Political parties set to receive record subsidies in 2024

Political parties will receive a record amount of subsidies in 2024, according to the draft budgets of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate seen by Het Laatste Nieuws. The increase comes despite government promises to reform the party financing system in order to reduce subsidies.

Federal subsidies for all political parties combined will rise to 36.4 million euros in 2024, an increase of 2.5 per cent. This is on top of a 3.2 per cent increase in 2023. The federal government had decided to cut budgets by 1.11 per cent annually in 2022, saving almost 2 million euros, but the total has increased due to the automatic indexation of subsidies.

The parties have different sources of income, with at least 61 million euros coming from the federal budget alone. The most notable increase is in the budget for political staff in the Senate, which will rise by almost 15 per cent in 2024.

These are draft budgets that still have to be approved, but the seven ruling parties are likely to do so. According to the most recent polls for the elections in 2024, most of them would have to make do with fewer elected members, which would seriously cut their funding.

^{© BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE}