Budget deal clears major hurdle in Flemish government negotiations

The three parties negotiating the formation of a new Flemish government have reached an agreement on the budget framework, thus clearing a major hurdle in forming the new government. 

Formateur Matthias Diependaele declined to provide specific details on the agreed budgets, stating, “We’ve agreed that discussing these figures publicly would not make the ongoing talks any easier.”

While the budget framework is a breakthrough in the Flemish government formation, several key policy issues still need to be resolved in the coming days. One of the remaining policy issues, for example, is the ongoing debate over nitrogen emissions. 

“We still have some work to do on the unresolved policy issues but we’ve reached a principled agreement on the big picture—the budget. We’ll keep the details at the table for now, as we aim to finalise a new and better Flemish government this week,” said Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau on Instagram.

CD&V president Sammy Mahdi also stressed that there are still important hurdles to overcome, despite the budget agreement.

Diependaele was supposed to present the government’s September Declaration in parliament on Monday at 2:30 PM, thus kicking off the new parliamentary year. There is no question of that now without a new government. Further negotiations are scheduled for 5 PM the same day.

^{#FlandersNewsService | N-VA's Matthias Diependaele © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE}