Asylum seekers from other EU states arriving here will not qualify for benefit from Belgian social services for the first three months of their stay. On Thursday the lower house of the Belgian Parliament passed fresh legislation aimed at restricting the influx of asylum seekers.
It's especially in the city of Ghent (East Flanders) that the arrival of large numbers of Roma travellers placed an inordinate burden on local social services.
Though social services won't be bound to provide any support, they do have to make sure that asylum seekers who earn less that the living wage have a reception place to go to.
Failed asylum seekers who are being expelled get thirty days in which to leave the country. Until now they only got five days by law, but in practice this was too short to be enforced.
MPs also had a message for the six parties attempting to form a new Belgian Government. Mr Di Rupo and his colleagues were told to make one single minister responsible for asylum and migration policy.
The legislation received broad support. Only the greens voted against. The far right Vlaams Belang abstained.