The new Finance and Budget Minister in the Brussels-Capital Region’s outgoing regional government Dirk De Smedt (Flemish liberal) has said in an interview with VRT News that the Brussels Region’s financial situation is such that a “shutdown” of public services remains a possibility. “We need to boost our credibility in the very short term”.
Speaking on VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’, Mr De Smedt said that "The danger of a shutdown is real, I'm not going to sugarcoat it."
Mr De Smedt succeeded his party colleague Sven Gatz in mid-October. Mr Gatz quit due to health issues.
Brussels has now been without a regional government with full powers for 527 days. Last month the region lost a 500-million-euro credit line the Belfius Bank. This has made it increasingly difficult for the region to cover its financial shortfalls. On Tuesday Mr De Smedt will negotiate with the Bank ING to ensure that it continues to provide the Brussels-Capital Region with credit.
‘We need to provide clarity to the financial markets in the very short term in order to boost our credibility. However, we also need to make some systemic changes to prevent a shutdown.”
Sense of urgency
Mr De Smedt told VRT News that the first step towards a solution must be a government with full powers. “Everyone must realise that there is a sense of urgency". He added that he is not convinced that this is currently the case.
“When I took office as minister three weeks ago, I got the strong impression that people were in a mode of business as usual”.
De Smedt is currently working on the 2025 regional budget. "The budget is that of a caretaker government and as such is based on the last budget that was approved by parliament, the budget for 2024. This must be implemented first and foremost. Ensuring that the deficit for 2025 is lower than it was was in 2024 is the first priority”.
Efficiency
Mr De Smedt went on to says that a caretaker government is less able to tighten its belt than a government with full powers as it is unable to make decisions that will significantly change policy.
Nevertheless, he does believe that the policies currently in place can be done with greater efficiency. “You can prioritise and put back the timing of things. We need to implement the budget correctly but look three or four times at how we spend every euro”.