expat
time
Essential lifestyle and business insights
for foreign nationals in Belgium
Interview
“If Belgium
wants to be
competitive, it
needs a lower
tax system”
MARCIA DOYLE
Partner US tax, Deloitte Belgium
In this issue
Expert advice on
starting a business
Christmas at home
and abroad
Out and about
in Lille
Winter 2013/2014 • n°4
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Happy
holidays
T
he days may be dark and short, but in this issue
we have gone in search of some seasonal cheer
by looking at how some of us will be enjoying
the holidays. Whether it be by the fireside with
traditional food and drink or swapping the
European winter for distant sunny shores, we peek into
the Christmas plans of some of Belgium’s expats. If you are
staycationing in Belgium, we have a few tips for activities
close to home.
With the new year approaching, you may be thinking about
changing your job or setting up a business. Make sure you
read our features on starting a venture in Belgium, in which
we meet expats who are giving it a go. There’s no shortage of
welcome practical and financial advice.
One topic none of us can avoid is tax. In our cover interview
we meet the Brussels-based American tax expert Marcia
Doyle. She shares her views on taxation in Belgium and her
home country.
This is, of course, a time to celebrate with family and friends
and reflect on events at home and abroad. Many people are
not so fortunate; our thoughts are also with them.
Enjoy the holiday season and please accept our best wishes
for 2014!
Dave Deruytter
Head of expatriates and non-residents
ING Belgium
ING Expat is also on Facebook:
facebook.com/ingexpats
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
3
IN THIS ISSUE
8
Interview
Marcia Doyle
talks tax
Expat Time interviews the
American fiscal expert on financial
issues at home and abroad
profiles
6 Meet four expats living in
Belgium
Interview
8 Marcia Doyle talks about
Belgium’s tax system
LIFESTYLE
26
Expats hit the road for the
Christmas holidays
lifestyle
30
Eat, drink, explore and
sleep in the French city of Lille
comment
Finance
14
Funding a new business:
ING experts advise Venezuelan
Susan Paredes de Villasmil
32
Emma Beddington takes
a look back at the news and
Derek Blyth muses on life
away from home
Spotlight
Agenda
16 Our pick of upcoming
culture in Brussels
34
New museum in Brussels
celebrates turn-of-the-century
art
Business
18 Welcome to the world of
BUSINESS
18
Starting a
business
in Belgium
self-employment and setting
up a business
Agenda
24
Cultural highlights around
Belgium and beyond
Photo credits
P 5
Enterprising expats share their
experience and pass on what
they’ve learned
P 16
P 17
LIFESTYLE
Christmas
around the
world
How Belgium’s expats are
planning to spend the holidays
26
P 18
P 19
Cartier, Pendulette sur encrier, N Welsh,
Collection Cartier © Cartier
Man Ray, painted bronze and billiard ball
mounted on a base, private collection,
Belgium
Jan Toorop, Portrait of Marie Jeannette de
Lange ©Rijksmuseum
Corbis
Leo Exter, Natalie Hill
Editor • Sarah Crew
Deputy editor • Sally Tipper
Art director • Paul Van Dooren
Project coordinator • Thomas Buytaert
Contributors • Laura Bacci • Emma Beddington • Derek Blyth • Katrien Lindemans • Karen
McHugh • Larry Moffett • Georgio Valentino
Cover • Marcia Doyle, by Bart Dewaele
Sales executive • Helena Vreedenburgh
Account executive • Evelyne Fregonese
P 25 Illuminations, Angelos bvba/Photo Pat Verbruggen; Cartier, V Wulveryck, Collection
Cartier © Cartier
P 26 Sean Malyon/Corbis
P 31 A l’Huitrière, Sam Bellet; Maisons de Mode,
Eliz Dream
P 32 Red Devils, Russell Cheyne/Reuters/Corbis;
pigeon, crossbone80/Flickr; Munich house,
Barbara Gindl/EPA/Corbis
P 34 Jean Delville, The Death of Orpheus, 1893,
Brussels, MRBAB/KMSKB
Expat Time is a publication from
ING BELGIUM SA/NV, Marnixlaan 24,
1000 Brussel, RPR Brussel
VAT BE 403.200.393 and Ackroyd
Publications SA/NV
Editorial • Content Connections
(department of Ackroyd Publications SA/NV)
and ING BELGIUM SA/NV
Publisher • Hans De Loore, Gossetlaan 30,
1702 Groot-Bijgaarden
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
5
Profiles •
Get connected
Four expats tell us about how they came to Belgium
Mark Cunningham
“Our children are at a
school that is very strict,
but this is necessary with
three boys!”
Mark is second-generation
Irish, born in London, and
married to Noeleen, who is
Irish. They have three sons
at the Brussels International
Catholic School. The family
live close to Montgomery in
Brussels
“I am chief operating officer and partner at cabinet DN, the largest independent public affairs consultancy in Brussels. Additionally, I am responsible
for the association management and social media teams. I have lived here
for 17 years. I was working in London and met an Irish girl at a rugby
match in Dublin; we went out for a year but neither of us were keen
to move to the other’s country. I was then offered a job in Brussels
and this triggered our move here. We eventually got married
in 2000. My wife, Noeleen, worked for an international bank
for many years and then took time to have three children
in quick succession. She now works part-time for Fulcra
International, a financial planning company. Our children
are being educated in English and French at a school
that is very strict, but this is necessary with three boys!
At Christmas, our families are coming over and for
New Year we are going with friends and the
boys to Phantasia Land in Cologne.”
Daniel Coutinho
“I came to Belgium to
join my girlfriend, then
found a job”
“I’m a security analyst at Accenture and co-founder and partner at
Toucan System, a company I set up. Since I joined the Brussels company as a full-time IT analyst, I have had to significantly change my
participation with Toucan System, only maintaining a partnership/associate level. I came to Belgium out of love! I guess most expats come
here to join their partner or for a job. In my case I first joined my girlfriend and then found a job. I will be returning to Clermont-Ferrand
for Christmas, while Anne-Laure joins her large family in Alsace.”
6
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Daniel is Franco-Portuguese
and moved to Belgium a year ago
to join his French girlfriend, AnneLaure, who has lived in Brussels for
nine years. She works for Egta, the
European association of television
and radio sales houses. They live
in the Sainte-Catherine area of
Brussels
Julie Anne Verbeelen
“If you have a passion for what
you are doing, you can do anything, no matter where you are”
“I am executive director at Turtlewings, a collaboration of designers, educators and
thinkers fostering children’s creative and intellectual development. We use our innovative learning space and curriculum to provide experiences for children where they can
play, imagine, design, invent and create, to discover their passion. We worked with
educational institutions, government initiatives, museums and creative corporations
to develop educational programmes, products and environments centred on child
and adult creative thinking. I worked as a freelance designer until starting Turtlewings, and now I have started two businesses here in Belgium. If you have a passion
for what you are doing then you can do anything you want, no matter where you
are. Of course, there are probably easier places to start a business than in Belgium,
so you really need that passion. This Christmas, we wanted to go to
Iowa to visit my family, but now we will stay in Europe and we
haven’t decided what we will do here yet. We are quite
last-minute planners.”
American Julie Anne has
lived in Brussels for 13 years.
