Senior ministers now meet every day on the budget, but no breakthrough yet
After another session without major progress, the core cabinet resumes talks today; without a deal early next week, an emergency budget looms.
The core cabinet of Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) and his deputy prime ministers spent another six hours on Thursday discussing the 2027 budget, without a major breakthrough. Belga reported this based on government sources, according to RTBF. The meeting started at 2 pm and ended around 8 pm; health care was among the topics on the table. Talks resume on Friday afternoon. Over the coming days the negotiators want to go through the planned measures theme by theme, and a deal is not expected until after the weekend.
At a meeting that lasted until shortly before midnight on Wednesday, the partners agreed to step up the pace. According to La Libre, the core cabinet will now meet every day from midday to midnight, weekends included. The government is looking for 10 billion euros by 2029 to stay within European budget rules and reassure the financial markets. Political journalist Michaël Van Droogenbroeck says on VRT NWS that without a deal early next week, the budget can no longer pass the Chamber before the end of the year. The federal government would then have to start 2027 on provisional twelfths, something the prime minister is determined to avoid. La Libre sketches two scenarios: a deal that De Wever can present in his policy statement to the Chamber on Tuesday, or a deadlock that would further erode his authority.
The biggest sticking point remains the question of who foots the bill. Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau wants 1.5 billion of the 10 billion euros to come from the broadest shoulders, VRT NWS reports, far more than the budget tables currently provide. He also wants to soften the health care cuts and does not see provisional twelfths as a disaster, since the prime minister worked that way last year too. The question is whether N-VA and MR will go along. De Morgen sees the debate over a millionaires' tax resurfacing, while VRT journalist Bart Verhulst notes that the negotiations remain completely stuck.
Meanwhile, other options are leaking out. According to HLN and Knack, the federal government is considering a maximum age of 25 for student work. The negotiators are not commenting for now on which measures will finally be adopted.