summer 2013 • n°2 expat time · sales executive • helena vreedenburgh account executive •...

expat time

In thIs Issue

Investment challenges

Hit Belgian dance festival goes international

The nomad lifestyle

Essential lifestyle and business insights for foreign nationals in Belgium

Summer 2013 • n°2

IntervIew

“This is a period of fundamental change”

CAtherIne stewArtChairmanInternational,Interel Group

ING_Magazine_Gosselin_Mar2013.pdf 1 11/03/2013 14:53:19

the art of investing

In the first issue of Expat Time, we asked whether art is an investment. Eventually, our three experts all came to the conclusion that it is not. Art is chosen with the heart; only in time may it prove to also be a good investment.

Swap the words in that question and we end up with ‘Is investment an art?’ With the definition of art being ‘the most individual expression of the most individual emotion’, the pragmatic business people among us may conclude that yes, investment is an art. But isn’t it a mere facilitator of the only true art we all have - the art of life itself? That’s why in this issue we look at the many aspects of planning your life.

Nomads have been roaming the earth since the beginning of mankind. In the West these days, our lives have become largely sedentary. But now it’s easier than ever to travel the world thanks to the digital revolution and flexible working practices. In this issue we explore the possibility of being an ‘international nomad’ around the globe.

I wish you an enjoyable read.

Dave DeruytterHead of expatriates and non-residents ING Belgium

ING Expat is also on Facebook: facebook.com/ingexpats

expat time • Summer • 2013 • 3

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In thIs Issue

ColofonEditor • Sarah CrewDeputy editor • Sally TipperArt director • Paul Van DoorenProject coordinator • Thomas BuytaertContributors • Emma Beddington • Derek Blyth • Katy Desmond • Katrien Lindemans • Ronald Meeus • Georgio ValentinoCover • Catherine Stewart, by Bart DewaeleSales executive • Helena VreedenburghAccount executive • Evelyne Fregonese

Expat Time is a publication from ING Belgium SA/NV, Marnixlaan 24 1000 Brussels Brussels RPM/RPR, VAT BE 0403.200.393and Ackroyd Publications SA/NVEditorial • Content Connections (department of Ackroyd Publications SA/NV) and ING Belgium SA/NVPublisher • Hans De Loore Gossetlaan 30, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden

get ConneCted

6 Meet four expats living in Belgium

IntervIew

8 Briton Catherine stewart talks about lobbying in Brussels and the boardroom battle of the sexes

BusIness

14 Live the dream as an international nomad

AgendA

16 our pick of upcoming culture in Brussels

FInAnCe

18 Consider all your investment options with three experts

AgendA

24 Cultural highlights around Belgium and beyond

FoCus

26 the Belgian connection in the international explosion of electric dance music

dIgItAL

29 new apps and gadgets for summer

neIghBourhood

30 eat, drink, shop and sleep in Amsterdam’s museum quarter

And FInALLy…

32 A sideways look at the news

expAt LIFe

33 writer derek Blyth’s take on life far from home

spotLIght

34 Focus on the netherlands’ renovated rijksmuseum

P 15 Corbis

P 17 Brussels Beach and Ommegang, VisitBrus-

sels/Eric Danhier; Brosella, © Marieke Velthuis;

Floraliën, Floralies

P 18 Corbis

P 21 Corbis

P 25 Gentse Feesten, City of Ghent

P 26-28 ID&T Belgium

P 30 & 35 Courtesy Rijksmuseum

P 31 Vondelpark, Wikimedia Commons/Jorge

Royan

P 32 Corbis

Photo credits

8IntervIew

Catherine Stewart at the table

Expat Time talks to the chairman

of Brussels’ leading public affairs

consultancy on living and lobbying

in Belgium

18FInAnCe

Investments in Belgium

ING’s Thierry Masset provides his

insight into the economic crisis.

Plus the financial implications of

buying a home in France, and tax

rules for US expats

26FoCus

Tomorrowland goes global

Following the launch of its first US

spin-off, we explore the success of

the Belgian dance music festival


Profiles •

get connectedFour expats tell us about how they came to Belgium

Márcio was born in Angola. His family fled to Portugal when he was one year old be-cause of the civil war. He now lives in Auderghem and enjoys surfing as a hobby, heading to the Belgian coast for a few North Sea waves

Márcio Sampaio“Brussels is a cosmopolitan and eclectic city”“I graduated in information and communication technologies in Portugal. After about a year I moved to Belgium in 2008 to work on a project for the European Commission which also involved living and working in Luxem-bourg. I then moved to the private sector, working for an IT consulting firm as IT project manager and I completed a master in management at the VUB in Brussels. Now I am working as an IT application manager for the Leuven-based software development and engineering services company LMS Inter-national, a Siemens business. One of the things I like about Belgium is its dynamic labour market. Despite the current economic climate it is still relatively easy to find a job. I enjoy the international atmosphere of Brussels; it is a cosmopolitan and eclectic city. It also has a very good public healthcare system. The downside is of course the weather, compared to Portugal. Another disadvantage is the poor public transport network. I commute to work by car, and don’t like the congestion or some Belgian drivers.”

Louise Johnson“Bad points are the local bureaucracy”“I moved to Belgium twenty-two years ago as an English mother-tongue secretary when the London law firm I worked for opened an office in Brussels. After two years I moved to another Brussels branch of a London law firm as office manager. Finally, at the third attempt, I passed a competition for a post at the European Commission. My main reason for staying here was that I married a Belgian and we settled in Nivelles with our two children. We are now divorced and I live in Forest in Brussels. There are lots of good points to living here: excellent res-taurants, beautiful countryside and extremely good travel connections to the rest of Europe and the world. Another advantage is the excellent healthcare. Bad points are the local bureaucracy, ridiculous political situation and the interminable works that go on for example at the Arts-Loi metro station, which are dirty, dangerous and neverending.”

Louise is British and has two children, aged 17 and 21, who have dual British/Belgian nationality. The younger is at the European School in Uccle and the elder is at Cardinal Mercier College, when she is not waitressing in local cafes

6 • Summer • 2013 • expat time

Gilda Neiman“we have an excellent quality of life in Belgium”“I’ve been living in Belgium since 1983, when I mar-ried a Belgian who I met when studying in Germany. We live with our two children in Woluwe-Saint-Lam-bert. While living in Belgium I have always been a cor-porate banker, working thirteen years for JP Morgan and then Citigroup for fourteen years. We have an excellent quality of life in Belgium. It’s particularly ad-vantageous if you have children (the more, the better) and have medical needs. Retirement will be hopefully well-covered by a defined benefit pension plan in ad-dition to the state pension, though this is something that will likely start disappearing for younger genera-tions. On the other hand, the weather is not great.”

Gilda and husband Jean-Pierre have a 16-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter with dual Belgian/American nationality. They are both studying at College Saint-Michel in Brussels

George Brown“we enjoy the culture, the history and the opportunity to travel”“I was educated as an electrical engineer and have worked primarily in technical project management. I have moved many times over the years, and have worked in several cities in Canada, the US, the UK and Belgium. I first came to Belgium to work at Nato and I met my second wife here. She is Belgian and was later transferred to the US by her employer. I joined her a year later when I retired from Nato. We lived there until May 2011, when we returned to Brussels. We had kept our house in Wemmel but moved into an ideal apartment in Wezembeek-Oppem last year. We enjoy the culture, the history, and the opportunity to travel to so many other countries: Brussels is truly the crossroads for much of Europe. Other

advantages include good medical services and out-standing restaurants. The downside is the cloudy

sky and many complain about the long, harsh winter, but that was also the case where I

lived in Europe and North America.”

