Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever gave his deadlocked ruling coalition more time to agree on a cost-cutting budget on November 6th, staving off fears of an imminent government collapse.
The straight-talking Flemish conservative—who only became premier in February after seven months of painstaking negotiations—set a new 50-day deadline to strike a deal. That came after he had sought to pile pressure on his governing partners by dangling the prospect that he could resign over the failure to agree on €10 billion ($11 billion) of savings by 2030.
De Wever—who earlier insisted he wanted to reach an agreement by November 6th—said he had told Belgium’s King Philippe he now wanted until Christmas to get there. Talks over the new budget have already dragged on for several months, missing a number of self-imposed deadlines.
“I immediately added that this would be the maximum timeframe,” De Wever said in an address to parliament.
De Wever says the spending cuts are vital to help reduce Belgium’s eye-watering national debt, one of the steepest in the European Union. He is calling for a series of “historic” reforms to liberalise Belgium’s labour market, curb high unemployment benefits and cut back on pension costs.
“Tomorrow’s prosperity begins with today’s courage. Let’s dare to make the reforms that will bear fruit in a few years,” De Wever told lawmakers. But trying to get a disparate five-party coalition that includes French-speaking economic liberals and Dutch-speaking socialists to agree on what needs to be done is proving tough.
