This afternoon, representatives of the Flemish nationalist N-VA, Flemish Christian democrat CD&V, Flemish socialist Vooruit, Francophone liberal MR and Francophone centrist Les Engagés will hold their first joint meeting since N-VA leader Bart De Wever threw in the towel as formateur. Les Engagés' Maxime Prévot has been tasked with bringing the parties closer together to form the next Belgian government.
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Arizona parties back round the table to appoint Reynders successor
Colin Clapson
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In recent days, royal mediator Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) held separate talks with the leaders of the 5 parties that are willing to form Belgium’s next federal government in an attempt to bring agreement on a coalition accord closer after talks faltered over a Francophone liberal veto to a capital gains tax.
The Arizona parties will meet to discuss who Belgium will appoint as its European commissioner. Belgium, like all EU countries, has to nominate someone for the next European Commission. The Belgian commissioner will succeed Didier Reynders, who has served as the justice commissioner since 2019.
The colours of the five parties all appear on the flag of the US state of Arizona and this is why these parties have been dubbed the ‘Arizona parties’.
King Filip tasked Mr Prévot to bring the Arizona parties closer together after their recent row with a view to forming the next Belgian government. He reports back to the king on 2 September.
UPDATE
The meeting is now over. It’s unclear whether agreement has been reached. VRT News understands Mr Reynders (Francophone liberal) would like to succeed himself, but Francophone liberal leader Bouchez is said not to be too enthusiastic about that idea. The job on the European commission is one of the posts that will form part of any political carve up when a new coalition accord is reached. The Flemish nationalists of N-VA say they believe the job should go to a Francophone because if the talks succeed N-VA leader and Fleming Bart De Wever will become Belgian PM. The name of Flemish socialist Frank Vandenbroucke is also being mentioned, but his Vooruit party is said not to be pressing for the post.