She and her Belgian husband
have three sons in Flemish
schools. They live in Ixelles, in
a renovated stable
Conan MacOscair
“Although jobs and good
salaries were plentiful in
Ireland, it was right at the
heart of the economic boom”
Conan was born in
Dublin and has lived in Brussels for 12 years. He lives
with his business partner
and fiancée, Aine Murphy,
from Galway. They live in
the Sainte-Catherine area of
Brussels
“I’m the owner of two food and drink outlets on Rue d’Arenberg in the city
centre: the Deli is a burrito, burger and salad bar; Delish is a sandwich and coffee bar. My daily chores range from taking orders, making and serving food and
drinks to administering and delivering office catering. Weekly and monthly tasks
largely entail administration, marketing and the financial aspects of the company.
I finished art college in Dublin in 2000, and although jobs and good salaries were
plentiful in Ireland it was right at the heart of the economic boom. Rents and living
expenses were climbing steadily. I visited my sister who was living here at the time
and saw the size of the apartment she was renting for the same price I was paying
in Dublin. Bigger rooms, higher ceilings, a balcony! That coupled with the low
price of eating out and social life had me sold. Before travelling to Ireland to spend
Christmas with our families, we invite around 25 friends to our home for a full
Irish Christmas banquet. It’s a good time to catch up.”
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
7
Playing by
the rules
By Sarah Crew
Marcia Doyle, partner US tax at
Deloitte Belgium, talks to ING’s
Dave Deruytter about crossAtlantic tax treaties and setting
up a business in the country
8
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Photos by Bart Dewaele
“Companies
have to look
into corporate
responsibility
when taxRod
planningScrivener
to make
sure they are not
perceived as too
aggressive”
M
arcia Doyle
arrived in Brussels
more than 20
years ago on a
short posting for
the international audit and consulting
firm Deloitte, and immediately fell
in love with working and living in
Belgium. An Uccle resident, she
is a leading member of Belgium’s
international community, currently
presiding over the American Club of
Brussels. An expert on US tax affairs,
she maintains close ties with her
home country while remaining on
top of current affairs in Belgium and
Europe.
Increasing legislation
includes double taxation
treaties and the European
savings directive.
How should they be
approached?
The US government thinks one of its
biggest losses of revenue comes from
people hiding or moving their funds out
of the US. It has come out with different
legislation over the years, including
FATCA recently, to try to identify
offshore accounts and encourage US
investors to keep and invest their money
in the US. Over the years, Belgium and
other countries have started enacting
legislation such as the savings directive
for similar reasons.
The US rules are quite onerous and
many foreign investment funds now
don’t want US taxpayer investors, which
is causing some Americans to consider
giving up their US citizenship. The
majority of people are likely to report
their savings and investments, yet the
laws are making it more difficult to
have investments outside your home
country. When the US government sees
that Belgian banks are not allowing US
citizens to invest, it could potentially
slow down FATCA Intergovernmental
Agreement negotiations between the
two countries.
What do you think
about a ‘fairness tax’
and corporate social
responsibility?
Multinationals have received bad press
for not paying tax or paying only a low
rate: while companies are normally
doing their tax planning legally, the
public is not happy if they are using
the current tax rules to mitigate their
tax burden. This may lead to overexpat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
9

Interview •
regularisation, and the OECD has
specifically placed ambitious and
aggressive deadlines on draft proposals
for changes in the rules.
Many larger countries such as France
and Germany are also trying to
implement legislation changes in
anticipation of OECD moves; the danger
is that we may end up with some
double taxation. It is inevitable that
rules will change to something more
in tune with today’s world. Corporate
responsibility is a valid point and one
that companies have to look into when
tax planning to make sure they are
not seen as too aggressive. Businesses
should monitor legislation, review their
own structures and try to anticipate
where they may have to make changes.
Would companies in
Belgium be better served
by a lower tax rate and
fewer deductions?
This is always the ongoing debate,
and regimes such as notional interest
deductions and the patent box regime
all currently pass the EU test: beneficial
but fair regimes put in place to increase
or maintain domestic and foreign
investment in Belgium. These regimes
have been successful in keeping
businesses in Belgium, especially in the
manufacturing area. While the EU is
currently not scrutinising these regimes,
the biggest risk is probably from the
Belgian government, which due to
budget restraints has already reduced
the benefit of the notional deduction
regime.
10
“If Belgium
wants to be
competitive,
it may need to
come up with
a lower tax
and simpler
system”
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Businesses want a stable environment
and Belgium has a tax system that
has become complex and appears
to be constantly changing. It would
be better if Belgium came up with a
fiscal strategy, with a simpler scheme,
including a lower rate and a change to
the tax base. I think super-deductions
for employment would be more
marketable when trying to encourage
investment into Belgium. A number
of years ago, Ireland reduced its tax
“A positive attitude
helps when you move
to a new country”
rate and was successful in attracting
business. So if Belgium wants to
be competitive, especially against
neighbouring countries, and taking into
account high labour costs, income tax
and social security, it likely will need to
come up with a lower tax and simpler
system. The US also needs tax reforms
as it is becoming a high-tax country,
with a corporate rate of 35%.
home country in order to respect its
conditions and not transfer their centre
of economic interests to Belgium.
What advice do you have
for beneficiaries of the
expat tax status regime?
I still see a lot of new investment
coming into Belgium and people
setting up a business on their own.
Management companies can be
interesting from a legal and liability
point of view, but they need to be set
up correctly. Check that the articles of
incorporation and business plan have
been thought through beforehand,
along with competitors and the
potential market. Consider what the
goals are and what to do with the cash.
I don’t think Belgium intends to change
it, unless it is forced by the EU. It’s a
stable regime necessary to help foreign
businesses invest here despite the high
labour costs and taxation systems.
Beneficiaries need to make sure they
are complying with its conditions; it is
becoming normal now to be audited
after ten years. If an expat has bought
real estate in Belgium they should
ensure that they keep interests in their
How would you advise
people wanting to start a
business here? Is Belgium
an attractive country for
management companies?
Management companies have been
under scrutiny, and new legislation
has come out that makes them less
attractive from a tax point of view.
Professional income is still converted
into capital but past advantages have
been minimised. There remains a 34%
corporate rate on the income of the
company. The dividend withholding
tax has risen to 25%, which is not
as attractive when you combine the
two taxes. If you don’t need to pay
dividends, you can keep the cash
in the company or use it for other
investments. There is also now a 25%
tax on liquidating distributions.
A US taxpayer setting up a
management company needs to be
very careful about the structure from
day one; while it may be beneficial for
Belgian tax purposes, it might cause
adverse effects in the US due to the
controlled foreign corporation rules. So
the entity should be fiscally transparent
from a US standpoint to avoid a bad
surprise further down the road. Overall,
in a changing environment, people
need to monitor the situation, comply
with the rules and make sure they are
ready when the rules change.
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
11

Interview •
of at least a third non-Americans. It
has become very international, with
around 25 nationalities represented as
members. I have met some of my best
Belgian friends through the club. I think
expats need to enjoy living here and get
involved in the local community.
How do you achieve a
work-life balance?
How long have you been in
Belgium and what do you
enjoy about life here?
I came here for a two- to three-year
assignment nearly 22 years ago. One
day became one year, then two. I have
always enjoyed living and working in
Belgium and I think it is an easy place
to live. I come from Dallas; there and
Brussels are like night and day, so that
was very interesting because there
is so much history and culture here
and I’ve always found that intriguing.
Being a southerner, I have learnt how
to appreciate a sunny day in Belgium
and head outside. A positive attitude
certainly helps when you move to a
different country.
12
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
You are actively involved
with the American Club
of Brussels. What are its
objectives?
