A row emerged between federal and local authorities on Wednesday over who will cover the pay rise for police officers from next year.
Local authorities accused Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden of "false promises", according to Flemish daily Het Belang van Limburg, over who picks up the tab for a 5% wage deal from January 1 2023. The pay rise was agreed with unions at the end of January.
Critics accuse the Federal Government of backtracking on their commitment to direct €121 million of federal funds towards the flagship policy, with the interior ministry saying the burden would have to be shared from local budgets in a "second phase" later on.
The pay rise applies to some 48,000 police officers in Belgium and had been the subject of numerous protests and strikes in the months running up to the eventual deal between unions and ministers.
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Representatives of the Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia governments wrote to the minister demanding clarity over the precise financing arrangements. Pressed by The Brussels Times to clarify the position going forward, a spokesperson for Verlinden said that the Federal Government has yet to conclude internal discussions on the budgetary needs.
Two-phase financing deal
Insisting that improved wage and working conditions as targeted under the "interim" January deal after "20 years of stagnation" held the key, Verlinden said that the local authority representatives "will continue to be involved" in budgetary negotiations.
She said that the onus for financing the "first phase" during the 2023 calendar year remains on the Federal Government. However, "for the second phase, we will restart the negotiations in 2024. It is clear that in this second phase, the possibilities and capacity of the local authorities will be assessed, so that maximum account is taken of their budgetary context."
