Belgium has once again written to the European Commission requesting an extension to submit its draft budget plan for 2025, De Tijd reported on Thursday.
On 24 September, Alexander De Croo's outgoing government had already asked the European Union executive for the deadline to be postponed until the end of 2024.
Belgium's new permanent representative to the European Union, Peter Moors, sent another letter on 26 December seeking a further extension.
The letter does not specify a new formal date but expresses hope to prepare the medium-term Belgian budget plan.
It suggests that Belgium could soon present a plan based on a strong political commitment from the new Federal Government.
No government, no budget
Government formation talks have dragged on for almost seven months after elections on 9 June suggested that an agreement between the 'Arizona' coalition made up of N-VA, Mouvement Réformateur, Les Engagés, CD&V and Vooruit would be relatively easy to reach.
There is now hope that the parties might form a government by the end of January, but the failure to get an agreement or a budget over the line by the New Year has attracted criticism.
Starting 2025 without a budgetary plan, Belgium is now operating on a system of "provisional twelfths": every month, the government may only spend one-twelfth of its total expenditure in 2024, allowing it to still meet key costs, such as wages or paying invoices.
At the end of November, the European Commission provisionally recommended a four-year corrective path for Belgium as part of enhanced budgetary supervision. The country has one of the largest budget deficits in the European Union.
