Belgium’s Federal Government has postponed a decision on new energy support measures, saying more time is needed to work out the technical details.
Before the Easter break ministers had agreed to use extra tax income resulting from higher energy prices to help two groups that are hardest hit: households in a vulnerable socio-economic situation that use fossil fuel for to heat their homes and people that rely on their car to get to work. Any support would be temporary and end automatically once the current price hike had receded. However, no final agreement was reached on Friday’s cabinet meeting.
The leader of the Francophone liberal party MR Georges-Louis Bouchez, leader of the MR party, had demanded a decision by Friday and had warned that he would block further government work if no deal was made. Mr Bouchez has confirmed that he will stick to his word and that his party will now halt progress on other government business until an energy support is agreed.
Bouchez criticised the delay, arguing the cost of fuel support would be relatively small compared to the overall budget. He also accused other ministers of stalling for time.
There have also been calls for action on an energy support package from other parties, including the Flemish Christian democrats and the Flemish socialists. However, some government figures say that more say more time is needed to finalise the measures.
Meanwhile, the IMF has warned against broad energy support schemes. It said such measures that were widely used during the 2022 energy crisis, were a “costly mistake” because most benefits went to higher-income households. The IMF urged governments to focus on targeted, temporary support instead, warning that blanket subsidies can weaken incentives to save energy and move towards greener alternatives.