I'm Irish, currently living in Finland and have been offered a contract in Bruges, Belgium.
I will only work 50/50 on-site remote because I like Finland, and refuse to become resident again in Belgium
I was living in Belgium (Kortrik) for 18 months in 2017/2018. It took me 15 months to get registered. I'm sure it's different in Brussels and Antwerp.
But in small Belgian towns foreigners cannot rent a regular apartment. Landlords ask how long you will stay - 6 month contract, probably extended 1 year, maybe even 18 months. Oh no, we are looking for a tenant who will stay 10 years. So you end up in hotels, airbnb, or even illegally in a student hostel.
Without a regular apartment you cannot register, so no social security, in particular health insurance.
However after 12 months I finally got a proper apartment. Into city hall. Wait 2 hours to register while watching Beglians in and out in 10 minutes. Finally you spend 2 minutes with the clerk, who announces the police must verify you're at that address. This takes another month because it doesn't occurr to the police to call outside working hours.
But finally I had my apartment police verified. Back to city hall. Wait another 2 hours. 2 minutes with clerk. Ok we send everything to Brussels for approval.
Why? I'm an EU citizen working in Belgium. Brussels have no discretion in this. They have no ability to deny me residency. It is procedure to send it to Brussels. Wait another 3 months
So 15 months from when I started paying tax in Belgium I had registration and thus health insurance.
I'm sure Africans and other non whites have a lot to tell me about discrimination. But Belgium blatantly discriminates against other EU citizens, and this time around they shall get no tax from me.