Facilitator provides memorandum as new basis for Brussels government negotiations
Yvan Verougstraete, the "facilitator" in the Brussels government formation, has prepared a memorandum that could serve as a new basis for negotiations. The leader of French-speaking centrist party Les Engagés also wants to have a budgetary framework ready by the end of the week. He is aiming for a balanced budget in 2032.
Verougstraete was appointed facilitator in early August, with the job of unblocking the formation of a new Brussels regional government. Despite many attempts, Brussels has been without a government for almost 15 months since the June 2024 elections.
After talks with the Brussels parties, with the exception of Team Fouad Ahidar and Vlaams Belang, Verougstraete has drawn up a 17-page memorandum.
“This document is not a final agreement, but a basis for discussion to form a government,” he said on Monday on the Brussels channel BX1. “It must be accompanied by thorough research and calculations. The ideas must be able to stand up to the test of budgetary reality.”
Verougstraete is counting on a balanced budget by 2032, within seven years. This falls between the five years proposed by the liberals of MR and the 10 years targeted by the socialists of PS, the two largest French-speaking parties.
“The aim is to enable the future formateur to play his cards"
By the end of the week, Verougstraete also wants to have a list of budgetary measures and their costs from which potential partners can choose to get the budget in order. “The aim is to enable the future formateur to play his cards. If everything is sufficiently prepared, we will pass on the baton.”
'Cards on the table'
For the Dutch-speaking green party Groen, the memorandum can serve as a basis for negotiations. “We support Yvan Verougstraete in his further proposals,” said the spokesperson of Groen’s Brussels leader Elke Van den Brandt.
The negotiator of the Flemish liberals of Open VLD, Frédéric De Gucht, said on X that for him, only one memorandum counts: the future formateur's memorandum.
“As announced, we have long been prepared to discuss not only the content but also the budget table and the roadmap,” he said. “It is time for everyone to put their cards on the table: how seriously are they taking the budgetary exercise?”
Yvan Verougstraete of French-speaking centrist party Les Engagés © BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
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