Despite setbacks, parties hope to form Flemish government before October elections

Flemish formateur Matthias Diependaele of N-VA and negotiators from N-VA, CD&V and Vooruit continue to work on a Flemish coalition agreement. Tensions between the parties seem to have eased after Diependaele's proposal was rejected earlier this month, and there is renewed hope that the formation will be completed before Belgium's local elections on 13 October.

Diependaele had originally hoped to complete the formation by 23 September. That is the date of the September declaration, the annual statement of government policy by the Flemish minister-president. This deadline has been ruled out by the negotiating parties, but they still hope to have a government in place by 13 October.

For now, the negotiators are keeping quiet about the progress of the talks. This could be a positive sign: not only does it show that the three parties want to move on from recent setbacks, but also that they realise not leaking to the press is the best way to reach an agreement.

Some rifts remain

Not all issues have been resolved yet. On Friday, negotiators will focus on the budget. There is a clear fault line between the parties: conservatives N-VA want to achieve a balanced budget in 2027 through austerity measures, while Christian democrats CD&V and socialists Vooruit want the government to make additional investments.

Negotiations are likely to continue over the weekend in the hope of reaching an agreement soon, perhaps before the end of the month. A deadline of 23 September seems out of the question, "but if we have an agreement later in September, there can still be a September declaration," a source told Belga.

^{#FlandersNewsService | Flemish formateur Matthias Diependaele © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT}