“The Senate continues to waste money”

The Senate budget is being discussed today. Senate Majority Leader Karl Vanlouwe is unhappy with the budget he was handed: “The Senate continues to waste money. Hardly any savings are being made. Even worse, instead of saving, the Senate is drawing from its own financial reserves. The Vivaldi parties are opting for the easy solution once again.” 

Various parties are questioning the usefulness of the Senate, but saving on the institutions does not appear likely. The budget is being discussed in the Senate Management Committee today. “The brief tables that are made available are based on surreal savings, such as half a million euros on energy costs, while energy prices have just increased. In addition, the tables are based on an allocation of EUR 41 million, while the federal government’s spending budget refers to an allocation to the Senate of EUR 35 million,” Vanlouwe says. 

Shuffling reserves to cover deficits

Moreover, the budget tables show that subsidies for the pension fund (EUR 2 million), subsidies for works (EUR 2.1 million) and the negative balance (EUR 261,399) are covered by the Senate reserves. “Vivaldi, the De Croo coalition government parties, does write a saving on the allocation in the federal budget, but will still spend more money in the Senate,” says Vanlouwe. “Using an operation in which money is shuffled from reserves to cover deficits, they are trying to sell this as a saving by simply drawing from the reserves. There is no sign of structural savings. The population is struggling, but for the Vivaldi parties, it is proving impossible to save money on an outdated and useless institution, let alone on its own party resources.”

The N-VA continues to work towards the abolition of the Senate

State Senator Andries Gryffroy adds: “It is very easy to save money on the political apparatus by ending subsidies to political parties and political staff in the Senate. This amounts to structural savings of more than EUR 12 million. So much for the political renewal that the Vivaldi parties always speak of so highly. The N-VA will continue to work towards the abolition of the Senate, and we will submit a proposal to the Management Committee today so that we can already tackle the budget this year.”