The federal government’s inner cabinet convened on Thursday evening to discuss the practical implementation of the multi-annual budget agreement reached in late November, alongside proposals to address overcrowding in prisons.
The meeting commenced at 6:00 pm, without Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon, who was attending a parliamentary debate on a fiscal bill. Defence Minister Theo Francken filled in for him at the meeting.
The De Wever government has committed to an additional €9.2 billion effort by 2029. Planned measures include salary indexation caps, a VAT increase on certain goods and services, higher excise duties on natural gas, and a reduction in electricity excise duties.
Some technical details remain unresolved. It is unclear whether the VAT increase on takeaways will apply to meals purchased in stores. Similarly, the timing of the capped index application remains undecided, as a projected index threshold may be exceeded earlier than expected.
Meanwhile, the prison system is grappling with severe overcrowding: a record-breaking 600 detainees were forced to sleep on floor mats this week.
Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden has put forward proposals to alleviate the problem. Last summer, Parliament passed an emergency law enabling certain prisoners to be released six months before completing their sentence. Verlinden now seeks to extend this early release period to one year, up to the end of 2027.
Reports suggest that the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) party is opposing this extension.
