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.
In 30 seconds
- Hot lunches will cost €2 from 31 August at around 20 French-language city schools with many disadvantaged pupils.
- The City of Brussels has reserved almost €1 million for the meal initiative.
- Social tariffs, including free meals, remain available for pupils in greater financial difficulty.
- The reported French Community supply allocation falls from an earlier €77 to €29 per pupil in 2026-27 and €24.50 the following year.
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 Faouzia Hariche, 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 Brussels-Capital Region—the immediate significance is a smaller and more predictable school bill. BRUZZ 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 BRUZZ, 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. VRT NWS 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 European Commission 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.
Where this is happening
View on map City of Brussels →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.
What to do
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.
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.
EvidenceWell established · 1 primary source + 3 official documents + 1 independent reporting source · Background sources: 1Explore evidence →Hide evidence ↑
- Published:
- 24 Aug 2026, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 27 Aug 2026
- Published:
- 10 Oct 2025, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 27 Aug 2026
- Published:
- 1 May 2024, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 27 Aug 2026
- Published:
- 29 Apr 2025, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 27 Aug 2026
- Published:
- 6 May 2026, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 27 Aug 2026
- Published:
- 24 Mar 2021, 01:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 27 Aug 2026
Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsCity 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.
The story, connected
Explore the people, places and ideas in this story
Go beyond the headline. Open a card for sourced context, maps, official links and the other subjects connected to this report.
Continue reading
This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.