Vooruit has suspended its support for the freshly inked Flemish government budget as the party says that the final numbers breach the agreement found late on Tuesday.
In a brief statement, the Flemish socialists said the numbers submitted by Budget Minister Ben Weyts of N-VA contained a lower budget for welfare than agreed during negotiations on Tuesday.
“We will not work through the night again,” the party said. “We will only give our approval once that money is fully restored to welfare, as agreed.”
The dispute centres around a pay increase for welfare workers to compensate for cuts in investments in the sector. The Flemish government was planning to invest €1.1 billion in welfare, but has agreed to redirect part of that budget to other areas.
Vooruit insisted that the sector would be compensated with a pay rise, with other parties agreeing to the plan in principle, however, the table submitted by Weyts was different from what the parties agreed on.
According to VRT NWS, the difference is said to be roughly €100 million.
Related News
- 'Best and final offer': The proposed cuts to Flemish budget as deadline moves to Wednesday
- Flemish budget talks suspended after minister and staffer become unwell
- Flemish government looking for additional €2 billion in savings for next year's budget
However, Weyts’s office sought to downplay the dispute. A spokesman for the minister acknowledged that there was still “an error in the calculation method,” but said it was “still being resolved,” according to Belga.
Without Vooruit's support, Minister-President Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) would have to suspend the presentation of the budget a second time, after Monday's presentation was delayed to Wednesday following a minister becoming unwell during the negotiations.
The Flemish government traditionally presents its budget on the fourth Monday of September in what is called the September Declaration.
Diependaele believes the error will be fixed by Wednesday morning, with his deadline for the presentation of the budget remaining intact.
“There was still an error in one of the calculation methods,” he said. “We have removed it, and it is being resolved.”