George was born in Canada and has dual Ca-nadian and Irish nationality. His first wife passed away 15 years ago and his two children and four grandchildren all live in Canada. His stepson lives with the family in the Flemish region near Brussels. He is a founding partner of the award-winning audiovisual media firm Lapino Albino


Catherine Stewart, Chairman International of Interel Group, talks to ING’s Dave Deruytter about living and lobbying in the European capital

The art of compromise

By Katy DesmondPhotos by Bart Dewaele


Rod Scrivener

Catherine Stewart came to Brussels in 1984 to work as a lobbyist in the heart of the EU. Today she is Chairman International of

Interel Group, Brussels’ leading public affairs consultancy. Juggling her work with positions on the executive board of the Belgo-British Conference and the Council of the British Chamber of Com-merce in Belgium, as well as a Belgian husband and two Belgo-British children, Stewart proves that being an expat does not necessarily mean being completely separate from Belgium: “You can have a foot in both camps.”

what does ‘lobbying’ mean for you, and what makes Brussels one of the world’s top lobbying cities?

When I first came to Brussels in the 1980s, lobbying was very much a dirty word. It still is in a way. But I use it because I think it is important to be honest about what you are doing. And, actually, the source of the word ‘lobby’ is a well-rooted element of democracy. It comes from the central lobby of West-minster in the House of Commons in

The art of compromise

London, which was the place where any constituent in the country could come to meet their member of parliament to make their case.

That was what lobbying was originally about: providing a space for the general public to meet directly with their elected representatives. And I still see lobby-ing in Brussels as very much this. It is advocacy, like standing up in a court of law and convincing the jury of your par-ticular interest. Lobbying is not the art of win or lose, it is the art of consensus and compromise.

What is unique about Brussels is that lobbying here is based on issues rather than party politics. In Washington DC or London, lobbying is driven by the manifesto of a particular party. Here in Brussels, it is a rather different animal, driven by issues: by the financial services legislation package, the environmental package, the energy package of legisla-tion and so on.

It is also not driven by finance. Wash-ington DC is driven by contributions to political finance: political action groups, party finances and campaign funds. So inevitably there becomes this relation-


Interview •

ship of debt between the lobbyist and the legislator. Here, that is not the case. In Brussels you meet people on the ba-sis of issues, of subject matter, and the best lobbyists are the people who can make their case most effectively.

how have you seen the economic crisis affect eu policy?

I think the economic crisis dominates the debate about Europe and that is what most people think is happening in

Brussels right now. But in fact there is a lot of other work that still continues that is rather eclipsed by the economic debate. The work going on about the environment, health, food and trade are big issues and are very important for the long-term growth and health of the EU economy. All of these continue to be driven from Brussels, although the newspapers tend to focus on the economic crisis.

where do you see the eu heading?

I think we are definitely in a period of fundamental change. I think the euro and the eurozone will survive, but it will probably be a smaller, tighter club man-aged centrally. This will be one focus of Europe, with a second, broader focus on trade and markets. How we will reach this situation, what it will look like and who will belong to which group-ing? Well, we will find that out in the ballot boxes in the next few national elections.

In the meantime, many states have been thinking about what they want and what they expect from Europe, as well as their own position as a coun-try in the world, with or without EU membership. But of course, in view of the rise of large developing nations, we must also remember that we gain

tremendous negotiating power as a block of 28, much greater than we ever would as single countries.

you recently wrote a pub-lication on the ‘boardroom battle of the sexes’. what is your view on quotas for women on boards?

I have very mixed views on this. I think it is an open debate and that there is certainly a case for creating incentives for companies to put more women in management positions. I am not totally against quotas, but where the emphasis should lie is on encouraging companies to bring women through the system. We need to help women at much earlier stages in their careers to give them the confidence to take on those roles.

This also means you need to help men to take their share. The men need to be allowed to leave at quarter to six so they can be at the creche by six, because if the husbands cannot do that, then the wives cannot stay on for the late meeting or do the business trip.

It is a process and I think the next gen-eration are educated into an expecta-tion of shared responsibility. But the reality is that a lot of women find it very difficult to go through those transition

“In Brussels you meet people on the basis of issues, of subject matter”


“I am not totallyagainst quotasfor women”

years. So we have to do everything we can to provide them not only with boardroom places, but with opportu-nities throughout their careers to experi-ment and to learn.

to function efficiently in a team, what should the sexes know about each other?

I think, classically, men need to learn to listen and women need to learn to speak. Women are often very vocal one-to-one or in a small group, but I notice so often that in a larger group, the women tend to sit back and listen and the men tend to speak.

It is really the role of the chairman to ensure that everybody around the table is encouraged to speak, so this role is very important for any board, particular-ly for new members. If we are going to have lots of new women as members, they need to be encouraged.

what do you do outside the office?

For a working mother, your main hobby is your children. And I have always said – rather naughtily – that like all good hobbies, you should not have quite enough time for your children. That is when you enjoy them the most. I have always been very committed to my family while work-ing full-time.

Beyond that, I have always been interested in design. One of my jobs many years ago was as a design editor for House and Garden magazine, so I used to visit houses to write about the design. Now I have more time to do that. Here in Belgium there is fabulous design and architecture, so I often go to look at furniture design and fash-ion – wonderful, wonderful fashion. I also go to the opera. I have always thought the Flemish productions, particularly in Antwerp, are fantastic, and La Monnaie is world-class.

“We gain tremendous negotiating power as a block of 28, much greater than we ever would as single countries”


Interview •

what advice would you give to an expat just moving to Belgium?

Enjoy the country in which you are living. It is always very easy to compare your host country with your home

country. No two countries are ever the same, so you will always feel foreign. Take time to explore, because it is often in the small things that you will find the charm. When I was younger and single, I spent many happy weekends just walking around Brussels – the wonderful backstreets all around Place Sainte-Catherine, the oldest corners of Brussels.

Read about the history of the country you are in, because the more you read, the more you will understand. I think it is beholden on us to invest a little time in learning Belgium’s history so we can understand the contemporary chal-lenges it is facing.

what role do you think expats should play in their host community? And at home?

As expats, we have a lot to contribute to how different nationalities, races and

cultures can find a way to live together. One of the saddest fallouts of this eco-nomic crisis is this growing nationalism and enmity to anyone who is different, be it racially, nationally or economi-cally. And that is worrying. Yet I think we have something to offer in terms of understanding that people are different and that there are many different ways you can lead your life.

As expats, we have also probably been the most privileged – we have had the good education, we have had the opportunities, and with that comes responsibility. We need to exercise that responsibility both when we go back to our home countries and when we live in our communities. To give something back to the community that is hosting you, yes, but also to encourage your home communities to think a little more broadly about the world we live in and its people, and how we share the goods of our planet. After all, we are the privileged ones who have had the most benefit from it.

“I think men need to learn to listen and women need to learn to speak”


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Business •

gone roaming By Dave Deruytter

In this age of international mobil-ity, technology offers enticing possibilities to live like a global nomad. Smartphones, tablets, Skype, webcams and videocon-

ferencing all help you operate from almost anywhere on earth.