The ACB is a non-profit business and
social networking club. Deloitte and
I very much support the club and
the American community, including
AmCham and the US Embassy. It is
my second time as president of the
ACB and I’m a member of the board
of governors. It is useful for our expats
on assignment to meet other people
and experience life here. The ACB
organises many cultural, social and
other activities. It was originally formed
to promote American and Belgian
goodwill and the board has to consist
One of the things I like about Europe
is that people are better at balancing
work and life; they know the difference
between the work week and the
weekend. This doesn’t mean that I don’t
sometimes work during the weekend,
but I have learnt to appreciate my time
off. I try to make sure I have time for
my family and friends, play and watch
sports such as tennis and golf, read
and travel. For my holidays, I try to find
the sun: the warmer climates of Spain,
Italy, France and the Canary Islands.
I have been lucky that my family has
been very supportive of me being in
Europe. I see more of my family living
here than when I lived in Dallas because
we will take vacations together and
when I go to the US they will make
the effort to meet up with me. This
Christmas I am staying in Belgium and
instead of travelling to Germany or the
Netherlands for Christmas markets, we
will visit the Brussels market.
“I think
expats need
to enjoy living
here and
get involved
in the local
community”
Finance •
Making
business
child’s play
Thinking of setting up your own business?
Sooner or later, you’ll be asking yourself these
questions. See what the experts have to say
before you make any big decisions
 By Laura Bacci
S
usan Paredes de Villasmil
from Venezuela might be a
trailing spouse, but she has
an entrepreneurial spirit
and is determined to leave
her mark on Belgium. Her vision was
to create a multilingual after-school
centre offering activities for children
aged between four and 12. Having
researched the market needs for this
type of service in Wavre, she was sure
her business model would work, but
she felt overwhelmed by the range
of business format options available
and Belgium’s complicated tax system.
Arnaud Gerard, business developer at
ING Retail Banking, and Christophe
Mortier, head of the executives desk
at ING Private Banking, answered her
questions.
What’s the first step I
should take to move my
idea forward?
Belgium offers a vast array of options
for expats wanting to set up a business.
To enable you to make an informed
choice, it is always good to have a
business plan, even if you only plan to
be a sole entrepreneur. If you have no
previous experience in creating business
plans, you can download a template
from the ING website and fill in the
questions online. You will get a full
business plan that you can use during
the start-up phase and further along
your path as a roadmap to check you’re
covering your milestones.
What administrative set-up
might be best for me?
In Belgium there are different types of
business activity arrangements. You can
have self-employed status (full-time or
a complementary activity to your day
job), or create a non-profit organisation
(ASBL/VZW) or a company (SPRL/BVBA).
Your choice depends on your expected
revenue and the level of personal investment needed at the start-up phase. The
14
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
final decision on the type of business
option you should choose will depend
on factors such as your activity, whether
you’re planning to employ contractors
or staff, or whether you need to pay
office rent. At ING, we have a team
that specialises in supporting clients
during the set-up of their business.
However, it is very important to consult
your accountant and lawyer when you
are developing your business plan and
deciding what set-up might be the most
appropriate.
Do you offer loans for
people setting up their own
business?
Yes, at ING we have the Business Credit
Centre hotline where you can discuss
your financial needs. They will explain
the loans available to start-ups. These
loans are available for our clients as
well as non-ING customers. The size of
the loan will depend on your specific
needs and whether you are looking for
short-, medium- or long-term credit.
The Starter Business Line, for example,
can fund your set-up costs. You don’t
pay any additional charges for the first
three years and the interest rate is lower
“Our hotline
team aims to
reply to all loan
inquiries within
three to four
days”
than for other overdraft facilities. You
might also decide that you need to buy
professional equipment, buy an existing business or pay other professional
expenses. In that case, we would advise
you to take a Business Loan.
How long does it take for
a loan application to be
assessed?
Sometimes entrepreneurs need to get
their ideas to the market fast, so our
hotline team aims to reply to all loan
inquiries within three to four days.
How should I calculate my
salary and what will I need
to pay in terms of tax?
Everyone’s needs are different. ING has
a team that will guide you through the
set-up stages and support you as your
business develops. We recommend our
clients think about their remuneration
not only in terms of a salary but as a mix
of salary and dividends. This is because
dividends are taxed at a lower rate than
regular salaries. As a general rule, we
advise our clients to start with a lower
salary and consider mixed remuneration structures (for example, dividends,
investments into a pension scheme or
company car options) which might be
more tax-efficient in the long term.
What other advice would
you give me right now?
There are many things to take into
account when setting up a business.
The most important is to focus on the
business plan and decide how much
investment you might need. Two good
questions to be asking yourself now are:
“What makes me different from the
competition?” and “Why should people
buy my services or products?”
Armed with this advice, Paredes de
Villasmil opened the Cool Clubhouse
at the end of October. Following the
success of her first few weeks, she’s
now looking at offering a wider range
of courses and expanding her opening
hours.
More information on how to start your
business at www.ing.be/en/business
The Cool Clubhouse is an afterschool centre in Wavre where
children play, learn, explore,
develop their problem-solving
skills and have fun. It offers
courses in the following areas.
Languages: English, Spanish,
French, Dutch, Italian, German
Creativity: arts and crafts,
scrapbooking, design, cartoons, story writing
Discovery: Exploring our
world, nature, science
0474.28.44.86
[email protected]
www.thecoolclubhouse.com
event WITH ING
March 19 & 20
Entreprendre Salon
SME self-employed and start-up fair
Tour & Taxis
www.entreprendreondernemen.be
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
15
Agenda •
What’s on
in Brussels
Brafa
Brafa was conceived in 1955 as a
humble antique fair. Since then,
the event has widened its scope to
include contemporary art and has
established itself as one of Europe’s
leading fairs. The list of personalities who have inaugurated Brafa in
years past give some indication of its
status: Alain Delon, Karl Lagerfeld,
Prince (now King) Philippe and his
mum, Queen Paola. In total, 130
exhibitors (roughly half from Belgium)
show off their wares over 15,000
square metres of repurposed dockside warehouse. If you’re looking for
modern painting and sculpture, tribal
art, antique furniture and curios,
tapestries, comic books or collectibles
of any stripe, you’ll find it here.
January 25-February 2
Tour & Taxis, www.brafa.be
16
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Winter Jazz
Jazz cats need not wait
until spring’s Brussels Jazz
Marathon to get their fix of
the syncopated stuff. Théâtre
Marni and Flagey invite you in
from the cold for Winter Jazz,
featuring some of Europe’s
finest players. The festival also
includes a warm welcome
for the incoming president of
the Council of the European
Union, Greece. Marni has
organised a Hellenic double
feature: the European premiere of Greek composer/
classical guitarist Yiannis
Magoulas’s latest piece, Live
Project, and a performance
by Athens-based gypsy jazz
trio Diminuita. Speaking of
gypsy jazz, the festival tips
its hat not once but twice to
genre giant Django Reinhardt.
Mike Reinhardt leads his trio
through a musical tribute (no
relation – it’s a common name
in Mike’s native Germany) on
what would have been the
Belgian-born legend’s 101st
birthday.
January 15-25
www.winterjazz.be
Tribute to Jijé
To the Point
The Belgians are bonkers
about comic strips and have
produced some of the world’s
best-loved series. Jijé (born
Joseph Gillain on 13 January,
1914) was one of the industry’s 20th-century pioneers,
alongside fellow mononyms
Hergé and Peyo. Publishing
house Dupuis celebrates the
centenary of the illustrious
illustrator’s birth in a big
way. In addition to limitededition collector’s reissues
of Jijé’s seminal Jerry Spring
series, the Marcinelle-based
company is collaborating with
Brussels’ Comic Strip House
to exhibit a career retrospective. Tribute to Jijé covers a remarkably productive 50 years,
which yielded not just comic
strips, but vivid and colourful
paintings, and sculpture.
