Will Belgium start 2025 with a new Federal Government? The Francophone liberal MR party is hopeful that a coalition agreement could be finalised by 9 January – on the first plenary session of the Parliament after the Christmas holidays.
Starting the new year with a new team to lead Belgium "would be ideal," said MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez during a press conference in Brussels on Friday.
"It is up to the formator (N-VA's Bart De Wever, ed) to set deadlines, but for MR it would be a good thing to have a new Federal Government and a new Prime Minister at the first plenary session of the new year, on 9 January," he said.
On Friday, De Wever received another extension of his assignment from the King, who made it clear that he hoped for "a decisive breakthrough" in the formation of the government early next year.
Top three longest formations
While he did not have the hoped-for interim agreement on Belgium's 2025 budget, De Wever did assure the King that the negotiators are making steady progress. He is aiming for a €20 billion net cut to federal expenditure over the course of the year.
More than six months after the elections, there is still no agreement between the 'Arizona' coalition partners N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés. As of today (Saturday), this formation is among the top three longest-ever in Belgium.
The country previously broke records in 2010 and again in 2020 for the longest time spent without a government: 541 days and 652 days, respectively. On Saturday, Belgium starts its 194th day without a government since 9 June – good for third place.
However, Bouchez said that talks are progressing well. "We have done significant work in recent days. We have completed a number of chapters, but the most difficult topics always come up in the last days and hours."
After De Wever's visit to the King on Friday, negotiations continued on the theme of taxation. While it remains to be seen what the agenda will look like during the Christmas holidays, the negotiations did confirm that negotiations will continue.