As an international nomad you can freewheel, following good weather around the globe or pursuing personal or work interests, and such a life could also have its fiscal advantages. Imagine you’ve cashed in your pension and are living off capital. Every year, from May to August you live in Brussels, with brief trips to the coast or the Ardennes. From September to November you are in Tuscany, enjoying food and wine, beaches and art cities. As the European winter sets in, it’s time to roam further afield. Pick your favourite southeast Asian countries for bustling cities, di-verse cultural heritage and some of the best food and beaches in the world. In March you ski in the French Alps before heading to the Côte d’Azur to complete your nomadic year.

So how does this affect your fiscal pro-file? You may have a small apartment in or around Brussels. Elsewhere you rent a house, or laze in a good hotel. In doing so, you are actually a Belgian

fiscal resident. If your sole income is from investments, you are in a low tax bracket in Belgium. Nationals of some countries, for example Americans, may also have tax obligations in their home countries, and all may be liable to pay tax on certain assets, such as property or foreign pension assets.

If you have a job you can essentially do online, it doesn’t matter where you are. You can join conference calls with your mobile or use Skype to join meetings, all while sitting on the beach. So what are we waiting for? From a taxation angle, Belgium may not be the top choice if you are working, though if you’re self-employed or have your own management company, Belgium could still work as a base. If your business is not entirely in Belgium, the income can sometimes be structured to be partly taxed outside Belgium, at lower rates.

But is this lifestyle sufficiently green or sustainable? With some planning, even an international nomad lifestyle could fit into an ecological endeavour, and maybe reduce your tax bill along the way. To move from a large villa in the Brussels suburbs to a 200sqm apart-ment in the city, while enjoying the gardens of the world for a few months at a time, may actually reduce your car-

bon footprint, or at least not increase it. Business trips may oblige you to fly around the planet, and what about the carbon gases emitted on your odd break in Barcelona, Venice or Athens? If the environment is a priority for you, consider casting off and sailing around the world instead of using more fuel-consuming modes of transportation – though I wonder whether you’d have access to 4G internet on the ocean.

Dreams intorealityHow can you get your finances in order and make this dream way of life a reali-ty? It pays to plan. Not everything in life can be planned and plans don’t always turn out the way they were intended to, but it helps to structure your future so you end up with the lifestyle you want.

When you leave home for the first time, your prime concerns are simple: health, food and a roof over your head. But these require money, so you look for a job that will hopefully turn into an inter-esting career. With your employer you look at medical care and take the first step towards building a private pen-sion. Soon considerations on whether to buy your own home arise, leading


to thoughts about mortgage and life insurance, or savings for future projects to be put aside.

There may come a time when you con-sider setting up your own business, and you will want to keep investing in it. Some entrepreneurs are successful and sell their business or float it on the stock market; others go bankrupt and start all over again. But when you put all your assets into your own company, you take a risk. If you diversify your assets, you take less risk and in the long run you have a better return. Understand your risk appetite and be aware that it may change.

As the Americans say, there are two things for sure in life: death and taxes. The tax man is never far away, and you should seek a balance between the tax advantages and the simplicity of man-aging your tax structure. Death is worth planning for, too. This can start with the right marriage contract, and a will is useful, though it’s important to check the tax consequences, particularly if you move your tax residence abroad. You may want to hand over your business to next of kin. This can be done, for example, by structuring your assets in a way that the ownership is handed over but the income from the investments is still yours.

Make sure you keep the necessary in-come from pensions or investments not only to fund your lifestyle but also to pay for medical care and the certainty of a roof above your family’s head – wherever in the world it may be.

UpComIng event organIsed by Ing & the bUlletIn June 25, Pensions ING Administrative Office, Orange Room 60 Cours Saint Michel, Brussels Free, 18.00-21.00, register

at [email protected]


Lifestyle •

what’s on in Brussels

Greymatters 17 © Jean-Baptiste Bernadet

young BeLgIAn Art prIze The Jeune Peinture Belge/Jonge Belgische Schilderkunst Award is Belgium’s oldest contemporary arts competition. Since 1950, some of the nation’s finest visual artists have participated, including Hans Op de Beeck and Pieter Vermeersch. But after 60 years, the biennial prize is due for an update. This time around it’s got a new look, a new feel and a new name: the Young Belgian Art Prize. Yes, it’s one single official name. And it’s in English, which, as we well know, is the lingua franca of global communications (and, in a country like Belgium, this unofficial fourth language allows one to circumvent regional linguistic tensions). Another major change: the man (and woman) on the street now has the opportunity to participate in the selection of the ING public prize, awarded in parallel with the four existing jury prizes. For all these changes, the basic principles of the competition endure. The art works of the laureats are shown at Bozar until September 15.

June 26-September 15www.youngbelgianartprize.beSponsored by ING



MIdIs-MInIMes FestIvAL

Most summer festivals are conceived as immersive weekend retreats to some far-off field, where one can forget urban life and absorb hours upon hours of liberat-ing music. Midis-Minimes condenses the format into your lunch break. Every weekday throughout July and August, at 12.15 sharp, Midis-Minimes puts on a short (35 minutes) and af-fordable lunchtime concert. Each day of the week has its own running theme. All told, you’ll hear music from the middle ages to the 21st century. Concerts are held at the Royal Conservatory. July 1-August 30www.midis-minimes.be

oMMegAng

History buffs are sure to love this epic, annual recreation of medieval life in Brussels. The main event is a parade in which over 1,400 costumed participants re-enact Holy Roman Emperor Charles V’s 1549 procession through Brussels, an event which

symbolises the city’s coming of age. Expect to see plenty of knights, damsels and men in tights. In addition to the parade, there’s a free medi-eval market on Place Agora and an entire medieval village erected at the Sablon. Period entertainments, falconry and equestrian competition are all on the agenda. July 2-4www.ommegang.be

BrusseLs BeACh

In its long history, the city of Brussels has gone from a fetid swamp to a thriving river and canal port. And, for one month a year, it’s also prime beach-front property. Brussels Beach is the festive and – of course – entirely artificial patch of sandy shore planted alongside the canal every summer for the past decade. Visitors can have a stroll or lay out in the sun while vendors supply a range of food and drink (barbecue and cocktail is probably the best combination). There’s live music, DJs, street thea-tre, beach sport and loads more entertainment and

recreation. One thing you can’t do here: go for a swim. Make-believe has its limits and this is still, after all, the Brussels canal. July 5-August 11www.bruxelleslesbains.be

BroseLLA FoLk And JAzz

Cultural association Brosella launched its signature fes-tival in 1977, making this summer’s annual edition of Brosella Folk and Jazz the 37th. The concept is simple: two full days of music in the open air. One is devoted to folk, the other jazz. Local and international artists alike are invited to perform in the Théâtre de Verdure, a delightfully pagan-looking amphitheatre hidden in the park at the foot of the Atomium. It may sound rather cloak-and-dagger but thousands of festival-goers find the spot every year. This is a family friendly event, with a parallel Brosella Kids programme packed with music, theatre and work-shops (pictured). July 13 & 14www.brosella.be