If the Fin-de-Siècle Museum
(see page 34) has whetted your appetite for early
modernism, your next stop
should be To the Point: NeoImpressionist Portraits, 18861904. This exhibition revolves
around pointillism, a painting
technique that, despite
French origins, was adopted
by the Belgian avant-garde.
The ubiquitous Henry Van
de Velde, Georges Lemmen,
George Morren and Théo Van
Rysselberghe were all inspired
by the movement’s Parisian
founder, Georges Seurat, to
experiment with light and
colour. This isn’t a strictly
Belgian retrospective either
but includes canvases from
Pointillism’s French pioneers
as well. Paul Signac, Lucien
Pissarro, Henri Edmond Cross,
Maximilien Luce and Achille
Laugé are featured in addition to Seurat. You, too, can
become a Pointillist through
onsite workshops. All this is
organised by the Indianapolis
Museum of Art in collaboration with ING.
Until June
www.jije.org
Batibouw
Home improvement is a
daunting task but you
needn’t go it alone. Professionals and do-it-yourselfers
alike are welcome at Belgium’s biggest construction
fair, Batibouw. Anyone who’s
anyone in the business will
be here, offering information
on services and materials,
helping guide you from planning to financing to building
to moving to maintenance.
Event organisers have
anticipated that youngsters
might not be too keen to
spend the day assembling
mum and dad’s dream home
so childcare facilities are in
operation on weekends and
Wednesday.
February 20-March 2
www.batibouw.be
February 19-May 18
www.ing.be/art
Upcoming events with ING
•February 20-March 2, Batibouw Home & renovation fair, Brussels Expo, www.batibouw.be
•March 14 & 15, PIAS Nites Record label music weekend, Tour & Taxis, www.piasnites.be
•March 14-16, Babyboom Baby fair, Brussels Expo, www.salonbabyboom.be
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
17
Expat
entrepreneurs
in Brussels
reveal the ups
and downs
of starting a
business
Grow
your
own
By Larry Moffett
18
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
“If you do
something
worthwhile
everyone and his
dog will know
about it”
S
o often dismissed as a sluggish, bureaucratic city and
a warren of faceless European institution offices, to
the outsider Brussels hardly
rates as a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. Indeed, very few of the estimated
100,000 expats living and working in
the Brussels region moved here for the
sole purpose of starting a business. Yet
an increasing number are taking the
plunge and becoming entrepreneurs.
Louise Hilditch came from the UK in
1993 to work at the European Parliament as an MEP’s assistant. After working in public affairs for the private and
non-profit sectors, she and her business
partner Julie Kolokotsa founded Local
Knowledge, a consultancy providing advice and support to expats starting their
professional activity in Belgium. Working with freelancers, businesses, NGOs,
foundations and trade associations, Local Knowledge leads clients step by step
through the entire administrative, legal
and financial process. But Hilditch sees
herself foremost as a problem solver,
finding solutions to the obstacles expats
Louise
Hilditch
Managing director, Local Knowledge
face when trying to set up and run a
business here.
For someone whose stock in trade is
dealing with the notorious Belgian
administration, Hilditch is surprisingly
sanguine. Given that her clients come
from so many backgrounds that are
very different from the standard Belgian
context, she finds the bureaucracy actually rather flexible. “When an official
says to you ‘c’est pas possible’, it’s just
the opening of a negotiation. If you
stay nice and calm and friendly, they
will eventually come up with a solution
themselves. There’s always a way.”
The requirement that she finds most
frustrating – and bizarre – is the
professional qualification to run a
business. Decades of relevant work
experience abroad won’t be taken
into consideration without formal
proof in a specified format, whereas
an academic degree in any field, even
if unrelated to the business, will be
recognised as proof of competence.
The workaround is that you may use
the degree of a spouse or an associate, even if he or she will be a silent
partner with no active role in the business. As Hilditch points out, this undermines the intended purpose of the
competence requirement, one that is
inconsistently applied by the guichets
d’entreprises/ondernemingsloketten (the one-stop centres mandated
by the government for setting up a
business): if one rejects her client’s
credentials, Hilditch will simply find
another that accepts them.
Once the paperwork is done and the
business can start, Hilditch points out,
Belgium is open and expat-friendly,
and there is quite a lot of money here.
Because of its international demographic, Brussels is seen as a good testing
ground for the rest of Europe. It is not,
however, a market of early adopters,
since brands like Starbucks often appear
much later than elsewhere in Europe.
Hilditch notes that doing business tends
to be slow, which she surmises is due to
heavy regulation, in particular regarding
employment. Hiring for a small business
is difficult, due not only to the high
social costs but also to the cost and
complexity of making an employee redundant after the six-month trial period.
Leo
Exter
Founder, Westartup
Leo Exter, born and raised in the former
USSR, is the founder of Westartup – an
online community for people who want
to start, join or invest in a new business
– a business consultant, a lynchpin of
the Betagroup – a Brussels-based organisation for web entrepreneurs – and
a partner in a number of local startups. He was working for Coca-Cola in
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
19

Business •
What is your business history and
what advice would you give
on doing business in Belgium?
Mark Cunningham
“My wife and I started our own business last year so that we could provide financial consultancy services. We did this because it also meant our company could eventually expand into other areas long term,
as we are very interested in property. We owned a few properties in Brussels before having children and
would like to get involved in this again. My advice would be to ensure you have a good accountant, notaire
and bank and do not be afraid to question them on the advice they give. Additionally, ask other people
about their experiences of setting up a company, and what they found useful. We found it quite straightforward due to this. ING have been especially helpful on a number of occasions. Finally, make sure you set up
your business at the right time, especially to do with quarter- and year-ends, as tax planning is crucial in Belgium.
We have made a lot of contacts in Brussels over the years and have some friends who are headhunters and looking to
retire soon, so this is another avenue that we would be interested in.”
Daniel Coutinho
“I started my own company, Toucan System, three years ago with friends, in the IT security field. I
started as commercial director while my friends were the IT specialists. Toucan System was running
very well, mainly working with clients in Paris but going wherever clients call us. We opened a branch in
Sydney, Australia, two years ago. The first few years of starting your own business are hard. If you’re lucky,
you can pay yourself, but that’s not always the case. You have to be ready to work and answer client’s
requests 24/7, especially when working with international clients. If working with friends you need to make
sure you communicate, and you need to be always ready to question the direction your company is taking. Be
ready to change your vision and point of views on a daily basis, staying flexible and questioning yourself and your
company’s capacity. Finally, the best operational advice I could give is to use an external accounting company. This extra
cost, although significant in the beginning, will definitely save you trouble. Focus on business and clients, not accounting.”
Conan MacOscair
“My experience as a self-employed person is largely a positive one. Flexibility has to be one of its
biggest attractions. I don’t mean the flexibility to decide to take off a Monday to extend the weekend in
Knokke, more like the flexibility to make quick decisions, implement changes, call the shots as the boss.
My advice to readers concerning the self-employed route would be to weigh up the pros and cons carefully. Any self-employed person will tell you it’s longer hours, multiple jobs, more taxes and less holidays.
