De Wever Cancels His Annual Policy Speech as the Coalition Still Can't Agree on a Budget
The premier's office ruled out another provisional, month to month budget on Sunday, citing the seriousness of the financial situation. Saturday's cabinet meeting failed to close the gap on a ten billion euro overhaul, with VAT and healthcare spending still unresolved.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever has canceled the state of the union address he was due to deliver to parliament on Tuesday, citing his coalition's failure to agree on a budget. His office said in a statement on Sunday that a provisional, month to month budget was not an option this year, pointing to the seriousness of the budgetary situation and developments in the financial markets.
The core cabinet met on Saturday in an attempt to close the gaps on a budget overhaul worth around ten billion euros, a package the government needs to bring Belgium's public finances in line with European Union spending rules by 2029. Confidence that a full deal could be reached before Tuesday was low going into the weekend, and De Wever's individual talks with his deputy prime ministers on Friday did not produce a breakthrough.
VAT and health spending remain the sticking points
Two issues have proven hardest to settle. Changes to value added tax rates remain a major obstacle for the Mouvement Reformateur, the French speaking liberal party in De Wever's coalition, while other partners are resisting a slower growth rate for healthcare spending that would trim one of the budget's largest line items. Those divisions carried over from months of earlier negotiation rather than appearing only this week.
The stakes go beyond this year's parliamentary calendar. Belgium's National Bank and its Debt Agency have both warned that without a credible plan, the country faces a snowballing rise in interest costs starting in 2029, and possibly sooner if investor confidence slips before then. Last year's budget talks dragged into late November and forced the government to run on temporary monthly spending allocations for weeks, an outcome De Wever has said he wants to avoid repeating.
No new date has been set for the state of the union address. Belgian governments are not legally bound to deliver one on a fixed schedule, but skipping it is widely read as a visible sign that a coalition is still short of a deal rather than simply finalizing details.