FLorALIën-tIMe

The only problem with Brus-sels’ majestic Flower Carpet is that it’s a biennial event, leaving us bereft of floral fabulousness in these tedious off years. Now, however, there’s an antidote to the Flower Carpet blues. The powers that be (namely the City of Brussels, the capital’s Flower Carpet committee and the Ghent flower guild Floralies) are inaugurating Floraliëntime, a major plant and flower arrangement event. Internationally recog-nised landscape architects will transform the interior of Brussels’ town hall into a walking garden hung with flowers from neighbouring Ghent. A relaxation garden will be constructed just out-side, on the Grand'Place. August 15-18www.floralientime.be

UpComIng events wIth Ing

• June 28-30, Couleur Cafe, World music festival, Tour & Taxis, Brussels, 2013.couleurcafe.be

• August 14, Belgium vs FranceFootball, King Baudouin Stadium, Heysel www.belgianfootball.be

Interesting times By Sarah Crew

Fight or flight: ING chief investment officer Thierry Masset outlines the challenge for investors navigating turbulent financial markets


has there ever been such a challenging time for peo-ple wanting to responsi-bly save for their future? Investors appear to have

a stark choice: leave their hard-earned money in zero-return savings accounts and low-yield bonds, or take the riskier path of equity funds. The seemingly safe option of property may not suit an expat unsure of the length of their stay in Belgium.

Thierry Masset, ING chief investment of-ficer, says, “These are interesting times. Five years on from the start of the crisis we are living in a world where eco-nomic growth is 3% compared to 4.5% in better times.” The US is reporting positive news thanks to a more buoyant property sector – symbolically significant as it was the subprime mortgage crisis that triggered the global meltdown – and unemployment being at a four-year low. China’s economy is still rising at 7 to 7.5%, he says, but growth is more limited than previously. Japan is an interesting case, he adds, as it has been trying to escape deflation for more than 20 years and is today taking new strong measures over monetary policy, inflation and fiscal policy. The EU remains the weakest world economy, with a definite malaise.

The main culprit is too much debt, says Masset. Having risen rapidly over the past 30 years, it weighs heavily on the economy as households in some countries go bankrupt or are forced to save to repay mortgages, with nega-tive equity an additional burden. The state also has a responsibility towards

debt, and while he agrees that financial institutions bear some responsibility for the crisis, Masset points out that the fiscal direction was already negative for many countries before 2008. Whatever the cause, the result is stagnant growth due to households spending less and governments resorting to austerity measures. Central banks in the US and Europe have responded with increas-ingly low interest rates to ease the debt pressure. The European Central Bank cut its shorter rate by 0.25 to 0.50% at the start of May to support the economy. With Europe debating auster-ity versus investment and growth, the solution is to find another way forward.

Predicting low growth for some years, Masset believes long-term action could improve the situation, despite the diffi-culty this creates for politicians who risk being ousted by voters. But individuals and markets need to see some green shoots. “If you do not have a sufficient level of confidence, you do not spend, you do not invest,” says Masset. “If people suffer too much, lose their job and benefits, it can generate social unrest. It is not a sustainable situation for countries to have an unemploy-ment rate of 26%, and 50% for young people.” He doesn’t believe Europe is avoiding the problem, referring to ECB president Mario Draghi’s speech in Lon-don last July in which he unconditionally supported the euro. The ECB’s plan to buy bonds from cash-strapped nations has prompted investors to reward pe-ripheral countries in the Eurozone with lower borrowing costs. The speed of the EU’s response could be questioned, but EU financial measures are in a cooling-

off period while the markets await the outcome of Germany’s general election in September.

Investors have two main objectives, says Masset: capital preservation and income generation. The crisis has meant private investors are focusing on the first. But the current situation creates a conflict between these objectives; banks call this financial repression. While low rates are essential for households and govern-ments to manage their debt, investors are pushed towards riskier assets in a bid to help kick-start the economy.

Banks, financial management compa-nies and independent advisors always assess a potential investor’s risk profile via a questionnaire. One consequence of the financial crisis has been to push investors’ risk profiles down, and only in the last quarter of 2012 did Belgians’ risk appetite stabilise, moving from ‘no risk’ to ‘open to some risk’, explains Masset. The difficult environment for investors means if they want to be safe, they have no income return. “But some views are too simplistic. To say a bond is safe and equity is risky is no longer true. During the crisis, clients may have

Chief investment officer of ING bank

Thierry Masset

“If you do not have a sufficient level of confidence, you do not spend, you do not invest”


Finance •

what is your investment history?

George Brown I never really had the time to follow the markets, so I bought funds and term

deposits through my bank. Everything went well until the financial crisis. Before we moved to the US, we were advised to sell all our funds due to its complex

taxation rules, so we kept only term deposits. When we moved back to Belgium, the investment scene had become more risky, and as a re-

tired person I bought very little funds. We used up most of our avail-able assets to buy our apartment. I have become risk adverse since 2008; though residential real estate in the Brussels area still seems to be a good bet. My advice is that you need to understand the fine print. Even if you are fluent in French or Dutch, it may be difficult to

understand the complex formulas in many of the structured funds available. The bank or other fund manager can often cancel if the

payout gets to be too great, but if the investor can cancel, it will be at market value, often with a penalty. I have found it better to stick to straight-

forward stocks, bonds, or similar funds. My other tip is when buying a term deposit, or other guaranteed fund, find out who guarantees the investment. Is it the bank, or another third party? This became very important when we found out that Lehman Brothers was responsible for some offers from local banks.

Gilda Neiman At first I was investing in Sicavs (investment companies with vari-

able capital), like any savvy European. Then I found out that I risked being heavily taxed by the US Inland Revenue Service, so I liqui-dated everything not allowed. You can invest directly into shares and bonds, but I don’t have the time or the patience. So I am now heavily into cash, company-sponsored pension plans and group insurance, the contributions and income of which are meticulously reported in my annual US returns to ensure I will not be taxed later when I retire and start benefiting. Most of my investment is in our home; having bought and sold a property in a popular EU neighbourhood. Belgian banks are not always aware of US tax issues. My current bank seems to tolerate having an American with a bank account, which means they will be doing the necessary reporting to the IRS.

Márcio Sampaio Due to the uncertainty and instability of Portugal’s social and

economic situation, I recently moved part of my savings to Belgium. But as a result of the extremely low interest rates for savings accounts

(when taking into account inflation, you actually end up losing money), I turned to investment funds. These are mainly mixed funds (bonds and stocks), although they also carry a certain risk. What appears to be a good investment option is buying property, instead

of renting. However, with the high taxes paid on the purchase price and the notary expenses, you need to be sure you are going to stay for a while in Belgium to make it worthwhile.

Louise Johnson My only investment in Belgium has been the house my ex-

husband and I bought together. We purchased it in 1994 and sold it in 2011. My share of the proceeds of the house are now sitting in a bank account earning 1.85% per annum interest, so I really ought to do something about it.

reduced their risk because the focus was on capital preservation, but you have to review this regularly. The risk relevant to your assets will change over time. The world is moving very fast and a correct conclusion two years ago might not be a good conclusion tomorrow,” says Masset.

He also recommends real diversifi-cation. Many Belgian investors tar-geted property as a safe bet during tricky times, attracted by its stabil-ity, low prices compared to neigh-bouring countries and the cautious nature of banks towards lending. But Masset doesn’t agree that this is the best option: “Investors will reduce their asset diversification if they will further sell their financial assets to invest in real estate. And people don’t ask themselves why the Belgian real estate market would be the only one to rise when for this you need a positive demog-raphy, interest rates to go further down and financial capacity for the household to grow.”