So if your dream is to leave behind the long office hours and a demanding boss, tread carefully. My future
plans include expanding the Delish corporate and private catering services and deliveries. The majority of our
catering business has evolved through word of mouth; in 2014 we aim to improve our printed media and internet
marketing presence.”
Julie Anne Verbeelen
“Until starting Turtlewings, I had always worked as a freelance designer, and now I have started two businesses here in Belgium. If you have an insatiable passion for what you are doing then you can do anything
you want, no matter where you are. Of course, there are probably easier places to start a business than in
Belgium, unless your passion lies partially in running the business, red tape and finding small loopholes. I
believe my business is still here out of pure stubbornness not to quit. It is not easy and will never be, but it is
rewarding. I believe that I have shown that our philosophy is a viable one and that we have a lot to contribute.
Now, I want to find a wonderful person who wants to develop my million and one creative and innovative ideas
into sustainable business plans. The next step is larger European projects, linking with like-minded organisations
throughout the continent.”
20
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
“It’s an emotional
roller-coaster
and a challenge
like you’ve never
seen in the job”
Moscow when he was transferred to
Brussels. “Not the most exciting town
on the planet,” he thought then, “but
in the meantime I’ve come to appreciate
the relative ease of life here.”
Dissatisfied with his last two jobs as
an employee and aggrieved by the tax
on his performance bonus, at the age
of 35 Exter concluded that the only
way to do what he felt was right for
him was to run his own business. He
created Westartup as a means to find
nascent business opportunities, but
soon realised he could make a living as
a trainer, coach and event organiser for
entrepreneurship. Now he specialises
in training entrepreneurs on business
models, marketing and networking
skills, and consulting for government
agencies, non-profits and investment
funds on developing entrepreneurial
communities.
Exter says that without a mastery of local languages he has found it harder to
establish his credibility. “I’ve overcome
that by doing interesting and visible
things that involved Belgians, so the
word has spread.” But he does see
significant disadvantages in starting a
business here. “It’s a tiny market yet it’s
hard to reach because of the fragmentation of media and having to use three
languages. There are few opportunities
to sell your business here, so you’re
practically forced to go abroad. Labour
is expensive, and social charges and
taxes make it worse. Investment capital
is hard to come by – in the tech domain
there are very few experienced business
angels and venture capitalists, while in
other domains there are practically no
investors at all.” On the positive side,
because Belgium is small and people are
interconnected, “if you do something
worthwhile everyone and his dog will
know about it.”
In hindsight, he reckons he would have
started with a less ambitious business, selling a straightforward service
or product in a rich industry niche. He
would have spent more time researching the target market, understanding
customers and designing something to
meet their needs. Nevertheless, he has
no regrets. His advice to expats who
are contemplating the entrepreneurial
path: “By all means, do it – it’s an emotional roller-coaster and a challenge like
you’ve never seen in the job. It’s also
immensely gratifying.”
Vitalba Crivello, from Italy, came to
Brussels in 2005 for an internship at the
European Commission, and like countless other stagiaires decided to stay,
working in the private and public sector
as a consultant and project manager.
In summer 2011, tipped off by a friend
that a coffee shop in the Saint-Boniface
area of Ixelles was for sale, she saw
the opportunity to realise her dream of
owning a literary cafe and indulging her
passions for cooking and reading. So
she took the bold step of leaving the
Commission’s gilded cage to acquire
Blomqvist’s from its founder, a Swede
who had decided to cut his losses after
learning the hard way that the coffee
culture in Brussels was not as developed
as in Stockholm. Under his instruction,
Crivello mastered the trade of barista.
She kept the original name printed on
Vitalba
Crivello
Legal officer, European Commission
the awning but added books on the
shelves and expanded the menu with
her assortment of cakes, panini and
tiramisu. Her cafe was designed as a
place where people could read and discuss a book or magazine at leisure while
enjoying a drink and dessert. Her aim
was to offer clients top quality products,
from the coffee (imported from Italy
and prepared with a genuine Marzocco
espresso machine) to the homemade
organic food.
Her customers were mostly international young professionals, a mix of
expats and some Belgians. Business was
cyclical: successful on weekends with
a steady stream of regular and walk-in
customers from lunchtime until closing,
while on weekdays traffic was low, especially during office hours. As Crivello
was running the cafe herself with parttime help from family and friends, she
could not extend her opening hours,
nor could she afford to hire permanent
staff due to Belgium’s high cost and
strict rules of employment – a predicament faced by many shop owners.
The financial results fell short of her
business plan, and after nine months
she concluded that she would not reach
the break-even point in 18 months as
planned. Attempts to find a partner
to invest and share the workload fell
through, while a new contract at the
European Commission beckoned.
Finally, after a year, Crivello regretfully
accepted an offer to sell the business to
a group of Spaniards intent on opening
a tapas bar. She recouped her investment and incurred no losses.
Looking back, she found that, contrary
to common belief, it was quite easy
to start the company, with detailed
information available from the Brussels
Enterprise Agency and the guichets
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
21

Business •
“When an official
says to you ‘c’est
pas possible’, it’s
just the opening
of a negotiation”
d’entreprise. On the negative side, she
confirms the widespread complaint
about high taxation on self-employment: corporate and personal revenue
taxes, VAT and a range of fees and
taxes imposed on the hotel, restaurant
and cafe business in particular.
With hindsight, what would she have
done differently? “I would definitely go
for a partnership with somebody sharing my idea, since all the main issues I
had were related to the fact I was alone
in managing the business and ensuring
its daily running at the same time.”
Evelyne White, an American working for
a New York private equity firm, spent
a year in Brussels at its new European
headquarters in 2007. “I jumped at the
opportunity to spend time abroad, in a
city where I could speak French.” Two
years later, after completing her MBA at
Harvard Business School, she returned
to Brussels. Her job led her to meet with
entrepreneurs and she was intrigued
by their stories and accomplishments.
“I’ve always believed in pursuing one’s
passions. It’s the only way to be great at
what you do. I started researching business ideas, brainstorming constantly,
and ultimately decided to pursue an
opportunity at the intersection of multiple trends: the share economy, group
socialisation and the foodie and wine
trends.”
Brussels struck White as the perfect
place to test this concept, which she has
called Bookalokal; an online platform
that connects people through food
events: dinner parties, chocolate tastings, food tours, beer pairings. “Our
core product is a ‘gourmet adventure’
led by some of the most fascinating, fun
and talented hosts who are food bloggers, aspiring or retired chefs, stay-athome parents or artists with a passion
for combining food with a more creative
adventure. Our guests are expats, travellers and anyone who loves socialising
around food.”
She launched the first test site in October 2012, and in its first year Bookalokal
has grown to a community of more
than 300 hosts and 1,200 guests. Now
she has set her sights beyond Brussels
and Belgium to build the community internationally, and she has already found
hosts in more than 20 countries. Guests
from Brussels are starting to book with
hosts in other cities when they travel,
and Bookalokal’s next target is to reach
Evelyne
White
Managing director, Bookalokal
the traveller market.
White found the people at the VisitBrussels tourist office and other government
agencies helpful when she started. One
challenge she encountered as an expat
was the difficulty of accessing venture
funding. Because she is an American
citizen and has a stronger network in
the US, she shifted her attention to
finding investors there, and decided to
incorporate the business in Delaware:
one advantage of being an online business. And by letting her hosts do the
cooking and serving, Delaware spares
herself much of the overheads that
Crivello’s brick-and-mortar business had
to incur. With no employees in Brussels,
Bookalokal epitomises the concept of
the lean start-up.
