A beer is served at the Belgium guild of brewers in Brussels | Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images Belgian MPs to keep free alcohol in parliament Free beer and wine were introduced to prevent MPs leaving plenary sessions to get drinks.

Lawmakers rejected a suggested ban on free alcohol in Belgium's federal parliament after wide-scale opposition to the move, local media reported Friday.

An ethics committee had asked speaker Siegfried Bracke to scrap free beer and wine after an investigation into bad behavior in parliament found the move would “improve the quality of debate."

“Some MPs tend to become quite unpleasant if they have been drinking," said Danny Pieters, the committee chair, pointing out that free alcohol was not the norm in other workplaces.

But after discussing the matter with party leaders, Bracke said alcohol would remain free because the problem was “non-existent.”

Belgian parliament introduced free alcoholic beverages for MPs in the 1990s to prevent them from seeking drinks outside during plenary sessions.

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