Masset recommends a coherent investment strategy, with a mid- to long-term investment horizon. The other trap to avoid during periods of financial stress is radically chang-ing course. “After two days of negative financial markets, people can be tempted to sell everything. In many cases, clients lose more money due to bad short-term decisions than they earn with good decisions and advice. It can cost you a lot if you are wrong.”

Personal investment is very much a personal choice: some investors seek danger while others flee at the first sign of market instability. So, exercise a little self-knowledge and then plan for turbulent times. You can preserve capital and ac-cept negative yields, but if you want to preserve your capital and have a 5% yield, you will have to take some risk. And that may well depend on your view of the current and predicted financial markets.


Enjoying theFrench way of life

Plan ahead before falling for a second home in FranceIt’s got sunshine, scenery and fantas-tic food, and for an expat in Belgium who’s already at home in continental Europe and has a smattering of French, a property in France is very attractive. If the second residence investment looks like becoming a permanent retirement home, the country’s new taxation rules require extra homework. Brussels-based Scottish expat Katie Boag-Thomson, a senior advisor for in-ternational financial planning company Fulcra, says buying property and moving to France has become more complicat-ed as tax laws have toughened up. “It’s become even more important to plan ahead,” she says.

It’s customary to use a local mortgage provider to buy property in France,

she says, though there are specialists in Belgium who lend to Belgians and expats. While many people divide their time between the two countries, Fulcra assists with investment and financial planning both in advance of a move and also once France becomes the main base. “Despite recent changes to the taxation of various forms of investment income and capital gains, the French government has left un-touched life assurance investments, which are popular with both residents and expats. The big advantage is that non-income assets – income that ac-crues with investments – are only taxed when you take money out. And the longer you hold them, the less you are taxed,” explains Boag-Thomson. “As the tax rate decreases, it creates a good long-term investment. The tax rate starts at 35%, after four years it goes down to 15% and after eight years it falls to 7.5%. From year nine onwards, there is also a tax-free allowance of €4,600 per annum, per person (so double if the life assurance investment is held in joint names).”

The much-publicised wealth tax that has seen many big names flee the country is less of a worry for non-French nationals as only assets in France are taken into account in the first five years of residen-cy. In addition, “a household can have €1.3 million of assets before wealth tax becomes payable and there is no wealth tax payable on the first €800,000 of your assets. For the property you live in, you declare only 70% of the market value,” says Boag-Thomson.

Non-EU regulated offshore life assur-ance investments are frowned on by the French authorities and should be avoided. Another significant difference is inheritance tax. As a resident you are normally considered domiciled for inheritance tax purposes, says Boag-Thomson, though UK expats are pro-tected by a double tax treaty between the UK and France which specifically covers inheritance taxes. The use of life assurance investments can also reduce any potential inheritance tax liability in France since beneficiaries can be nomi-nated and there is a tax-free allowance (of €152,500) for amounts paid out to


Finance •

each beneficiary. Any number of beneficiaries can be nominated and these are not restricted to close family, though you need to nominate before you’re 70. Life assurance investments are worth considering four to five years before you move, if possible, Boag-Thomson says. Early planning is also advisable if you expect to come into a lump sum from a pension fund. For UK pensions, for example, take it out before moving to France if possible, she suggests. One hidden cost is social charges, payable on investment, rental and pension income. “These are high and are, in effect, another layer of taxation. Social charges add another 15.5% to the tax payable on investment income and capital gains,” says Boag-Thomson.

Capital gains tax on the sale of property is another issue in France but not Belgium. “It doesn’t normally apply to your main house in France but can apply to other property. Consider selling in Belgium before moving, as rental income outside France is not normally taxable, but you have to declare it and this will push your taxable income into a higher tax bracket.” One advantage, though, is that France taxes the household and not the individual.

www.fulcra-international.com

Don’t forget to file your US tax return

Spare a thought for American expats in Belgium. Not only do they have to file tax returns every year, their investments are also severely restricted. The rules apply equally to Green Card holders and can affect anyone with even apparently tenuous family or business interests in the US.

One American who advises compatriots, Belgians and others is James McEvoy, managing director of Cross Border Planning, an investment, retirement and estate planning company. “We special-ise in anything that has a US connec-tion,” he explains. “A European married to an American, a European with a Green Card, a European couple with children at college in the States who decide to stay – which has inheritance implications – Europeans who want to buy property in Florida and, increasingly, young second-generation Americans. We help them organise themselves.”

Tax declarations for citizens and resi-dents make up an important part of the company’s work. McEvoy explains, “The regime in the US says we tax citizenship and not residency. No matter where you go in the world, if you earn money, you have to report back to Uncle Sam.” Seeking professional help is common, as tax forms are notoriously complex. “Laws change and you could end up losing out. You also have to declare for-eign bank and other financial accounts, which is not simple,” he adds.

The US led the charge in cracking down on worldwide money laundering by obliging foreign banks to provide in-formation about US clients. This is part of the reason why a record number of people are renouncing their US citizen-ship or handing in their Green Cards.

“US authorities want you to disclose where your monies are and what sort of investments they are in. They don’t want you investing in roll-up products, and they heavily penalise anybody who

invests in anything outside the US that is going to passively defer compensa-tion, which is the case for many invest-ment products here,” says McEvoy. The IRS applies a stringent tax regime. “In essence, the more money you make from it and the longer you hold it, the more tax you are going to pay. It’s their way of saying don’t do it,” adds McEvoy. An exception is an individual stock, held in a bank, he adds, though it will be subject to capital gains tax when sold.

Retirement plans often fall under a US-Belgian tax treaty and investing in prop-erty is another alternative, though you could trip up on the currency exchange when selling, and unlike Belgians and other expats you cannot benefit from tax-free rental income.

The safest solution is to hold your investment accounts in the States, says McEvoy. “We can set up accounts for US passport-holders and these pro-duce compliant tax reports with capital gain, dividends and interest for the previous year, which makes filling in tax declarations simpler. There is a currency exchange issue but as long as you have funds in both dollar and euro they can counterbalance each other.”

Bar renouncing citizenship, after be-coming compliant, US passport-holders have no choice but to follow the rules. McEvoy gives a sober reminder: “Unlike in Belgium, tax avoidance and evasion are criminal offences. You can go to prison.”

www.crossborderplanning.net

Senior advisor for internationalfinancial planning company Fulcra

KatieBoag-Thomson

Managing director of Cross

Border Planning

James McEvoy


seven pointersabout investment in Belgium

4 When you invest in finan-cial products outside the country where you are fis-

cally resident, you are usually obliged to declare the in-come. Some countries, such as the US, have citizen-based principles for declaring tax. If this applies to you, don’t for-get to file tax returns in that country too, even if you are a fiscal resident of Belgium or another country.

5 Property is usually taxed in the country it is in. The country where you are fiscally

resident may also require you to report it, or its income, which may affect your tax-able income or tax rate.

6 Double taxa-tion treaties between coun-tries usually mean you don’t have to pay tax

twice. Though there may be a small administration cost per year, ask your bank to

apply the double taxation treaties that affect you, particularly if you receive dividends from abroad. www.fisconetplus.be

7 It is advisable not to borrow money for investment purposes in the hope that

you can repay the loan with future gains. If your invest-ment fails, you still have to repay the debt. If you invest in a risky product, do so with money you can afford to lose, or your standard of liv-ing could be compromised.

