Belgian money should stop going to regions that have an "excessive deficit," such as the Brussels-Capital Region and Wallonia, the Flemish rightwing, separatist N-VA party stated in a number of proposals it is preparing for its membership conference in May.
In mid-May, N-VA will hold its fourth major membership conference. The previous one took place in early 2014, when its central theme was confederalism (in which more powers and competencies would go to the regions, instead of the centralised Federal Government). Now, almost 10 years later, the party still adheres to that confederal vision.
"Until the confederal shift happens, we want to reduce or block the allocations to regions with an excessive deficit or debt ratio," said NVA vice-chairman Steven Vandeput during a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
It would concern a deficit greater than 5%, or more than 150% of debts in relation to receipts, he clarified. "A budget not validated by the Court of Audit, as is the case for Brussels and Wallonia today, would also automatically intervene in the allocations for the regions."
'An almost colonial provocation'
Today, Flanders is the only region in Belgium with the prospect of a balanced budget by 2027, figures from the Planning Bureau show. By then, Brussels would have a deficit equal to 15% of revenue; for Wallonia, it would be a deficit of 10%. This would put the budget sum total of the different levels of government in Belgium in deep red figures.
"If we look across the language border, then all reins have actually been loosened," said Vandeput. "There is simply no responsibility whatsoever. The [Francophone socialist] PS policy in Brussels and Wallonia is creating ever-larger deficits and they are looking towards others to close them. That is unsustainable and must stop. More responsibility is needed."
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As far as the federal level of government is concerned, N-VA reverts to a classic proposal: a nominal freeze on the operating costs of the Federal Government as long as expenditures exceed 45% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Critics, however, have called N-VA's proposal to stop the money flow to regions other than Flanders "an almost colonial provocation," as it implies that Flanders will have to come in and get Wallonia's affairs in order as it is "apparently not capable of doing that independently."
