N-VA links budget support to stricter asylum policies and savings

The N-VA voted in the Chamber against the provisional budget for the next three months. It is making its support for that budget conditional. “We do not want new policies to be financed through the back door”, the N-VA group in the Chamber emphasises. “The rest of the government must make clear efforts to curb the influx of asylum seekers and must also tighten its belt.”

Now that the Federal Government is in current affairs, it cannot spend more than one twelfth of the 2018 budget every month. This system of provisional twelfths also means that a vote on the provisional budget is required every three months. But for the N-VA, that vote is not a formality. The fiscal challenges remain too great and reforms are needed.

Reintroduce asylum quotas

An additional EUR 134 million has already been spent on asylum reception facilities, which means that that budget is now 50% higher than earmarked for this purpose in the budget with provisional twelfths. Member of Parliament Theo Francken thus calls for the reintroduction of his asylum quota: “In order to control costs, we need to control the influx of asylum seekers ourselves with a quota that gives priority to vulnerable asylum seekers. Thanks to such a quota, the number of asylum applications fell from 2,750 in October 2018 to 1,253 in December 2018.”

Savings needed

In addition, the government and the king must also set a good example. “This can be achieved by saving on government spending and ministerial wages, and by allowing the indexation of royal endowments - amounting to EUR 61,000 - to flow back to the Treasury”, explains the party. The N-VA MPs also point to the fiscal deficit in Social security Social security is currently managed at the Federal level in Belgium. The most important pillars of Belgian social security are: sickness and invalidity insurance (NIDHI), pensions, unemployment insurance and child allowances. In addition, occupational illness, occupational accidents and annual holidays are dealt with at this level. Some Flemish parties have been campaigning for years for (large parts of) social security to be transferred to the Regions and Communities. social security : “If there is no change in policy, this will rise to EUR 6 billion in the period 2020-2024. The rest of the government could already have taken action but failed to implement the agreed reforms on early retirement and unemployment benefits.”

Confederalism If we want to make structural changes, then we have to change the structures. Confederalism is the structural change that this country needs. The basic principle of confederalism is that Flanders and Wallonia are the owners of all powers. They exercise these themselves, but can also make decisions together and manage certain powers together at the confederal level, in both of their interests. This completely reverses the logic. Instead of transferring federal powers to Flanders and Wallonia, these powers can be transferred to the confederal level. Forced cooperation is replaced by voluntary cooperation. Must becomes will. Dismantling from above becomes building up from below. Confederalism is therefore deciding together on what we want to do together. Confederalism as a solution

It does not bode well for the next Federal Government. “A government with a majority in Wallonia and a minority in Flanders will inevitably be a tax government. Only confederalism offers guarantees for a government that is more efficient and therefore less costly while respecting the democratic choice on both sides of the linguistic border”, concludes the N-VA.