Three auditors appointed to the Federal Pensions Service for 2025-2026

A ministerial decree of September 17, 2026 appoints a college of three auditors to the Federal Pensions Service (FPS) for the audit of accounting operations for the 2025 to 2026 budget years. Published in the Belgian Official Gazette on September 24, 2026, under reference 2026/202382 (p. 51398), the text is signed by the Minister of Pensions J. Jambon and the Minister of Budget V. Van Peteghem. It withdraws the ministerial decree of June 10, 2025, regarding the appointment of an auditor to the same service and corrects the error contained therein.

The legal framework and selection procedure

The decree originates from the Federal Public Service Social Security and is based on Article 108 of the Constitution, Article 47 of the law of July 26, 1996, on the modernization of social security, Article 4 of the law of February 28, 2022, containing various social provisions, Article 25 of the Royal Decree of April 3, 1997, regarding the accountability of public social security institutions, as well as the Royal Decree of November 14, 2001, regarding the exercise of the mission of auditors to public social security institutions, as amended by the Royal Decree of June 30, 2024.

The appointment results from a restricted call for tenders launched on March 13, 2024, for which bids were duly received by the submission closing date. The award criteria selected are as follows:

• the overall annual price, for 40%;
• the quality of the approach plan, for 40%;
• the volume of working hours expressed in NHER, for 20%.

The file received the opinions of the Finance Inspector dated December 20, 2024, and September 9, 2026, as well as the agreement of the Minister of Budget given on September 15, 2026.

A college of three auditors from the same firm

Article 1 of the decree appoints three people, all presented by the same firm:

• Cécile Theunissen;
• Ahmed Fourati;
• Sara Steyaert.

These auditors are appointed from the auditing firm Callens, Vandelanotte & Theunissen, registered in the public register of the Institute of Statutory Auditors. Their mission concerns the audit of accounting operations for the 2025 to 2026 budget years at the Federal Pensions Service (FPS).

Capped, indexable, and regulated remuneration

Article 2 sets a remuneration ceiling of 55,680 euros excluding VAT per audited budget year. This price may be indexed according to the formula Pi = Pb X Io/I1, where Pi is the indexed price, Pb the base price of the bid, I1 the health index of the month the bid was sent, and Io the health index of the month preceding each invoicing.

By way of derogation from this ceiling, any additional service requested by the supervisory authority and falling within the immediate extension of the entrusted mission shall be remunerated on the basis of flat-rate amounts:

• 145 euros/hour (excluding VAT) for a permanent representative;
• 105 euros/hour (excluding VAT) for an experienced collaborator.

Withdrawal of the decree of June 10, 2025 and retroactive effects

Article 5 withdraws the ministerial decree of June 10, 2025 relating to the appointment of an auditor for the Federal Pensions Service. The recitals of the new text explicitly justify this repeal due to “the error contained in the ministerial decree of June 10, 2025, which must be corrected.”

Article 6 specifies that the new decree takes effect retroactively from June 19, 2025, which covers the entire targeted audit period.

Scope of the decision

For readers, the decree legally secures the certification of the accounts of the Federal Pensions Service: it replaces an appointment marred by error, extends the mission to a college of three auditors rather than a single one, and establishes a precise, capped, and indexable pricing framework for the 2025 and 2026 financial years. The retroactive effect to June 19, 2025, avoids any discontinuity in the audit of the institution’s accounting operations.

Official source: Belgian Official Gazette of September 24, 2026, No. 215, p. 51398 — Ministerial decree of September 17, 2026 relating to the appointment of a college of auditors for the Federal Pensions Service, reference 2026/202382.