The Belgium government crisis De Wever resignation offer was deferred on Monday, when King Philippe sought to defuse a political crisis after overnight budget talks collapsed, prompting Prime Minister Bart De Wever to offer his resignation. The king will consider the offer but will also consult leaders of the other coalition parties from Tuesday, according to the Royal Palace.
Mr De Wever tendered his resignation during a 90-minute meeting with the king on Monday morning, after coalition parties failed to break months of deadlock over next year’s budget. The Royal Palace said the king would meet Mr De Wever again on Friday. If he ultimately accepts the resignation, he could ask other parties to form a coalition or call fresh elections.
A 10 billion euro gap
The government has been arguing for months about 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) in budget cuts and tax increases Mr De Wever says are needed to stabilise Belgium’s public finances. Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot, from the francophone centrist party Les Engagés, renewed calls for compromise on Monday, shortly after Mr De Wever’s meeting with the king.
Without an agreement, Belgium would be forced to operate under provisional spending rules next year, allowing it to spend only one-twelfth of this year’s budget each month. Mr De Wever has repeatedly warned of an ‘interest snowball’ without cuts, where Belgium would need to take on new loans to pay interest on existing debt. He has also ruled out beginning the new year under a temporary budget arrangement.
Debt, markets and coalition strains
The European Commission forecast in May that Belgium’s debt-to-GDP ratio would be 110.5 per cent this year, behind only Greece, Italy and France among eurozone countries, with a projected general government deficit of 5.2 per cent of GDP. Belgium’s 10-year benchmark bonds were trading at a yield of about 4.39 per cent on Monday afternoon, against 4.90 per cent for France and 3.29 per cent for Germany, according to Reuters.
The sharpest disagreements have emerged between the Flemish socialists of Vooruit and the francophone centre-right Mouvement Réformateur, according to reports, with Mr De Wever’s Flemish nationalist N-VA and the liberal MR unable to compromise with socialist and centrist partners. The king’s consultations from Tuesday are therefore a last attempt to find a compromise before a resignation becomes a full government collapse.
