A remarkable 234 days after the June 2024 elections, Belgium is still waiting for a new Federal Government. But by the end of today, there might be light at the end of the tunnel for the 'Arizona' coalition parties.
The negotiators from the so-called 'Arizona' parties (right-wing N-VA, liberals MR, centrists Les Engagés, socialists Vooruit and Christian Democrats CD&V) have been in a "conclave" at the Royal Military School in Brussels since Wednesday.
At around 08:00 on Friday, negotiators met again to discuss the socio-economic issues included in De Wever's 'supernote', parts of which were leaked to the press in recent weeks. This includes charged topics such as the budget, pensions and taxes.
Just after midnight, De Wever started bilateral talks on those themes with the individual delegations of every party, according to VRT NWS. After an hour-long break, all delegates will sit around the table again. An agreement on that note is crucial for the negotiations to succeed.
De Wever faces a challenging balancing act when it comes to his 'supernote': the last version was rejected by Vooruit, Les Engagés and CD&V for not being social enough. However, if he gives in too much, he risks losing MR. There is some unanimity on some partial agreements, but no overall agreement.
Meeting with the King
This multi-day negotiation marathon should culminate in a coalition agreement before De Wever, as formator, has to go to the King again later today to report on the formation of the government. The time of the meeting is not yet known.
N-VA chair Bart De Wever and King Philippe at the arrival for a meeting at the Royal Palace, Friday 20 December 2024. Credit: Belga/ Eric Lalmand
During the last visit, a cautious timeframe was set to get the deal done by "the end of January". In the days and weeks leading up to Friday, De Wever made it clear that his appointment with King Philippe would be a "make or break" moment for the 'Arizona' parties. The King and De Wever agreed that 31 January would be a "hard deadline" to try and find a coalition agreement.
'Honourable' agreements?
At the start of the week, De Wever strongly implied he would throw in the towel as formator if there was no agreement by the time of his royal meeting. He said that he was "ready" to become Belgium's Prime Minister "if there is a sufficient agreement," but added that "the opposite is also true."
While most negotiators seem optimistic about reaching a deal, there are several topics to get through – not to mention the tough reforms on the labour market, pension system and taxation that are part of De Wever's contentious socioeconomic 'supernote'.
However, inside sources told Belga News Agency earlier this week that the negotiators believe that an agreement on the socio-economic reforms and the budget would be possible by Friday.
Journalists around MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez who arrives at the "conclave". Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
On Thursday, the migration part of the negotiation part was concluded, VRT reports. While no information about the agreement was communicated, one source called it "honourable".
Several other sticking points on ethical and institutional issues were also discussed on Thursday before the parties could switch to the topics in the 'supernote' and the budget – which form the core of the coalition agreement.
However, as nearly all other topics have already been discussed, a full government agreement should be in reach once those major breakthroughs have happened.
