Formateur Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist/N-VA) will report to King Filip at 12.30pm today on his efforts to form a new Belgian government. Unlike his previous visits, the outcome is pretty sure. Mr De Wever is expected to be confirmed as formateur.
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Formateur De Wever to see King Filip, caretaker government could draft budget
Colin Clapson
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It has been very quiet around the federal government negotiations for a week now. Often that means good news. The presidents of Flemish nationalist N-VA, Christian democrat CD&V and socialist Vooruit and Francophone liberal MR and centrist Les Engagés met every day last week - except yesterday.
The real test is yet to come. The issues that have already caused the negotiations to stall completely twice in the past, the budget and socio-economic reforms, only come up this week.
Caretaker government may decide budget
Tonight, key ministers in the outgoing Vivaldi government will meet. Since there is as yet no new government, they may have to take decisions on next year's budget.
The only option is the so-called ‘provisional twelfths’. A budget in this form will not allow any room for new revenue or expenditure. ‘Actually, it's just a copy-paste of this year's budget,’ outgoing budget secretary Alexia Bertrand (Flemish liberal/Open VLD) explains.
‘We set the budget for the first three months of 2025. It can be cancelled at any time if the new government is sworn in and presents a fully-fledged budget.’
The budget and growth norms for healthcare are usually set for the entire year. It is an important political choice. ‘It would be logical for the next government to decide on such matters,’ Ms Bertrand argues. Mr De Wever’s Arizona parties still have at least 2 weeks to agree. If they don't, the outgoing government will have the initiative. ‘We will see how this will be done, but people should not be afraid of chaos,’ Ms Bertrand says.