The N-VA presents an extensive savings package on the functioning of politics

On Saturday, the party leadership of the N-VA discussed and approved an extensive package of savings on the functioning of our political apparatus. Some symbolic proposals are currently circulating within the federal government that would raise a few hundred thousand euros once, but the N-VA is making the case that tens of millions of euros could be saved structurally.

The savings package covers four areas:

1. Reduction in party grants at all levels

Specifically, the N-VA continues to call for abolishing the indexation of party grants based on the national and regional levels. As we have never been able to find a majority for this proposal, we propose an index freeze of those party grants for the rest of the legislature as an interim solution. This measure by itself, especially under current Inflation The increase in the general price level. The original meaning (literally “to blow up”) is monetary inflation, which means that the amount of money increases. Today, inflation primarily refers to price inflation. This means an implicit monetary depreciation. This causes the purchasing power to drop. inflation rates, will quickly yield structural savings of EUR 5 million annually.

The N-VA would prefer to see the party grants in the provinces completely abolished. In the province of Antwerp, the majority of the N-VA and CD&V parties already decided at the beginning of this legislature to phase out provincial party grants to zero by 2024. Other provinces have also already made savings in this area, but not yet to the same extent. The N-VA would therefore like to see the party grants that have already been abolished in Antwerp extended to all provinces. In total, this would amount to annual savings of more than EUR 2 million.

2. The economic standard for the functioning of cabinets and parliaments

A savings item that the federal government consistently avoids in its proposals is the functioning of the cabinets. This is not surprising, because the federal government has a total of 20 cabinets, two more than the so-called Swedish coalition. Because this government has three additional deputy prime ministers, three of those cabinets also have higher operating costs than during the previous legislature. In total, this amounts to more than EUR 10 million annually in additional federal operating costs compared to the Swedish government.

If the cabinet operation of all levels (i.e. also in Wallonia, Brussels, etc.) were as economical as at the Flemish level, a total of EUR 20 million per year could be saved on the operating costs of cabinets.

The party also proposes a savings path for the functioning of the various parliaments. At the Flemish level, the discussion of such a pathway will begin as early as Monday within the Extended Bureau. Again, this concerns a potential total amount of several million euros in savings across all levels.

Furthermore, the N-VA continues to call for the complete abolition of the Senate. This is something that several parties have already advocated in the past and on which there must therefore be a broad consensus. This is by far the biggest cut that can be achieved quickly in the political apparatus. In total, an annual total amount of no less than EUR 44 million can be saved.

3. Index jump on the remuneration of ministers and MPs

The N-VA also proposes an index jump on the remuneration of ministers and MPs. At the Flemish level alone, this will bring in EUR 0.5 million.

4. Reduction in the number of MPs

The N-VA is of the opinion that the greatest savings on politicians must be made by reducing the number of MPs. For example, a reduction in the number of MPs at the Flemish level from 124 to 100 means a saving of around EUR 5 million. This amount can be greatly increased if other parliaments also take responsibility for this in their own regions.

Of course, the N-VA continues to argue for a confederal reform for the longer term, which would reduce the number of MPs even more sharply.

In total, this package could quickly lead to structural savings of EUR 75 million annually on the functioning of the political apparatus. Moreover, many of these savings are to the disadvantage of the largest parties, so the N-VA cannot be accused of making proposals out of its own interest.

The N-VA hopes that the federal government negotiations will not be limited to a few symbolic savings measures that barely generate any money and, in fact, mainly serve to conceal the fact that the Belgian federal budget under the Vivaldi coalition government has become just about the most problematic in the entire European Union.