The Belgian politico-administrative relationship is known for its large ministerial cabinets who operate as interfaces between ministers and civil servants. According to Dierickx & Majersdorf (1994) ministerial cabinets are the central nodes in the Belgian policy-making networks, reducing the policy role of civil servants and shielding them from all relevant policy-making interactions. They found that pressure groups hardly ever turned to civil servants and stated that civil servants lived in an administrative beguinage. This article tests whether the conclusions of Dierickx & Majersdorf (1994) are still valid. Next, it seeks to explore the policy-making interactions of both actors in a more detailed way, since Dierickx & Majersdorf (1994) only measured the frequency of their contacts, not the direction, goal and/or content of the interactions. Based on a unique written survey-research among top civil servants and ministerial advisers, we discuss the role differences with regard to their interactions in four ‘arenas’