Louise Hilditch’s tips
Leo Exter’s tips
•Planners do better – the obsessive planners who know where
they want to go, stick to their plan and constantly review and
adjust their strategy to get there
•Entrepreneurs have limited funds and capacity to do
everything that needs to be done, so be aware that it will
always take longer than you think
•Look forward to changes in regulations to increase
employment flexibility in 2014
•Talk to a lot of clever and experienced people
before you start
•Raise money. It’s much more fun to build
something with sufficient resources at hand
•Don’t get too attached to your idea: be prepared
to ditch it and look for a better one
•You have to earn your knowledge, and that
mostly happens by messing up
22
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Seven pointers
about starting a
business in Belgium
6
3
5
1
7
2 4
Belgium’s location, logistics
infrastructure,
quality of life,
well-trained
multilingual
workforce and model market
for the whole EU make it an
attractive location to set up
your business.
Most successful
businesses start
off as a hobby
before evolving
as a side job
to become a
main job, and with the right
decisions and a bit of luck,
can eventually end up as a
company listed on the stock
exchange. So it’s important
to start off with something
you enjoy and care about.
Having a good
idea is the easy
part. Before
you start, be
clear in your
mind what
your unique selling point
is and make a complete,
conservative business plan.
And do not be afraid to fail:
you will learn more from it
than from any success and it
will substantially reduce your
chances of failing again.
Make sure you
have a team
of people
with all the
necessary
competences,
networks, experience and
passion. Surround yourself
with people who are committed to making your business a success.
Legal and tax
considerations
are important,
but the realisation of your
business idea
is your number-one objective. Belgium is a relatively
high tax and social security
environment for companies
and employees and there is
plenty of red tape to negotiate, but there are ways to
lower those burdens, so
enlist the support of those
qualified to advise you.
If you need
capital or
financing to
realise your
business idea,
make sure that
you put your own money
and time in first.
Test out your
readiness for
the worst-case
scenario: to see
if you could still
survive if things
don’t go according to plan,
halve your estimated income
and double the necessary
costs and the amount of
time you think you’ll need to
get to your first milestone.
Don’t be afraid to fail: you
will learn more from it than
from any success
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
23
Agenda •
TurneR
& the Sea
JMW Turner’s art may have been
misunderstood in his time but today
the English Romantic ranks among the
giants of British painting. His maritime
tableaux in particular are esteemed
for their technical virtuosity as well as
their verve of expression, both perfectly
tuned to that most vigorous of natural
forces: water. Turner and the Sea is
the first themed exhibition focused
squarely on this element of the man’s
work. More than 100 works are on
display, many of them on loan from
European and American museums and
exhibited together for the first time.
The exhibition is accompanied by a
programme of related events including
a concert by the appropriately named
indie-rock group British Sea Power.
Until April 21
National Maritime Museum, London
www.rmg.co.uk
24
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Rockets and Blue Lights 1840 © Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA (photo by Michael Agee)
What’s on
outside Brussels
Historium
Djangofolllies
Django Reinhardt was born
on January 23, 1910 in
Liberchies, Belgium and,
although the gypsy jazz
pioneer’s stay was brief and
he would rise to fame rather
as a Frenchman, the Belgians
have always considered
him a home-grown hero.
So Brosella, whose bread
and butter is the summer
folk festival of the same
name, puts on a month-long
winter festival in his honour.
Djangofolllies (yes, with three
Ls) is about as extensive as
they get, encompassing more
than 30 concerts across the
whole of Belgium. Performers
come from all over Europe to
pay tribute to the master of
the manouche guitar. You’ll
see groups from Greece,
Germany, France, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and, of
course, Belgium. Representing the home country are the
Hans Mortelmans Group, La
Femme Belge and DjanGo-on.
Since its grand opening in
November 2012, Bruges’s
newest museum, Historium,
has proven itself a phenomenal success. This isn’t
your grandfather’s museum.
It’s more like a virtual time
machine that takes you on a
trip back to the heyday of its
host city. In 1435 Bruges was
a medieval metropolis, dominating the region economically and culturally. The heart of
the museum is a 35-minute
guided tour through a multisensory world that recreates
the sights, smells and feel of
golden-age Bruges. The visual
aspects of the museum have
recently been overhauled
by visiting art director Diana
Goodwin. This is the closest
you’ll get to time travel without a flux capacitor. Historium
also houses an interactive
exhibition, a chocolate shop,
beer cafe and a panoramic
terrace overlooking Bruges’s
beautiful central square.
www.historium.be
Cartier: Style
and History
Illuminations
The medieval meets the (post)
modern world just across the
border, in Lille. One half of
the Illuminations exhibition
showcases illuminated French
manuscripts and precious
objects dating back to the
Middle Ages while the other
half is populated by contemporary simulacra created by
controversial Belgian artist
Jan Fabre. It’s a rare glimpse
of more than 100 historical
pieces usually locked up in archives and well out of public
view. You’ll see books, bronze
statues and finely crafted
clocks. Then there’s Fabre.
The modernist echo provided
by his works (some taken
from a series titled Tribute to
Hieronymus Bosch in Congo)
will leave visitors baffled in
the best way possible. Illumination sometimes poses more
questions than it answers (see
page 30 for more).
Cartier’s uber-luxury jewellery
has become an obligatory
accessory in any rap video.
Indeed, the brand is so ‘now’
that one scarcely bothers
about its ‘then’. But the fact
is that the company has a
long history in the world of
French fashion. The exhibition Cartier: Style and History
follows the luxury house from
its not-so-humble origins as
jeweller to the kings to its
adoption of the modern aesthetic and its establishment as
the jeweller of reference for
the 21st century’s jet-set. This
is not just the history of one
brand, mind you; the social
history of France and Western
Europe is written into every
line of the story. The setting –
Paris’s Grand Palais – is every
bit as grandiose as the exhibition itself.
Until February 16
Grand Palais, Paris
www.grandpalais.fr
Until February 10
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
www.pba-lille.fr
January 14-31
www.brosella.be
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
25
Lifestyle •
Christmas
around the
world
 By Karen McHugh
26
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
Adriana
Marcov
Lives Genval
Nationality Romanian
Job UN procurement
officer
I’ll spend Christmas in Romania with
my daughters. Following Romanian
tradition, I clean the house thoroughly
before Christmas and the children clean
their boots and shoes. The week before
Christmas we fast: no meat, no milk or
egg products and no sweets. It’s kind of
a body detox and soul cleansing before
the Holy Night. On Christmas Eve we eat
the main meal: roast pork, stuffed cabbage leaves, pickles and Russian salad.
The children hang the decorations and
place the Christmas star on top of the
tree, which brings good luck and prosperity throughout the following year. On
Christmas Day we attend the service in
the village church.
Stefano
Palmerini
Lives Ixelles
Nationality Italian
Occupation Banker
This year we’re going
to Italy for the holidays. We spend a lot
of time with family and friends, relaxing and eating all day! On Christmas
Day we eat roast beef and potatoes
and lots of sweet things like torrone
(nougat), ricciarelli (almond biscuits) and
cakes such as panettone and pandoro.
Sometimes we take a day trip to nearby
Florence or another beautiful place in
my region, Tuscany. I’m already looking
forward to it.
Fredrik
Soderstrom
Lives Overijse
Nationality Swedish
Occupation Composer/music supervisor
For Christmas my family and I will go
back to Sweden, to just outside Stockholm. We will be celebrating traditionally with a lot of great food with family
and loved ones. There will be singing
and waiting for Santa, opening presents
and late nights. Some of us head to
church early on Christmas morning and
we eat traditional Christmas food – fish,
köttbullar (meatballs) and Jansson’s
temptation (potato gratin and herring,
which is really good!). After 15.00, we
all watch Disney on TV.
