With formator Bart De Wever (N-VA) given until the end of January to conclude the Federal Government negotiations, talks will continue on Wednesday with the aim of reaching an agreement before the end of the month.
On day 212 after the federal elections on 9 June, the leading figures from N-VA, MR, Les Engagés, Vooruit and CD&V will continue their discussions. Before Christmas, they agreed on a deadline: by the end of January, the new Federal Government must be in place, or else it would be assumed that the envisaged 'Arizona' formula would not be possible.
De Wever had hoped he could report more progress when he spoke to the King on Tuesday. But he did little more than ask for one final extension of his assignment. King Philippe had already urged De Wever to work quickly when the met before Christmas. He said at the time that he hoped for a "decisive breakthrough" at the beginning of the new year.
A 'mostly positive' atmosphere
Whether such a breakthrough has been achieved is up for debate: there is currently no sign of a partial agreement on the budget, which De Wever previously pushed for.
Additionally, of the three controversial socio-economic themes – Belgium's labour market, taxation and pensions – only the first two have been discussed in the past few days.
However, various sources agree that progress has been made in recent weeks, and the atmosphere around the table reportedly remained "mostly positive" and "without tensions or outbursts."
This means that the King's decision to extend De Wever's assignment once more is still within expectations. "As the negotiators aim to finalise the agreement by the end of this month, Mister De Wever will report to the King on 31 January," the Palace reported in a press release.
Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
As a result, De Wever will have until the very last day of January to form a government. He will then visit the palace for the 16th time since the 9 June elections.
The reason it is taking so long is that hundreds of amendments were put on the table – highlighting the party differences that still must be resolved. The tax issue, which is especially divisive, has been delegated to a political-technical group. This group is tasked with processing the various aspects of the amendments and will submit a "rough" report to the party leaders in the next few days.
Negotiators did not meet again after the royal visit on Tuesday evening, but talks will continue on Wednesday morning. The first topic on the table will be the pensions reform.
