Budget minister resigns from Brussels government

15 October 2025

Brussels Budget minister Sven Gatz has announced his resignation from the Brussels government citing health reasons, L'Echo reported on Wednesday. He will likely be replaced by Dirk De Smedt, director of the Brussels Tax Authority.

A spokesperson for minister-president Rudi Vervoort confirmed the news to L'Echo, which had learned of it from "several sources". Gatz announced his resignation via email to the other members of the Brussels government, La Libre writes.

Both newspapers report that De Smedt is the likely replacement. He is a close associate of Frédéric De Gucht, Open VLD's Brussels negotiator.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, Gatz announced on social media that he would return to the Brussels Parliament. "After a 14-year break, I will once again take my seat in parliament, where I intend to reflect on and redefine my political role," he wrote. "However, this will come after the customary period of a few months' discretion that is appropriate for a former minister."

Health problems

Replacing Gatz as minister will require a vote in the Brussels Parliament. He has reportedly been suffering from serious health problems for several months and is no longer able to fulfil his duties.

Since Belgium held regional elections on 9 June 2024, he has been in charge of day-to-day affairs as a resigning minister. The formation of a new government in the Brussels region is still under way.

Budget minister denies that Brussels played down its debt for years

The Brussels government used a number of unconventional tactics in recent years to make its budget and debt figures appear more favourable than...

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Last week, De Tijd and The Brussels Times reported that the regional government had used a number of unconventional tactics to make its budget and debt figures appear more favourable than they actually were. Gatz dismissed the reports as "unfounded allegations".

Meanwhile, negotiations to form a new government have been ongoing for almost 500 days. On Tuesday, Brussels formateur David Leisterh of MR held further bilateral talks, with negotiations set to continue on Wednesday and Thursday. There are currently no signs of significant progress towards a coalition agreement.

^{Brussels Budget minister Sven Gatz}^{© BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND}

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