A core cabinet meeting of Prime Minister Bart De Wever's government failed to find a deal after negotiating until around 09:00 on Friday after an entire night of talks.
Members of the restricted ministerial committee, which includes the most senior Belgian ministers, parted ways on Friday morning without reaching an agreement, according to multiple sources.
"We have already worked very hard and accomplished a fair amount," Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) stated to VRT upon leaving the meeting. "We will certainly continue in the coming days."
Prime Minister Bart De Wever expressed his determination to finalise this significant "summer agreement" by 21 July at the latest.
Core cabinet ministers were striving to finalise a major summer agreement on various issues including tax reform, a strategic defence vision, merging police districts, framework legislation for medical practice reform, and home visit policies.
On Thursday, the De Wever team secured an agreement to support public social welfare centres (CPAS) to help them address the needs of new beneficiaries starting next year.
This includes unemployed individuals who will lose unemployment benefits due to time limitations, a notable reform in Arizona.
The funding now discussed amounts to €300 million for 2026 and 2027, and €302.3 and €342.6 million for the following two years.
This initial agreement enabled the Chamber to definitively approve the programme law during the night between Thursday and Friday.
The Federal Government is also expected to validate a measure on relaxing businesses' opening hours on Friday.
De Wever's plans are part of major public spending cuts, intended to reduce Belgium's deficit while limiting benefits in key areas such as unemployment and pensions.
Rights group concerned
The recent vote on unemployment reform was criticised as an unprecedented attack on Belgian social security by the Belgian Human Rights League (LDH) on Friday morning.
The measure, which limits unemployment benefits to a maximum of two years, was passed in a plenary session of the Chamber late Thursday night.
Starting next year, over 180,000 people will be excluded from unemployment benefits. The LDH warns that some will have to rely on CPAS and will receive integration income, leading to reduced earnings. Others will not qualify and may disappear from the system altogether. The organisation questions who will manage to find employment under these circumstances.
The LDH highlights that individuals aged between 45 and 65 will make up nearly 40% of those affected, a group for whom finding work is more challenging.
Half of the people impacted by the reform have low educational levels, and slightly more than a third have only moderate education. The organisation criticises the move, calling it a poor decision to exclude these groups from unemployment benefits and from the institutions that assist with professional reintegration.
