His first government post was a Minister of the Interior and Institutional Reform in the government of
Wilfried Martens (Martens III) in 1980. Moureaux's name was attached to the (
Law against Racism and Xenophobia) of 30 July 1981 as he was then serving as Minister of Justice. Resigning from the Federal Government in 1993, Moureaux's coalition defeated the incumbent mayor of Molenbeek at the 1994 council elections. A key part of Moureaux's campaign, then and since, was the involvement of ethnic minorities in the campaign, of
Ecolo being the first Belgian of
Moroccan origin elected in Molenbeek. In 2004, as a senator, Moureaux submitted the law granting the
right of foreigners to vote in municipal elections. However, Moureaux's attempts at revitalizing the municipality were not always successful. In June 2011, the multinational company
BBDO, citing over 150 attacks on their staff by locals, posted an open letter to Moureaux, announcing its withdrawal from the municipality. As a result, serious questions were raised about governance, security and the administration of Moureaux. Following a general decrease in crime, the company finally decided to remain in Molenbeek. In 2014, the newspaper
La Capitale reported that during Philippe Moureaux’s tenure, 45 individuals were granted access to social housing despite some having incomes significantly above the legal eligibility thresholds. The report suggested that these allocations may have involved preferential treatment attributed to Moureaux. == Honours ==