Day 193 without a Federal Government marks another deadline for formator Bart De Wever (N-VA). After another ten days of negotiations in which no agreement was reached, he is due at the Royal Palace at 11:30 to give King Philippe another state-of-play on the negotiations.
Formation talks between the envisaged 'Arizona' parties (N-VA, MR, Les Engagés, CD&V and Vooruit) did not go smoothly following criticism of De Wever's methods earlier this week. After the King extended De Wever's assignment last time, the party leaders agreed on a new working method. This moved away from De Wever's "immovable" budget framework to first settle talks on divisive socio-economic issues.
On Thursday, the federal negotiators discussed the remaining sticking points on the issue of migration, Belga News Agency reports based on several sources. Socio-economic issues were not on the agenda but they might still be discussed before De Wever's meeting with the King on Friday.
Working groups have discussed various themes this week, such as healthcare on Wednesday. On many topics, the parties are quietly working through their differences.
A Christmas break?
One key point that has not yet been discussed is the budget. Last weekend, De Wever made no secret of his desire to agree on a budget framework to save €20 billion, when speaking to De Morgen. The question was whether he would force that agreement before meeting with the King.
There has not yet been any clarity on the negotiators' agenda for the rest of the year. De Wever will likely only decide whether to continue negotiations or take a break between Christmas and New Year after his visit to the Royal Palace.
In any case, a new budget table has not yet been shared, a source told Belga News Agency. Reaching a partial agreement on the budget before his meeting with the King therefore seems unrealistic.
Meanwhile, a Parliament debate on the emergency "provisional twelfths" budget for next year mainly revolved around the long government formation. In the absence of a new government, a full-fledged 2025 budget cannot be voted. But without a budget federal services will grind to a halt and pensions or civil servants' salaries cannot be paid.
Bart De Wever pictured during the presentation of the political agreement to form a new coalition to govern the city of Antwerp, Saturday 14 December 2024. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
The provisional twelfths mechanism allows the Federal Government to spend one-twelfth its total 2024 expenditure every month. This means that key costs, such as wages or vital invoices, can still be paid.
"All this emergency budget does is ensure that the formator can go to the king tomorrow for a sixteenth time to ask for an extension. So N-VA is counting on us to ensure that civil servants' salaries are paid and to buy three months' extra time for negotiations, without taking their own responsibility," said MP Dieter Van Besien (Groen).
For MP Wouter Vermeersch (Vlaams Belang), the long formation highlights that Belgium is not working. "There has been no shortage of deadlines, and now Valentine's Day is gradually approaching. But Cupid just does not want to hit his mark. Meanwhile, the national debt continues to rise and much-needed reforms of the labour market, pensions and taxation are not forthcoming."
