In a new letter, Belgium has once again asked the European Commission for a delay in drawing up a budget. The news that Belgium has asked the European Commission for more time appears in Thursday addition of the business daily ‘De Tijd’.
On 24 September 2024, the outgoing Belgian federal government asked that the European deadline for submitting a budget be put back until the end of 2024. However, this new deadline has since passed.
Belgium’s Ambassador to the EU Peter Moors submitted a request for a further extension to the deadline on 26 December. A formal end date is not mentioned in his letter, only the “hope of being able to finalise the Belgian budget in the medium term”.
“In the near future”, Belgium will be able to “present a plan based on a strong political commitment from a new federal government”, Mr Moors letter states.
The EU Finance Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis decided in December to impose a 4-year reference adjustment. This is binding and imposes budgetary constraints the aim of which is to reduce the budget deficit and the public debt ratio.
Mr Dombrovskis also set a limit on the increase in Belgium's public spending. This may only increase by 2.4% in 2025, 1.9% in 2026 and 2% in 2027.
In November 2024, the European Commission also expressed its willingness to extend the 4-year deadline to 7 years.