The Permanent Commission for Language Control (yes, we have such a thing) ruled that Saint-Gilles' new parking meters do not measure up to linguistic scrutiny. The 585 new meters only have English instructions for four key features: OK, Ticket, Cancel and Coin Return. The rest of the instructions are in French and Dutch as is legally required.
The Commission opened an investigation after receiving complaints from residents and Councilor Vincent Henderick (cdH). However, the Commission's decicions are not legally binding and Saint-Gilles says that it will not suspend payments for parking while the mess is sorted out.
Henderick insisted that, as a Brussels commune, it is obliged to provide all communication in both French and Dutch, no matter what the format. Otherwise the commune runs the risk of finding that all the parking meter payments are illegal, he said.
The company supplying the meters admitted to the mistake and will fix the linguistic oversight on all 585 meters by April 6. Only in Belgium will be back to report what OK has been replaced with.

The black market is estimated to represent as much as 20 percent of the economy, or €66 billion, based on figures from the Itinera Institute. The figure is calculated according to the discrepancy between declared revenues and actual expenditure. The main sectors affected are catering, hotels and construction.

An assistant at the courts in Turnhout pleaded guilty to destroying dozens of fines to reduce her workload. The 33-year-old woman was caught by a colleague who found bits of the torn-up fines in her bin. She stands to lose her job and be stripped of her right to vote when she is sentenced in April.

Prostitutes occupying the windows around North Station in Brussels are feeling the pinch of the credit crisis. While they pay between €150 to €300 a day to rent a window, the price is set to rise as Schaerbeek commune ups the taxes on the specialised ‘waitresses’ from €2,500 a year to €3,353. Last year, this tax brought in €450,000 to the commune, its third biggest source of revenue.

The boss of Belgian Railways (SNCB/NMBS) Jannie Haek was caught smoking in his office and fined €750. The bill was initially paid by SNCB/NMBS, but Haek was quick to reimburse and promised never to smoke in his office again.