According to the annual price survey of the consumer watchdog publication Test Achats/Test Aankoop, Colruyt has been found to be the cheapest supermarket in Belgium for the tenth year in a row. However, the difference with the Netherlands-based retailer, Albert Heijn, is very small. A shopping cart with branded, private label and unbranded products, vegetables and fruit is only 1 percent cheaper at Colruyt than its Dutch rival. Those who do not buy fruit and vegetables are better off at Albert Heijn. Discounters such as Aldi and Lidl are not…
Read MoreMonth: November 2018
Princess Astrid and ministers leave for largest trade mission ever to Morocco
Belgium’s largest ever trade mission departs today for Morocco, led by Princess Astrid and including 469 business participants. Joining the princess, who took over the leadership of economic missions when her brother Philippe became king, is foreign minister Didier Reynders, federal secretary of state for international trade Pieter De Crem, Walloon economy minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet and Brussels region’s secretary of state for international trade Cécile Jodoigne. Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois, whose portfolio includes foreign relations, will join the mission in Rabat on Tuesday. Following a meeting today with Princess Lalla…
Read MoreIn sad moment for EU, European Council endorses “best Brexit deal possible”
The European Council special meeting ended on Sunday with the Council endorsing the withdrawal agreement with the UK and approving a political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the EU and the UK. In what EU leaders described as a sad day for EU they underlined that the agreement was the best possible in the circumstances and will not be renegotiated. At the press conference after the meeting, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that he was satisfied with the unity among EU27 despite pressure from…
Read MoreVolvo Cars defers project to build Lynk & Co cars in Ghent
The Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars has deferred its plans to build, as of the end of next year, Chinese cars of the Lynk & Co brand (subsidiary) in Ghent, Belga learned Wednesday from the company. This project has been deferred due to increasing volatility on the Chinese market and growing macroeconomic insecurity. According to Volvo Cars, this decision will have no impact on employment in the Ghent plant. The Lynk & Co brand was launched in 2015 by Zhejiang Geely Holding, owner of Volvo Cars. Ghent is the location…
Read MoreEuropean Parliament brings parties to Cyprus conflict together
The Cyprus conflict is one of the world’s longest running international conflicts and has until now evaded a solution despite an UN-led peace process and EU support. The latest round of talks in June-July 2017 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots collapsed after the two sides were close accepting a framework for a solution presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The elements were related to territory, political equality, property, equivalent treatment, and security and guarantees. Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot part, the…
Read MoreDemonstration on 25 November in Brussels against violence against women
A demonstration will be organised this Sunday in Brussels for the International Day to Eliminate Violence against Women. Calling upon several dozen organisations, participants will demand “greater and mass commitment, and as a result local government action” around the issue. In Belgium, at least 33 women have already lost their lives since January at the mercy of a man. The organisers stress, “Although the speeches are almost unanimous in condemning violence against women, they are not yet being followed by action.” They evidence proof of this in their alternative analysis…
Read More120 jobs under threat at IKEA Belgium
A global restructuring plan announced by the Swedish furniture retailer IKEA could mean as many as 120 job losses here in Belgium. Most of the job losses will be at the company’s Belgian HQ in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) with the Human Resources Department being especially badly hit. Meanwhile, IKEA’s Belgian management has started talks with the unions in an effort to “limit the potential impact as much as possible”. Ingka Group, a holding that runs most of IKEA’s stores wants to thoroughly reorganise its operation. It wants stores to become…
Read MoreEU ministers approve draft Brexit deal
Ministers responsible for European Affairs of the 27 European Union (EU) countries on Monday approved a draft deal on the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU (Brexit) worked out last week by negotiators representing the two sides. “The first difficult step is done; the negotiations between the European Union and British Prime Minister Theresa May have led to a deal,” Austrian Minister Gernot Blümel said at a press briefing after Monday’s European Council meeting. “The question now is whether there is an approval of this deal in the UK and…
Read MoreDonate a shower to a homeless person with new voucher system
The organisation which runs a shower facility for the homeless has launched a voucher system to allow members of the public to help pay for the service. DoucheFLUX offers shower and other hygiene services for homeless people for the price of only one euro: shower, towel, flannel and flip-flops, toothbrush and toothpaste, razor and shaving cream, shampoo and soap. However the cost to the organisation is €5 per person, which includes water and energy, staff costs and the cost of infrastructure maintenance. Since the year from opening last May, the…
Read MoreBeer prices rise again in January
The AB InBev brewing giant will slightly raise the price of most of its beers on 1 January. Supermarkets and the Horeca sector could make consumers cover this increase, Het Laatste Nieuws reports Saturday. “We often advise to do so, although this should not necessarily be done immediately,” Raf Peeters, from Horeca Vlaanderen Association, comments. According to him, the Alken-Maes Group might also review its prices upwards. AB InBev – which owns Stella Artois, Jupiler, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Belle-Vue and Corona, among others – evokes a “slight increase in prices.’’ A…
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