Expats
share their
holiday plans,
and explain
what Christmas
means to
them
Julia
Sandbrand
Lives Etterbeek
Nationality German
Occupation PhD
student
My parents live in a small town close
to Munich, which is where I’ll spend
Christmas. We eat, exchange presents
and enjoy the Christmas tree – with real
candles. Christmas Eve is a big deal in
Germany, much bigger than Christmas
Day. Germans eat all sorts of things
at Christmas: roasted goose, duck or
carp, or a simple meal of sausages and
potato salad. Christmas Day is usually
pretty quiet for us, but December 26 is
also a holiday – our relatives come to
visit and we celebrate together.
David
Alphonsine
Lives Schuman
Nationality French
Occupation IT
consultant
I’m from Reunion Island, which is in the
Indian Ocean near Madagascar. Since I
left the island I’ve always tried to go back
for Christmas. It’s a ten-hour flight, but it’s
nice to see your family for a warm tropical
Christmas. At this time of the year it’s
summer: the trees spread their red petals
everywhere, it’s beautiful. La Reunion is
a very religious island, and Christmas is
a big deal for most of the communities.
On the 24th we celebrate around a carri
(curry) of shrimp, rice and beans. Santa
can’t really come down the chimney
(there are none on the island!) but he still
finds a way to make the kids happy.
Javier
Gutierrez
Lives Brussels
Nationality Colombian
Occupation Marketing
manager
Colombia gets some bad press, so it’s nice
to share the good things about my country: its people and its customs at Christmas.
One such tradition is Novena, a nine-day
ritual leading up to Christmas Eve. Every
night we gather with friends and family
and narrate the story of Jesus, cook dinner
with typical Christmas dishes like buñuelos
(cheese fritters) and natilla (custard), and
sing carols. The big cities compete with
each other to be the prettiest, spending
hundreds of thousands of euros on lights,
big Christmas trees and social activities. It’s
the best time of the year to see the country
at its most beautiful.
Julian
Hale
Lives Woluwe-St-Pierre
Nationality British
Occupation Selfemployed translator/
writer
There’s always a fantastic atmosphere
in the UK in the run-up to Christmas.
You wonder if it will snow and it’s
great to go to parties, drink mulled
wine and hear people singing carols.
There are lots of rugby games going on around the country. Another
favourite, especially with my children,
is to go and see a pantomime. While
in London, a great thing to do is to
walk around Oxford Street and Regent
Street and see the lights, Christmas
decorations and the window displays
of the big department stories like Liberty and Harrods.
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
27

Lifestyle •
Philippe
Marteret
Lives Etterbeek
Nationality Australian
Occupation Engineer
At Christmas I look
forward to returning to Sydney for the
holidays. The season starts off with Carols in the Domain, an open-air concert.
Another essential is to meet up with
friends and go to the national park or
the beach, with the off-chance of finding Santa catching a few waves before
he has to make his deliveries. Christmas
Eve usually involves vigil mass and then
dinner with the family. Prawns are a
must, along with turkey or ham. Christmas morning is the sound of my cousins
itching to start opening presents, and
the afternoon will be spent with a barbecue lunch and everyone enjoying the
heat, relaxing by the pool.
Sally
Redfern
Lives WezembeekOppem
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Yoga
teacher
Every winter we return to the Swiss
village of Nendaz in Valais. The children,
two boys, now 15 and 18, learnt to ski
there and we regularly return to this station, especially at Christmas. We always
rent the same chalet on the edge of the
village. It’s not luxurious but it overlooks
the Rhone Valley and has a log fire and
wifi; an unbeatable combination. From
Haute-Nendaz you have access to the
4 Vallées ski domain, which provides
the kids with sufficient high-altitude
adventure. At Christmas the village is
chocolate-box pretty and full of enticing
food shops where I stock up on treats
for the week. We follow the local custom of a big family meal on Christmas
Eve – leg of lamb and dauphinoise potatoes is one favourite – while opening
our stockings. The following day we ski
and there is always a fun atmosphere
on the slopes. A couple of glasses of vin
chaud are likely to be on the menu too!
28
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
A Belgian
Christmas
If you’re staying in Belgium for the holidays,
there are plenty of ways to celebrate here. You
may miss the customs of home but embrace
what Belgium has to offer for the festive season, and maybe start some new traditions of
your own
Giving you plenty of time to warm up to Christmas, one of the first things to
get you in the spirit is the capital’s Christmas festival. It starts at the end of
November, when central Brussels erupts in a flurry of activity for what’s known
as Winter Wonders. The area around Place Saint-Catherine plays host to a
Christmas market centred on a skating rink and a big wheel, with more stalls
to be found at Bourse, where you can sip a mulled wine on your way to the
Grand Place. There you’ll find one of Brussels’ most original and impressive
traditions, a light display set to music. And the electronic Christmas tree that
divided opinion last year makes way this year for the traditional tree.
There are of course dozens of other markets around the country, from major
festivities in the big cities to smaller village affairs with a traditional feel. It’s a
great time to explore some of Belgium’s towns.
Christmas checklist
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Longing to hear your favourite carols? You’re spoilt for choice one
weekend: catch the Brussels Choral Society’s Concert for Christmas at
Bozar on December 14, or go to see the Brussels Carol Concert at the
Royal Brussels Conservatorium the day after.
One for the kids: the Christmas pantomime by the English Comedy
Club. This year it’s Jack and the Beanstalk, from December 5 to 7.
Missing your favourite Christmas goodies? Larger branches of Carrefour
and Delhaize stock some international seasonal fare, while Gourmet
Food and Gifts at Schuman, though expensive, may provide you with
your fix of sweet treats. And if Belgian meat just won’t cut it for Christmas, Jack O’Shea’s butcher is an idea for your turkey and ham needs.
Cabin fever? Make a day trip to Bruges or Liège over the holidays. Both
cities are renowned for their Christmas markets and Bruges is especially
quaint during the holiday season.
And when all the excitement of Christmas has passed and you’ve spent one
too many days on the sofa, head downtown and ring in the New Year with the
fireworks display at Mont des Arts in Brussels.
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Lifestyle •
In the
neighbourhood
Our tips on how to make a day – or a weekend – out of a visit
to the season’s top event
Jan Fabre
Lille
From any city in Belgium, Lille is only a short journey away. It’s
the biggest city in French Flanders, and one with a rich history.
The name is derived from the Latin insula (island, or l’isle) as
the area used to be dry land in the middle of a marsh. Nowadays, Lille is a popular spot for culture, shopping and good
regional food. The city’s Palais des Beaux-Arts is displaying
a series of jewelled bug-based mosaic works by Flemish
contemporary artist Jan Fabre in its atrium foyer; an allegorical
tribute to Hieronymous Bosch in Congo. Part of the Illuminations exhibition, it also features gilded bronze sculpture by
Fabre and rare French medieval manuscripts
30
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
for ferret). It stocks books
– including a large English
section – comics, magazines, accessories and plenty
of things to discover. If you
can’t make it, the shop has
an excellent online service.
Meert
L’Huitrière
Every city has its star baker.
And for Lille, the honours
go to Meert, a patisserie
founded in 1761 by pastry
maker Meert, from Flanders.