1 Do your home-work: invest in products you understand; study the small print before you

buy; understand the risks and what return is expected or guaranteed. Know how to get out and at what cost. Be aware of the taxation of the product according to your personal situation.

2 Property can be a long-term investment, but it also ties up your assets, which is not

good for diversifying your portfolio. In theory, diversifi-cation, geographically as well

as by sector, lowers your risk and increases your long-term return. You also need to un-derstand the tax implications of owning property. There are other ways of investing in residential and commercial property, via listed companies or mutual funds.

3 Independent financial advice is rare. If you pay for advice without any obligation to

buy a financial product, then it is real independent advice. Though high street banks are not independent advisors, the product range they of-fer is large and can include third-party funds.

“If you invest in a risky product, do so with money you can afford to lose, or your standard of living could be compromised”


what’s onoutside Brussels

Music in the sun at

Jazz Middelheim

JAzz MIddeLheIM The Brussels Jazz Marathon may have come and gone in the spring but jazz is a year-round passion in these parts. Ant-werp’s Jazz Middelheim is the jazz event of the summer. The annual open-air festival boasts an international programme of 16 established acts and up-and-comers. Unlike other festivals, Middelheim also spotlights an artist-in-residence. This year’s nominee is Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan; he will perform on three of the festival’s four days, each time with a different line-up and repertoire. The local scene is well represented too. Belgium’s most famous (and, at age 90, probably oldest) jazz cat Toots Thielemans headlines opening night with his quartet. At the younger end of the spectrum is Melanie Di Biasio. The Belgo-Italian flautist and singer has been lauded in recent years for her contemporary approach to a genre which is approaching its centennial.

August 15-18, www.jazzmiddelheim.be Sponsored by ING

Lifestyle •


FrAnkensteIn

This summer, Villers Abbey transforms itself into an open-air stage for Emmanuel Dekoninck’s production of Frankenstein. The venue alone is worth the price of admission. Erected in the 12th century by monks of the Cistercian Order, the abbey has long since settled into a magnificent state of ruin. Mary Shelley’s gothic novel (adapted for the stage by Stefano Massini) is the perfect story to set against this backdrop. So perfect, in fact, that the production dispenses with fabricated sets and instead exploits a different corner of the abbey in each of its three acts. The audience follows the drama from the inner court to the transept and beyond. Think of it as walking theatre. July 11-August 10www.deldiffusion.be

gentse Feesten

The Gentse Feesten cele-brates its 170th birthday this summer, making it one of Europe’s longest-lived cultur-al festivals. But to the people of Ghent, it’s much more than that. There is no bigger party in their fair city. The event kicks off with a colour-ful parade during which the townspeople strut their stuff. Then, for the next 10 days, the city’s historic streets are colonised by performers and revellers of all stripes. There’s food and drink, exhibitions and film screenings, and - don’t worry, parents - plenty of activities for the kids. Open-air stages are scattered throughout the city, ac-commodating dozens upon dozens of live concerts. Most of the acts are of Flemish or Dutch provenance but you’ll find international artists on the bill as well. Best of all, it’s free and open to all.July 20-29 www.gentsefeesten.be

BeLgIAn grAnd prIx

Little-known fact: Belgians love cars. So it’s no surprise that Belgium hosts one of the most loved events on the Formula One calendar. Al-though it’s only one of 19 F1 championship races world-wide, the Belgian Grand Prix is a fan and driver favourite, thanks in large part to its legendary track. Indeed Spa-Francorchamps, christened nearly a century ago, is perhaps the most challeng-ing F1 circuit. Its 7km length is bowed and bent by some particularly extreme turns, which are made all the more treacherous by the region’s capricious climate. Drivers must expect the unexpected; they might have to negoti-ate rain-slicked asphalt and bone-dry patches in the same lap. August 23-25www.spagrandprix.com

nuIt des Chœurs

If you can’t make Franken-stein, here’s another fine rea-son to visit Villers Abbey. The Nuit des Chœurs is a unique sound-and-vision concept that takes full advantage of the ruins and their surround-ing gardens. Six internation-ally acclaimed choral ensem-bles are invited to share the bill; each performs several brief (20-minute) concerts in the abbey’s various nooks and crannies, which are en-hanced for the occasion by special lighting and projec-tion. This evening of vocal virtuosity has something for everyone, from the classic li-turgical chant of Ireland’s The Priests to the contemporary a cappella of Belgium’s Voice Male to the acoustic funk of American duo Luci Martin and Norma Jean Wright (the original vocalists of Nile Rodgers’ Chic). August 30 & 31www.nuitdeschoeurs.be

UpComIng events wIth Ing

• July 11-14, Les Ardentes Electro-rock music festival, Liège, www.lesardentes.be

• July 12-14, Cactusfestival World music, Bruges, www.cactusfestival.be

• July 17-21, Francofolies de SpaFrench pop and chanson festival, Spa www.francofolies.be

• July 18-21, Dour festival Alternative music, Dour, www.dourfestival.be

• July 23-27, Boomtown Alternative music festival, Ghent, www.boomtownfestival.be

• July 26-29, Libramont Agricultural Fair www.foiredelibramont.be

• July 26-28, Suikerrock Rock festival, Tienen, www.suikerrock.be

• August 2-11, Lokerse feesten Music festival, Lokeren, www.lokersefeesten.be


Belgium and Europe’s most successful music festival sets up second home in America with

the first edition ofTomorrowWorld

Tomorrowis another continent

By Sarah Crew

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as the ninth edition of the electronic dance extravaganza Tomor-rowland gets ready to mix its magic in Boom

at the end of July, all eyes are on the launch of its first global spin-off being staged near Atlanta between Septem-ber 27 and 29.

Tomorrowland is already a Belgian and international phenomenon. From an unpromising 10,000 visitors in 2005, it’s become one of Europe’s largest dance music festivals, selling out in seconds to fans around the world. Around 180,000 people from 214 countries will descend on the rural spot in Flanders as it’s transformed into a magical fairytale world from July 26 to 28. The festival’s founders, Belgian brothers Manu and

Michiel Beers, have created a total event experience. From the moment they walk in, festival-goers are treated to the ultimate escapist fantasy.

Now the innovative concept is cross-ing over to the States, where electronic dance music (EDM) is the latest craze. The success of the Beers brothers and their pioneering Amsterdam-based electronic music experience company, ID&T Entertainment (in which they have a 50% share), has not been overlooked by global music promoters.

After months of speculation that ID&T’s lucrative flagship event was about to go cosmic, in March US company SFX Entertainment bought a 75% stake in the global business of the ID&T for an estimated $97.5 million. It was possibly

the largest financial deal in dance music history. CEO Robert FX Sillerman revived the company last year in order to gain a significant foothold in the EDM and festival market Stateside. For the New York entrepreneur this pattern of rapid consolidation in the music industry has become his trademark business strategy. In the late 1990s SFX built up of a port-folio of concert promoters, producers and venues. Sillerman subsequently sold the company in 2000 for $4.4 billion to Clear Channel, the predecessor of massive concert promoter Live Nation, ironically now his lead competitor.

