The list of successes of the federal coalition made up of the N-VA, MR, CD&V, committed and Vooruit is long. But to stick to this only count to assess the work of Arizona would be missing the elephant in the room: the main problem of the government is budgetary. A Latin phrase could inspire Bart de Wever, he who is passionate about Roman antiquity: Without silver, Without money, any effort is vain …
Some of the decisions adopted by the executive have a cost that will have to be offset in the next budgets and, alongside this predictable effort, are added the upheavals of geopolitics. Under Trumpian pressure, NATO member countries are committed to spending 5 % of their GDP in defense and their safety infrastructure (for 2035). As for the increases in customs tariffs agitated in an erratic way by the American president, they could weaken world trade. All this will weigh on public finances, already at half mast, of the federally.
In full mutation, Bart de Wever and the N-VA must face a threat
An addendum or not?
Faced with this dark observation, two weeks ago, Georges-Louis Bouchez had claimed in Free the opening of a large federal negotiation “After August 15 “ In order to write an addendum to the government agreement. It would be a question of redrawing, for the legislature, a new budgetary trajectory: in the eyes of the president of the MR, it is urgent to reduce public spending. Illustrating his project, he evoked the very liberal memory of Margaret Thatcher and, in Belgium, of the austerity cure implemented by the Martens-Gol government in the early 1980s. “You will have to lock yourself up in conclave to negotiate this Addendum for the rest of the legislature. This negotiation will be with party presidents, in addition to the Prime Minister and Vice-Prime Ministers. Without that, we will be faced with a headache at each budgetary discussion at the Federal“, assured Georges-Louis Bouchez.
Georges-Louis Bouchez: “Belgium needs a thatrcher Margaret rather than comics who promise magic money”
Has this call heard? It is not certain … on the merits, the commitments had immediately expressed their hostility to the clear cuts that the boss of the MR demanded. And, on the form, a great discussion in “government training” mode with the presidents could be badly lived at 16, rue de la law: “Wever will never accept thatjudge a federal minister. Yes, it will be necessary to review the government agreement if it is necessary to find 20 billion more on the legislature … But negotiations with the presidents of party in addition to the members of the KERN? Never. Valerie Van Peel (President of the N-VA) Will she come and tell De Wever what he should do? There is only Georges-Louis Bouchez who believes in it and who claims it. “
Bart, who appreciates the capacity of his vice-prime ministers to seal compromise, is convinced that he will not arrive at a new agreement if the presidents are around the table. “
Watch a flame thrower, Mahdi Le Sniper …
Symbolically, the Prime Minister can hardly accept this format of discussion, we hear. “He will not want to discuss with the presidents, it would weaken his authority, Analysis an Arizona heavy goods vehicle. There would then be a guardianship of the parties on his government. Bart, who appreciates the capacity of his vice-prime ministers to seal compromise, is convinced that he will not arrive at a new agreement if the presidents are around the table. Georges-Louis regularly takes out the flame thrower in the press and Sammy Mahdi (President of the CD&V)he acts like a sniper: he takes a theme before a negro, shoots and then blocks everything … We saw him on the capital gains: he suddenly declared that he demanded 20,000 euros in exemption. With Conner Rousseau, same interventionism. De Wever especially wants the presidents to be silent. “
Georges-Louis Bouchez: “The removal of the tax on capital gains will be in the MR electoral program in 2029”