No meeting of core cabinet this weekend to discuss budget

The core cabinet will not meet again this weekend to discuss the budget. This was reported by various sources on Friday.

On Friday, Prime minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) and his deputy prime ministers met for several hours to discuss the budget for the coming years. The process is proving challenging. After the meeting ended, De Wever switched once again to bilateral talks.

On Friday evening, sources close to the negotiators indicated that no meeting of the entire core group is scheduled for this weekend. This was already impossible on Sunday, as deputy prime minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) had other commitments.

In other words, it is looking increasingly unlikely that the prime minister will be able to deliver his policy statement to parliament on Tuesday. An earlier appointment this week was already postponed because the government could not reach an agreement on the budget. As is well known, the Prime Minister is seeking at least 10 billion euros to put the budget back on track by the end of the legislative term.

^{© BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS}