Brussels

Regional snapshot

• Why people narrow here: De facto capital of the EU and NATO headquarters city, with dense multinational and institutional employers, strong English in many offices (aligned with Belgium's high EF EPI ranking in the profile), and fast rail to Amsterdam, Paris, London, and German cities.
• Main airport: Brussels Airport (BRU) is the primary intercontinental hub; Charleroi and other fields serve additional budget and regional traffic—verify which airport matches your tickets.
• Getting around: STIB/MIVB metro, trams, and buses cover much of the capital region; cycling infrastructure is growing but uneven. National driver licensing and insurance rules still apply.
• Languages: Dutch and French dominate everyday life by neighborhood; German is official in a small community. English works in many professional settings, but commune registration, mutuelle paperwork, and tax post often arrive in French or Dutch—matching the country profile's trilingual administration theme.
• Watch-out: Federal Belgium splits many procedures by region (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels-Capital); the wrong portal or form set wastes time—the national profile calls this out explicitly.
• Another watch-out: Brussels rentals are tight; cold rent, deposits, and liability insurance stack upfront—the country profile flags the capital's housing pressure.