Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval said on Tuesday he was confident federal negotiators would reach a budget agreement, although the timing would depend on whether they stayed within the limits of the government coalition deal.
Speaking to Bel-RTL, the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) politician said his party was taking part in the talks in a constructive spirit and insisted there would be no elections.
He said the aim was to achieve the most positive balance possible and that he was convinced an agreement would be found.
Clarinval also defended the presence of MR party leader Georges-Louis Bouchez at his side during the budget discussions. He said this reflected the limits of the current negotiating framework.
According to Clarinval, deputy prime ministers cannot go beyond the red lines set out in the coalition agreement. For MR, one of those red lines is a refusal to raise taxes.
He said that if those limits were crossed, the process would become a broader, lengthier renegotiation of the coalition agreement. That, he added, would also involve party leaders.
MR is not ruling out that option. Clarinval said it would certainly take more time, but would allow everyone to work more freely without being constrained by red lines that prevent decisions from being taken.
He said negotiators had encountered blockages around the table and that the Prime Minister would have to decide whether to remain within the current framework or move beyond it.
At the talks, the liberals are sticking to the position that only one ninth of the budgetary effort can come from taxation.
If the parties want to go significantly further than that, Clarinval said, they would need to negotiate a new coalition agreement.