EDM is fast becoming the battlefield for rival media moguls. Belief in the genre’s profitability is so strong that a swift suc-cession of financial deals is transforming the scene. The two leading competitors are SFX and Live Nation, each rapidly buying up clubs, event organisations and music platforms such as profitable download store Beatport, acquired by Sillerman in April for around $50 million. EDM’s anticipated explosion has led industry observers to predict the domination of global EDM media platforms in the near future. Dance fans could soon be following nomad-like celebrity DJs around the world in a series of meticulously branded seasonal festivals.

The success of TomorrowWorld in September is key to the advancement

3 4

1 The US venue is announced2/4 Tomorrowland 20123 Future festival site in Georgia5 Belgian DJs Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike at TL 2012


Focus •

of this global journey. At an elaborate launch ceremony in EDM club capital Miami in April, Manu Beers said the Tomorrowland experience would be entirely recreated in the US, “from the smallest detail to the biggest stage”. With the world’s best DJs and the gran-diose fantasy decor, the first edition of TomorrowWorld is expected to attract 50,000 fans each day. All 75,000 US tickets sold out in two hours, with a further 25,000 already sold to interna-tional fans. ID&T press spokesperson Debby Wilmsen admitted there was a risk element to the event: “People have high expectations; the pressure is on to do something that will surprise them and make them happy. We always have to try and do something better.”

She is confident that all remaining tickets will go as fans from further afield organise travel and more festival details are released, including the complete line-up. The location, at Chattahoochee Hills in Georgia, was one of the key factors behind the festival’s first US staging. It includes the same natural amphitheatre as the Boom site, plus natural lakes and rolling hills. Its main selling-point is its 20-minute siting from Atlanta’s international airport. And the 8,000-acre farm belongs to another Belgian, former Olympic three-day event horse rider Carl Bouckaert.

Wilmsen is enthusiastic about the American version. “We will have the same atmosphere, same decor, Belgian elements but with a local flavour. Belgian beers will be available and we are now looking for local famous chefs.” The choice of artists as well as the image remain the Belgian team’s responsibility, she explains. One of the many details they need to promote is the fact it will be the first festival in the States to have an age limit of 21, to maintain the adult atmosphere. In Bel-gium, Tomorrowland is open to over-18s. Further international expansion is on the agenda with more festivals on other continents planned for next year. The concept is deliberately one that can be moved around the world, adds Wilmsen.

It’s no fluke that Belgium has become the mecca for EDM. It has had a pioneering role in the genre since the 1980s and remains a hotbed of original talent. “For years it has been the dance centre of the world. There is no other country with so many music festivals, and now we have this massive dance festival,” says Kevin McMullan, press officer of Brussels concert hall Ancienne Belgique. “Festival-goers get into this trance state with the beat of this repeti-tive music and then all this crazy stuff happens, like aeroplanes flying over dropping thousands of rose petals,” he says. McMullan believes the concept ap-peals to a generational need for shared escapism.

Wilmsen acknowledges that it is a “modern-day Woodstock”. One reason for Tomorrowland’s popularity among fans and promoters is that the event team pays enormous attention to detail, quality and creativity. These were the initial priorities of the Beers brothers when they first launched the festival as a welcoming daytime alternative to the then late-night scene that characterised electronic dance music. “It was deliber-ately about flowers, smiling, colour and no queues,” adds Wilmsen. They were equally determined that the food and drinks would be of a high quality, and creature comforts were important from the start: “Wooden floors for wearing

heels, tables and chairs for eating, and clean toilets.”

The Tomorrowland brand is also cleverly marketed via social media. For some festivalgoers, the experience starts as they fly in on branded party planes with tourism package Global Journey and continues with the all-comfort campsite Dreamville. Similar deals are planned for TomorrowWorld, in collaboration with Brussels Airlines’ long-haul partners, hotels in Atlanta and sights such as the city’s Coca Cola Museum.

For Wilmsen, the passion of the young festival team outweighs the hard work. “There are no arguments despite the stress. I don’t sleep for a week before the start of the festival, worrying mainly about the weather,” she laughs. She has also learnt to play coy when asked at parties what she does for a living. “Everyone wants to come to the festival and I get about 1,000 calls. So now I just say I’m a press agent.”

www.tomorrowland.be

“We will have the same atmosphere, same decor, Belgian elements but with a local flavour”

5


the digital travellerStay connected this summer with the latestapps and gadgets for travelling abroad

App

tripItTaking time out for a city trip, or planning a short visit to the folks back home? With TripIt, an app for Android and iOS, you’ll reduce all travel-related stress to a minimum. The software collects all data from your flight and (possibly) hotel and car rental

confirmations, keeping them safe in one digital summary. More important than the app is the service behind it: allowing you to forward all confirmation mails to [email protected]. The service recognises your e-mail address and all relevant data from the documents, placing it right there in the app. A Pro version alerts you to flight delays, and allows you to manage your frequent flyer account

information. But of course, it comes with a subscription fee.Freewww.tripit.com

digital •

tABLet

Microsoft surface proSure, just having a tablet to hand is more than sufficient for checking your Facebook page, watching a few YouTube videos, reading email and playing games. But when you want to do more than just consume, you still need a physi-cal keyboard. For digital nomads who need a computing device for both consumption and production purposes, PC and electronics makers are churning out hybrid devices that serve both functions. Like Microsoft’s Surface Pro: it’s a tablet (albeit a rather heavy one), but when you plug in a keyboard (you can choose between a touch keyboard and one with actual keys), it instantly becomes a netbook. Windows 8, the operating system that powers the device, isn’t doing so well on classic desktop and laptop computers; but on a touch-and-type device like this one, it’s right at home.€799www.microsoft.com

ACCessory

Bowers & wilkins p3 headsetYou positively need a headset during travel. It’ll allow you to enjoy music or watch a film on your smartphone, tablet or laptop. It also saves you from wearing those awful airline-issued earphones. For a good lightweight headset, your best bet would be British audio expert Bowers & Wilkins’s P3: it looks great, fits comfortably around your ears, and the sound is exquisite. It tones down the bass and delivers a rich and mature sound. Also, at only 120g including cable, it’s positively lightweight. The P3 is a lighter version of B&W’s pioneering P5 headset, proving they got it right the first time round.€199www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk


Lifestyle •

In the neighbourhood

rIJksMuseuMThere are many reasons to visit Amsterdam. The canals, the bustling city life, the parks and the many museums, including the Van Gogh and the Rijks-museum. The latter reopened in April, after almost 10 years of renovation. It’s in the borough known as Amsterdam-South, which is a great area to explore

Our tips on how to make a day – or a weekend – out of a visitto the season’s top event

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1 vondeLpArk

Named after the Dutch poet Joost Vondel, this vast park is Amsterdam’s green lung. It’s home to a varied fauna and flora, with around 150 kinds of trees and all sorts of animals including squirrels, parakeets and small water salamanders. Escape from the busy streets and unwind with a stroll, a bike ride or a picnic. There are a couple of cafes in the park, and on sunny days, you can grill your lunch in the designated barbecue areas.

