The last parliamentary summary post is already from a while ago, so it's time for a new one. Some of this stuff might have been mentioned in the media, but a lot probably wasn't (because the US elections and 'rona are obviously more important issues), which is why I'm picking up the slack. Because being an informed citizen is being a good citizen, and isn't that what we all strive to be?

As usual, I have quoted the summary of the memorandum attached to each proposition, which explains the intended goal of the proposition. In order to increase the accessibility of my post, I have translated those quotations to English instead of putting them here in Dutch or French. I have put the TL;DR first and the long(er) explanations last.

Mind that this summary contains only a selection of some (potential) legislation, because listing everything that's going on is almost impossible due to it being too much for a simple Reddit post.

In short, this is some (potential) legislation that has been submitted, been debated, received an opinion from an advisory body, or been approved as of lately:

1. Nuclear tax: the federal government wants to fix the nuclear tax for the year 2019 at 129.5 million euro for Engie Electrabel and 7.5 million euro for Luminus.

2. Constitutional Court: three N-VA members want to change the manner in which the Constitutional Court rules on whether a law violates fundamental rights. Specifically, they want to take away the deciding vote from the Court's president in the case of a tie, and want any ruling of unconstitutionality instead to be made by an absolute majority of the Court's judges.

3. Parental leave: three Ecolo-Groen members want to grant long-term foster parents the right to parental leave.

4. Meal and eco cheques: one CD&V member wants to have the money of unused meal and eco cheques go to food banks and social assistance organisations instead of the issuing companies. The Council of State pointed out that the federal government can only indirectly legislate on this matter. The CD&V member submitted an amendment to address this issue.

5. Tax shelter: one CD&V member wants to pre-emptively address some issues the European Commission may have with the Belgian tax shelter for the video games industry.

6. Basic banking services: the plenary Chamber adopted a law to guarantee access to basic banking services for companies to whom opening a bank account is refused.

7. Purchasing power vouchers: six PS members want to aid economic recovery by by stimulating domestic consumption, through handing out 200 euro in "purchasing power vouchers" to people with a low or medium income. The Court of Audit estimates that this scheme would cost the State at least 681 million euro.

8. Expelling EU citizens: five Vlaams Belang members want to further clarify when EU citizens or their family members pose an "unreasonable burden" on our social assistance system, in which case they may be expelled from our country under European law.

9. Stillborn children: two N-VA members want to abolish the limit of 140 days of pregnancy for the purpose of recognizing stillborn children.

10. Pardons for criminal sentences: five Vlaams Belang members want to declare Article 110 of the Constitution open for revision, in order to abolish the right of the King (read: the federal government) to grant pardons for criminal sentences imposed by the courts.

11. Hunting trophies: two sp.a and one PS member want to ban the import of hunting trophies of certain endangered animal species.

12. Assistants of former ministers: ten N-VA members want to reduce the number of assistants former ministers get to keep and the duration for which they get to keep them.