Court of Audit rejects Brussels accounts again: “Financial management remains a complete mess”

The Belgian Court of Audit has rejected the Brussels Region’s accounts for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the Region’s debt continues to spiral, reaching €17.7 billion by the end of 2025. N-VA group leader in the Brussels Parliament Gilles Verstraeten has launched a scathing attack on the Budget Minister: “Dirk De Smedt (Anders) cannot keep pretending that Brussels’ finances are under control. The figures tell a very different story: the accounts are a complete mess, and the debt mountain just keeps growing.”

Second rejection in a row

After declining to issue an opinion on the accounts for 2020 through 2023, the Court of Audit has now rejected the Region’s accounts for the second year running. According to the Court, the discrepancies identified are material and have a pervasive impact on the financial statements as a whole.

“The Brussels government cannot even manage to prepare its own accounts in accordance with the law. This is an outright embarrassment for the Budget Minister,” Verstraeten said.

Debt surges by billions

Brussels’ debt also continues to rise. By the end of 2025, it had reached €17.7 billion, up €2.1 billion from the previous year and a staggering €8.1 billion since 2021. In 2025 alone, Brussels spent more than €1 billion beyond its revenues.

“Debt is piling up by the billions, yet there is still no credible recovery plan in sight. The people of Brussels are now paying the price for years of irresponsible policymaking,” Verstraeten said.

The Court of Audit also identified serious shortcomings in expenditure controls. In 37 cases involving budget reallocations, it was unable to verify whether the necessary approvals had been obtained because the required supporting documents were missing.

Social housing also comes under heavy fire

The accounts of the Brussels Regional Housing Company (BGHM) have also been rejected. Commitments worth €533.7 million were not properly recorded in the budgetary accounts. In addition, €21.7 million in support for social housing providers was carried over to the following financial year, while overdue payments to the Region were transferred to an interest-free credit facility.

For Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre, enough is enough. “The mismanagement of social housing in Brussels is appalling. The very institution responsible for supporting and overseeing social housing providers cannot even get its own financial reporting in order. That is unacceptable.”

Vanden Borre is calling for a comprehensive financial recovery plan and a fundamental overhaul of the social housing sector. In its plan A Roof for Brussels, the N-VA proposes, among other measures, merging the Brussels Regional Housing Company and Brussels Housing, while bringing public housing companies and social rental agencies together under a single, professionally managed housing organisation for the capital.

N-VA to hold minister to account

The N-VA will question Minister De Smedt in the Brussels Parliament over the rejected accounts, mounting debt and inadequate expenditure controls.

“The people of Brussels deserve a government that handles their tax money responsibly and complies with the law. Instead, we are seeing the exact opposite: a budget sinking ever deeper into the red, accounts that fail to meet the required standards, and an administration unable to produce the necessary supporting documentation. De Smedt will have to explain how he can possibly justify this,” Verstraeten concluded.