PM postpones State of the Union as government fails to agree on budget
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever has postponed his State of the Union address, which was scheduled for Tuesday, as the government failed to reach a budget agreement in time.
De Wever was due to deliver his address to the Chamber of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, marking the opening of the parliamentary year. However, after budget talks failed to reach an agreement on Monday, government sources said the address had been delayed by up to one week.
Budget talks between De Wever and his deputy prime ministers are proving extremely difficult, as Belgium faces a deficit that is threatening to rise to 39 billion euros by 2029. After a new round of talks concluded without an agreement on Monday, De Wever only spoke briefly to the cameras. "A budget is not a scrap of paper," he said.
The State of the Union address, which includes a policy statement based on the budget, is traditionally held on the second Tuesday in October. The inner cabinet is now hoping to reach a budget agreement by the start of next week at the latest.
'Downright embarrassing'
Over the next few years, the federal government will need to make budget savings totalling at least 10 billion euros, De Wever said last week. Opposition party Groen on Monday strongly criticised the government for failing to reach an agreement in time.
“If you only start such difficult budget talks just before the deadline, it's no surprise that you run out of time,” said Stefaan Van Hecke, leader of the Groen parliamentary group. "The prime minister should have started this much earlier. This is downright embarrassing."
Van Hecke said he hoped that the governing parties would at least "reflect" on the proposals that have already been put forward over the next week. "The information that has been leaked so far suggests the worst. It seems that this is turning into a brutal round of cuts that will hit ordinary people extremely hard," he said.
EU deadline
The delay means that Belgium is also likely to miss a European deadline. By Wednesday, eurozone countries must submit their draft budget plans for 2026 to the European Commission.
According to De Standaard, Belgium is not particularly concerned about missing this deadline. “Europe too is better off with a good agreement than a quick agreement,” government sources told the newspaper.
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM
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