources. That prioritises fiscal flexibility over maintaining the previous earmarked amount.
- Flemish local-government perspective
In VRT NWS reporting on the Flemish healthy-food programme, the VVSG association warned that municipal co-financing and extra administrative work could make implementation difficult. This perspective suggests that affordable meals require more than a headline subsidy: local authorities also need staffing and coordination capacity.
Who, where and what
Key people, places and terms in this story
The European Commission is an EU institution seated in Brussels. In these excerpts it matters as an EU-level policy and service reference for Belgium, including pay transparency implementation, circular textiles, asbestos exposure rules and the Your Europe service.
Mayor of the City of Brussels associated with the municipal education measures.
Region containing the City of Brussels and 18 other municipalities with separate organising authorities.
City of Brussels education councillor associated with the municipal education measures.
Municipal authority funding the lunch scheme and maintaining free services in its school network.
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Mayor of the City of Brussels associated with the municipal education measures.
City of Brussels education councillor associated with the municipal education measures.
Region containing the City of Brussels and 18 other municipalities with separate organising authorities.
The European Commission is an EU institution seated in Brussels. In these excerpts it matters as an EU-level policy and service reference for Belgium, including pay transparency implementation, circular textiles, asbestos exposure rules and the Your Europe service.
EU policy framework promoting access to essential services, including education and healthy nutrition, for children in need.
Municipal authority funding the lunch scheme and maintaining free services in its school network.
French Community authority shaping rules and funding for French-language education.
Brussels news outlet reporting the city’s lunch price, budget and free-supplies policy.
Belgian public-service news outlet providing earlier reporting on school food and lunchbox initiatives.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceBRUZZPrimaryprimary· bruzz.be· 24 August 2026Retrieved 27 August 2026· 39 days ago· Dated
- View sourceGovernment of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxellesofficial· gouvernement.cfwb.be· 10 October 2025Retrieved 27 August 2026· 357 days ago· Dated
- View sourceVRT NWScorroborating· vrt.be· 1 May 2024Retrieved 27 August 2026· 884 days ago· Dated
- View sourceVRT NWSbackground· vrt.be· 29 April 2025Retrieved 27 August 2026· 521 days ago· Background / context
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.