The recipe for the shop’s famous gauffre de Lille hasn’t
changed over the years: two
thin waffles filled with a
mixture of sugar, butter and
vanilla from Madagascar.
Visit the stunning shop or sit
down in the grand tea room.
The chef running L’Huitrière
is the great great-grandson
of Pierre Bailleul who in
1882 took over a small fish
shop dedicated to seafood.
He moved to larger premises
down the street and expanded the shop with a fish
restaurant. Since 1930, the
restaurant hasn’t been without Michelin stars. Expect
classic cuisine with a modern twist in a refined decor.
If you can’t book a table or
haven’t got the time to wine
and dine, you can taste
oysters and other delights at
L’Huitrière Boutique.
15 Place Général de Gaulle
www.furet.com
3 Rue des Chats Bossus
www.huitriere.fr
Lille is known for its great
shops and malls. If you’d like
to discover new brands and
designers, put Maisons de
Mode on your shopping list.
In a renovated former cinema, young and upcoming
artists work and sell their
creations in several small
boutiques: from clothes to
shoes, accessories to underwear. Every designer gets
to stay at Maisons du Mode
for a (renewable) period of
nine to 24 months, and is
guided in each step of their
development by professionals from the industry.
27 Rue Esquermoise
www.meert.fr
Hotel de
la Treille
Located in the historic heart
of Lille and only a few minutes’ walk from the Grand
Place, Hotel de la Treille is
the perfect base to explore
the city. The three-starred
hotel was recently renovated
and has 42 comfortable,
luxurious rooms. Book online for the best rates.
5/7 Place Louise de
Bettignies
www.hoteldelatreille.com
Le Furet
du Nord
Le Furet du Nord is one of
the world’s largest book
stores, where you’ll find
about 135,000 titles spread
over 7,000m2. The store
is on the Grand Place and
used to be a fur shop (hence
the name; furet is French
Markets
If you’re planning a trip to
Lille before the end of the
year, you’ll stumble on the
Christmas market on Place
Rihour, where 80 wooden
chalets serve gingerbread,
mulled wine and regional
specialities from all over the
world. Open every day until
December 30.
www.noel-a-lille.com
Maisons
de Mode
Nearly every town in France
has its own market, and
Lille’s Wazemmes market is
one of the country’s biggest
and liveliest on Sunday
morning. There are also
vendors, food stalls and
entertainment outdoors
on Tuesday and Thursday,
and the covered market is
open every day. It’s easy to
get there by metro: you’ll
find the market near stop
Gambetta on line 1.
Place de la Nouvelle
Aventure
58/60 Rue du Faubourg
des Postes
www.maisonsdemode.com
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
31
Comment •
And
finally ...
Samsung ships 81 million smartphones this
quarter, securing a
31% market share
From football joy to panda squabbles and drugged pigeons, Emma
Beddington looks back at some of
the events making the headlines
over the past 100 days
T
he happy news that, in a coup for SinoBelgian relations, two pandas would be
heading for Pairi Daiza zoo next year was
marred by political squabbles, with prime minister
Elio Di Rupo accused of promoting the Walloon bid to the
detriment of Antwerp Zoo.
“Pandas,” declared the
Pairi Daiza director “are
Chinese, not Walloon
or Flemish,” demonstrating the kind of
expertise that doubtless clinched the bid.
sep
2013
F
or the first time in 12 years
the Red Devils have qualified for the World Cup,
with an assured 2-1 victory over
Croatia in Zagreb. They enter the
tournament as fifth favourites
to win, so invest in your
tricolour wig and
horned hat now, while
stocks last.
Spain’s two-year
recession ends in
the third quarter
oct
2013
T
he hitherto tranquil world
of pigeon racing was
rocked by the revelation
that six birds in Belgium
had tested positive for
cocaine and other banned
substances. Half Lance Armstrong, half Keith Richards,
watch out for these avian
delinquents in a park near you.
Twitter launches
on the stock market
A
haul of 1,400
apparently Nazi
looted paintings, including works
by Matisse, Renoir and
Picasso, were found
hidden behind a wall
of tinned goods in a
Munich house. With
the recovered paintings
valued at approximately
€1 billion, is it worth checking out what lurks behind the
tins in your kitchen cupboards?
32
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
nov
2013
A Francis Bacon painting becomes the most expensive
ever sold at auction, fetching
€106 million
 By Derek Blyth
A stitch in time
I
haven’t, as it happens, torn my trousers, but if I had
done so, then I would know where to take them. There
is a little workshop on Rue Haute in the Marolles district
of Brussels where people have been going to have their
clothes repaired for the past three generations.
Marie-José Devroede has worked in the Marolles as an
invisible mender for the past 74 years. She was 14 when
she first picked up a needle and thread in a workshop in the
Rue des Minimes, earning a salary of 25 centimes an hour.
She now has her own little shop in Rue Haute with the word
Stoppage written in large letters above the window.
I often see her as I walk down Rue Haute in the morning.
She sits at a little table in the window working away patiently
with her needle and thread. She likes to start work at 7.00,
she says, because the light is best at that time. She is now 88
years old and has never taken a day off work. She could have
retired years ago, but she likes to keep busy and enjoys the
social contact.
The work Marie-José does is fiendishly complicated. She
has to start by cutting a piece of fabric from somewhere
where it will not be noticed, like a hem or side pocket. Then
she unravels the fabric thread by thread and reweaves the
garment until it is as near perfect as is humanly possible. It is a
fine craft like tapestry weaving.
Her shop on Rue Haute looks quite modest, but Marie-José
often gets distinguished people calling her for help. She
has done work for foreign ambassadors, senior politicians
and European civil servants. The royal family are among her
most faithful clients. They often send a chauffeur down to
the Marolles with some cherished garment that needs to be
repaired.
If you peer in the window, you will see a couple of framed
letters sent from an official at the palace. One of them thanks
Marie-José for repairing King Albert’s favourite Loden coat.
Another expresses gratitude for mending a hole in the prince’s
trousers. Marie-José has also mended a coat for Queen Paola
and darned a hole in one of Queen Mathilde’s pullovers.
It costs about €40 to mend a garment, so most of her work
involves expensive designer clothes. It doesn’t make sense to
repair a pair of jeans from Zara, so most people nowadays just
throw away damaged clothes.
All over Brussels, people are wearing clothes that Marie-José
has repaired. But you would never know, because her work
is invisible. Some people wonder what will happen when
Marie-José finally stops working. But that might not be for a
few more years. She was still sitting in the window bent over
a pair of trousers last time I looked.
expat time • winter • 2013/2014 •
33
Spotlight •
A new
perspective
The Fin-de-Siècle Museum opens in Brussels,
focusing on the city’s birth as a capital of art
The modern state of Belgium was born in 1830 but the fledgling nation wouldn’t
prove itself as a formidable cultural force until later in the century, when the first
generation of Belgian-born artists reached maturity. The new Fin-de-Siècle Museum
is consecrated to the years between 1865 (the year of seminal Parisian poet Charles
Baudelaire’s self-imposed exile in “pauvre Belgique”) and 1914. During these years
Brussels became an artistic as well as political capital, thanks to so many indefatigably
modernist young Belgians. Among them were visual artists like James Ensor, Constantin Meunier, Felicien Rops and Jean Delville (pictured), architects like Victor Horta and
Henry Van de Velde, and men of letters like Maurice Maeterlinck and Emile Verhaeren.
Opens December 6, 3 Rue de la Régence, Brussels
www.fine-arts-museum.be
34
• expat time • winter • 2013/2014
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