Prime Minister Bart De Wever has urged Belgium’s Arizona Coalition partners to act with realism and determination as the federal government seeks billions of euros in additional savings to meet its European budget commitments.
Speaking in the Chamber on Thursday, Mr De Wever said significant work had already been done and pledged to seek consensus on what he described as sensible measures.
His remarks followed the publication on Monday of a report by the Monitoring Committee, which found that the federal government must identify an additional €7.7 billion by 2029 to comply with its European obligations. That figure rises to €9.8 billion by 2031, numbers the prime minister confirmed on Thursday.
During the debate, Socialist leader Paul Magnette challenged Mr De Wever, asking when he would finally admit the government had got it wrong. The prime minister rejected that criticism.
Mr De Wever said the state of the public finances could not be compared to the Titanic heading towards an iceberg because, in his view, the collision had already happened several years ago.
MR president Georges-Louis Bouchez backed that assessment. He presented a graph based on figures from the World Bank and Belgium’s Court of Audit showing that the deficit had increased since the previous Vivaldi Coalition took office, even though the MR had been part of that government.
Facing jeers from the opposition, Mr Bouchez said he had opposed that government strongly enough not to have to take responsibility for it. He argued that the problem was not ideological but mathematical.
Mr Magnette hit back, saying that for a party that has been in government for 27 years and has held the finance and budget portfolios, that was a bold claim.
Opposition parties sharply criticised the government’s approach. Belgian Workers' Party (PTB) leader Raoul Hedebouw mocked the coalition, asking what purpose it served if there was no alternative.
Sarah Schlitz of Ecolo-Groen said the government’s budget did not stand up because of its political choices.
For her part, François De Smet (DéFI) quoted the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and urged each party in the majority to think against itself.
