The federal government’s core cabinet will not convene in full this weekend to discuss the budget, sources revealed on Friday.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever and his deputy prime ministers held several hours of discussions on Friday to draft the budget for the coming years. However, the talks proved difficult.
Following the meeting, the Prime Minister switched back to bilateral talks in an effort to make progress.
Sources close to the negotiators confirmed on Friday evening that no further full cabinet meetings are scheduled for the weekend. Sunday had already been ruled out due to prior commitments by Deputy Prime Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), and now Saturday is also off the table.
This increases doubts over whether the Prime Minister will be able to deliver his policy statement in Parliament on Tuesday. The statement had already been delayed earlier this week due to the lack of a budget agreement.
Prime Minister De Wever is reportedly seeking at least €10 billion to get the budget back on track by the end of the legislative term.
