As the Federal Government negotiators resume conversations following Vooruit's return to the table, the five parties still have a slim chance of reaching an agreement on Belgium's budget before the end of the year.
In his last meeting with King Philippe, federal formator Bart De Wever's (N-VA) was given a two-week extension to find an agreement. Half of this has now elapsed and the Federal Government negotiations are back on track as the Flemish socialists on Friday accepted De Wever's latest proposal. Vooruit said the revised document "finally contains openings" for a greater contribution from the biggest earners, among other changes.
While party leader Conner Rousseau stressed that he and his party are committed to doing their best to form a government, he added that there are no guarantees. "If it turns out that the door that has now been left ajar is slammed shut again, [negotiations] will stop."
The "final phase" of the formation has begun for De Wever and his team, VRT reports. Extensive negotiations have been held in working groups on many themes, such as migration, justice and energy policy in recent months. But the main obstacles remain the core socioeconomic elements of De Wever's "supernote": fiscal reform, pensions savings, and a new labour market policy.
Provisional twelfths
If negotiations go smoothly, there is still a possibility that the five parties – N-VA, CD&V, Vooruit, MR and Les Engagés – will reach an agreement and a budget for 2025 can be finalised before the end of the year.
If not, all government administrations must continue to work on a temporary rhythm of so-called "provisional twelfths." This means that every month, the Federal Government will only be able to spend one-twelfth its total expenditure for 2024, allowing it to still meet key costs, such as wages or paying invoices.
Belgium's derailed budget makes forming a Federal Government a matter of urgency. The first EU deadline for this was already postponed but the ambition remains to have a budget approved by Parliament this year. Failure to do so will result in certain (fiscal) reforms not being implemented in time and being delayed another year.
MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez and Les Engagés leader Maxime Prévot after a meeting to discuss a possible coalition for the Federal Government. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
Whether the negotiators find an agreement or not, the outgoing Federal Government will be making preparations for the possibility of provisional twelfths, Belga News Agency reports. The outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) has announced that an inter-cabinet working group to prepare these provisional twelfths will meet next Thursday 21 November.
This text must then be approved by the Council of Ministers and passed on to the Council of State before it can be passed on to Parliament. The last plenary meeting of the Chamber is currently scheduled for 19 December.
If no new government is ready to draw up a budget on 29 November (four days after the deadline King Philippe gave federal formator Bart De Wever to find an agreement), De Croo will continue with these provisional twelfths.
