Finance ministry’s ‘Civil Servant Orchestra’ costs 1,022 working days a year
Belgium’s Federal Public Service (FPS) Finance is facing scrutiny after figures showed that its in-house orchestra accounts for the equivalent of 1,022 working days annually, or roughly five full-time civil servants. The figures were reported by Het Nieuwsblad and subsequently covered by De Standaard, Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg.
The data were requested by MP Franky Demon (CD&V) from finance minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) and minister for public administration modernisation Vanessa Matz (Les Engagés).
At the centre of the debate is the Royal Harmony of Finance (KHF). The orchestra counts 38 active Finance civil servants among its members. They are permitted to rehearse and perform during working hours. In 2023, the orchestra’s activities amounted to 3.27 full-time equivalents (FTEs). This rose to 4.89 FTEs in 2024 and reached 5.11 FTEs in the first eleven months of 2025.
According to information provided by Matz, the KHF rehearses on average three to four times a month on Thursday afternoons. The “civil servant musicians” gather at a parish hall in Antwerp, with travel expenses from Brussels reimbursed by the state.
Political questions over public spending
The orchestra declined to comment to the press. Demon stated that his concern was not directed at the musicians themselves, but at what he described as a systemic flaw in the way such activities are accounted for within the civil service. He has questioned whether, in a period of budgetary restraint and calls for efficiency within the federal administration, this use of working hours remains justified.
The issue arises as the federal government continues to emphasise cost control and administrative reform. Jambon has indicated that he intends to investigate the matter further, examining whether adjustments are needed in how cultural or extracurricular initiatives within government departments are organised and funded.
© PHOTO FRANK / AFP
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