2 BLueBLood

On PC Hoofdstraat you’ll find a mix of chain stores and high-end brands, from Massimo Dutti and Zadig & Voltaire to Chanel, Chopard and Valentino. At number 142 you’ll find BlueBlood, an Amsterdam-based denim brand founded in 2002. Expect sturdy denim trousers, jackets and shirts for men and women, but also non-denim items such as T-shirts

and knitwear. BlueBlood also stocks some other brands, including the very popular statement T-shirts by Dutch designer Zoe Karssen.142 PC Hooftstraatwww.bluebloodbrand.com

3 sIMon MeIJssen

For a lunch on the go or a picnic, get your ready-made sandwiches, bread, sweet and savoury treats from this bakery chain. With a baking history going back to 1910 and a royal appointment, this is the right place to discover Amsterdam’s best bakes. A few suggestions: the ham and cheese grilled croissant and the tiger bread. Their gingerbread topped with crushed hazelnuts is the per-fect souvenir to take home. 23 & 162 Van Baerlestraat www.simonmeijssen.nl

4 CAFé goLLeM

Amsterdam is proud of its Heineken brewery and the green logo can be seen everywhere. If you’re after a different selection of beer, head to Café Gollem where a range of over 200 beers awaits you. The cafe has been open since 1974, when it was the first to serve foreign beers in Amsterdam. Discover some local brews, but also some of the best Belgian bottles. 4 Raamsteegwww.cafegollem.nl

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BourBon street & ALto JAzz CAFé

These two Amsterdam jazz clubs are in the busy little streets behind the Rijks-museum. They stage live music every day, by local jazz bands. Artists such as Sting, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen have all found their way to Bourbon Street for a night of gigs and

whiskey drinking. Like the Rijksmuseum, Alto has just re-opened after renovation, but its cosy interior remains unchanged.6-8 Leidsekruisstraat www.bourbonstreet.nl 115 Korte Leidsedwarsstraatwww.jazz-cafe-alto.nl

6 ConservAto- rIuM hoteL

This top hotel in the old Sweelinck Conservatorium opened at the end of 2011. Architecture by the hand of Daniel Knuttel from the late 19th century meets contem-porary Italian design by Piero Lissoni inside, where 129 rooms, a fine dining restau-rant, a bar, a brasserie and a holistic wellbeing centre cater for every guest’s needs. Until the end of August, enjoy the Museum Package by booking a deluxe room for two people (a minimum of two nights). Your stay at the hotel grants you free entrance to the Rijksmu-seum, Van Gogh Museum or Stedelijk Museum. From €339 per person, per night.27 Van Baerlestraat www.conservatoriumhotel.com

And finally ...It’s comforting in these confus-ing times to go back to basics: dividing the world into goodies and baddies, like when we were little. Emma Beddington looks at who’s been naughty and nice over the past 100 days.

north Korea’s cartoonish dictator Kim-Jong-Un is the closest thing we have

to a proper Bond villain these days. Recently he’s been ramping up the ominous nuclear rhetoric just enough to give our children a taste of the permanent fear of annihilation that coloured Cold War childhoods. He’s calmed down now, but for how long?

astronaut Chris Had-field, a farmer’s son from Ontario, has captured the world’s imagination with his

extraordinary tweets, photos and film clips from the International Space Sta-tion, exploring the fascinating details

of life in space and the wonder of the earth glimpsed from a completely different perspective. Hadfield marked his departure with an impressive zero-gravity rendition of Bowie’s Space Oddity, then landed safely in a field in Kazakhstan. Now that’s what I call a hero.

the his-torical jury is out on the formida-

ble Baroness Thatcher, Britain’s only female prime minister and the woman who turned the handbag into an offen-sive weapon. Thatcher’s death after a prolonged decline puzzled her compatriots: Britain mourned, celebrated and, in traditional British fashion, felt mildly uncomfortable with both.

the awful Bos-ton marathon bombings in April gave us one hopeful

image in the shy-but-heroic figure of Carlos Arredondo, the cowboy-hatted Puerto Rican peace campaigner who sprinted straight towards the danger zone and helped save victim Jeff Bauman’s life by stemming blood loss from his wounds with clothes and his fingers, like a real-life Macgyver.


one coffee, please

when the owners of Café Greenwich decided it was time to renovate, people worried that it would never be the same again. Some fretted that the fin-de- siècle toilets would be ripped out.

Others were afraid that the chess players would not be al-lowed back inside. My little worry was that the coffee would no longer be served on a silver tray.

One of the things I like about Belgium is the way they serve coffee. You can complain about the eternal grey skies or the insane car drivers, but you cannot possibly fault the way this country presents a cup of coffee.

Here is how it works. You go into a cafe. It will probably be old-fashioned even if it just opened last week. The style they like in these parts is 1950s modern with a hint of the middle ages. You sit down, smile at the elderly lady at the next table and take care not to step on her little pampered dog. Then the waiter arrives.

You just have to ask for a coffee, and he will nod, disappear behind the bar, and return with a perfect coffee served on a silver tray with a pot of milk and possibly a little Belgian speculoos biscuit on the side. This is so civilised. It’s as if the Hapsburg Empire had never ended. It only needs a string quartet and you could be in Vienna waiting for a carriage to take you to a ball.

It’s different in my own country, which in the art of serving coffee as in so many ways has gone the way of America. When I go into a coffee shop in London, I have to stand in line at the counter, since they do not employ waiters. The various types of coffee are listed on a blackboard, so you have to decide what you want. But it is not easy because there is nothing that is simply coffee. You could ask for an espresso, but then you don’t get milk. You could request a latte, but then you get too much milk. You could have coffee with

melted marshmallow, but that is just insane.

I once made the mistake of asking the person behind the counter for a coffee, just that. As one would do in Le Green-wich in the good old days. She looked puzzled. What sort of coffee? she asked.

I had no idea. I consulted the list. There were about eight types of coffee. I thought macchiato might do.

“A macchiato,” please.

“What size would you like?” she asked.

I had not considered size. One doesn’t in Belgium. But in Britain, there are normally three sizes of cup. You can have regular, the smallest size, which looks enormous, or large, the middle size, which is gigantic, or giant, the largest size, which is just ridiculous. Most people order giant, but I just wanted a shot of caffeine, not a bucket of milk. So I said regular, please, and smiled.

Back in Belgium, I read in a local newspaper that Greenwich had reopened so I decided to check it out. The interior had been nicely polished up so the woodwork and brass fittings were shining like new. The old chess players had migrated elsewhere but the toilets at least had been left intact.

The waiter arrived to take my order. This would be the big test. “Un café, s’il vous plait,” I said tentatively.

The waiter gave a little nod and headed off to the bar.

A couple of minutes passed. Then he returned with the coffee. It came on a silver tray with a pot of milk and a little biscuit.

I almost wept.

by Derek Blyth


spotlight •

rijksmuseumreopensThe renovated museum is the Netherlands’ cultural jewel

After a decade-long closure and a €375 million refurbishment, one of the world’s greatest museums is finally open to the public again. Inaugurated in 1885, the Rijksmuseum houses more than 8,000 pieces of art, spread over 80 rooms. It offers a chronological journey through the largest collection of treasures in the country’s cultural history, from the early Middle-Ages to Mondrian. One of the highlights is Rem-brandt’s The Night Watch, the only work to remain in its original location, designed by architect Cuypers in the late 19th century. Other renowned pieces by Dutch masters include Vermeer’s The Milkmaid, Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait and designer Gerrit Rietveld’s famous chair.

1 Museumstraat, open daily 9.00-17.00, Avoid queues by buying tickets in advance at www.rijksmuseum.nl


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