No breakthrough on Friday as senior ministers take the ten-billion-euro talks into the weekend
The inner cabinet again went through the notes attached to the budget table without a major step forward; a deal is needed by Tuesday to avoid an emergency budget.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) and his deputy prime ministers wrapped up another day of budget talks on Friday without a breakthrough. The inner cabinet met at around 2 pm at Wetstraat 16 and broke up at around 9 pm, VRT NWS and La Libre report. As on Thursday, the negotiators worked through the texts attached to the budget table, covering planned savings and new revenue. Nobody made any comment on arrival. According to sources close to the inner cabinet quoted by La Libre, there was no notable progress, which was in line with expectations. The meeting schedule for the weekend was still unknown on Friday evening, but according to De Morgen the talks will continue this weekend.
The federal government is looking for around 10 billion euros by 2029, so that Belgium stays within the European spending rule and financial markets are reassured. Time is running short. According to VRT NWS, the aim is to reach a deal by Tuesday at the latest. If that fails, the 2027 budget can no longer pass the Chamber in time and the state will have to operate on provisional twelfths, an emergency budget that De Wever had ruled out. Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau said earlier this week that such an emergency budget would not be a disaster in his view.
The biggest sticking point remains how the effort is shared. Vooruit wants the broadest shoulders to carry more: of the 10 billion euros, around 1.5 billion should come from them according to Rousseau, VRT NWS reports, far more than is currently in the tables. The question is whether N-VA and MR will accept that. VRT journalist Pieterjan De Smedt says all parties still want a deal, while political commentator Rik Van Cauwelaert warns that failure could lead to fresh elections.
In De Morgen, political scientist Dave Sinardet assesses the chances of the negotiating weekend and notes that the relationship between Rousseau and De Wever has been damaged. The same paper analyses how an earlier lost showdown with MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez still weighs on the prime minister in his search for billions.