Prime Minister Bart De Wever: “The decay has stopped”

The federal parliament has expressed its confidence in the government led by Bart De Wever, following his policy address delivered in the Chamber on Wednesday. The government plans to restore fiscal balance by drastically cutting public spending and lowering overall tax pressure.

“There will still be work to do by the end of this legislative term to achieve a structurally sound budget. But after just nine months, this federal government has succeeded in stabilising the deficit,” said Prime Minister Bart De Wever. “The decay has stopped.”

No increase in tax burden

In the Chamber, Bart De Wever firmly countered opposition criticism of the government’s major budget reform.

“I’ve heard a lot of misinformation about the nature of our budget efforts. Some keep suggesting that we’re balancing the books by raising taxes. I’m sorry, but that’s simply not true,” said De Wever. “How is this government fixing the budget? By significantly cutting spending and reducing taxes overall. That’s what the numbers show. That’s the truth.”

Boosting employment—also in the south

According to De Wever, the main driver of financial Transfers The money flows from Flanders to Brussels and Wallonia are called transfers. The transfers from the federal budget, the Financing Law and social security amount to between 6 and 7 billion euros per year, and 11 billion euros if debt repayments are included. The size of the transfers is always contested by the French-speaking side or they are just referred to as normal solidarity contributions. A study by Vives (KU Leuven) revealed that the transfers did not serve solidarity, but had a paralysing effect on the growth of both the Walloon and Flemish economies. transfers within Belgium is the difference in employment rates between the north and the south.

“And that’s exactly why getting people into work and tackling overly generous welfare systems is one of our government’s top priorities. We’re limiting unemployment benefits over time. We’re finally addressing abuse in the sickness benefit system. We’re rewarding work. We’re making sure 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 is fair.”

De Wever also explained why this government has succeeded where previous ones didn’t:
“Because I have the good fortune of governing with two Francophone coalition partners who are committed to revitalising their region’s economy—parties that have no vested interest in keeping large groups of people out of work. That has very clearly been the case with other Francophone parties in the past.”

Lowering labour taxes

The Prime Minister also reiterated that “working people will be more than fairly compensated.”

“The reduction in labour taxes we’re implementing is over three times greater than the extra revenue we’ll get from the VAT reform. Of course, I understand it’s frustrating that most of that tax relief will only kick in toward the end of the term.”

“But that’s simply because structural reforms take time to deliver results. We need those results to free up the budgetary space for tax cuts. As I said in my opening: effort first, reward later.”

Natural gas tax is an EU requirement

De Wever also addressed the criticism of higher excise duties on natural gas.

“Let me be clear: the European Union requires us to tax natural gas at the highest VAT rate by 2030. That wasn’t my decision. And ironically, it’s mainly opposition parties who pushed for this at the European level—yet they’re now the ones complaining about it the loudest.”

No index jump

Finally, the Prime Minister firmly denied that an “index jump” is on the table.

“Salaries will continue to be indexed in full—but the increase will be capped at €4,000 (or €2,000 for pensioners). So, someone earning €5,000 will see their wage increase by the same amount as someone earning €4,000. It’s not pleasant, but it’s not the end of the world either.”

The majority of workers and pensioners will therefore notice no difference from the current indexation mechanism.

“In my view, the measure is proportionate given the budgetary context. And it also strengthens our Competitiveness The extent to which companies in one country can compete with similar companies in another country. A law came into force in Belgium in 1996 to monitor competitiveness. This stipulates that Belgian salaries may not evolve faster than the average of those in the three neighbouring countries. The Central Economic Council (CEC) performs an annual measurement to see if the objectives have been obtained. competitiveness , which has long been under pressure,” said De Wever.

He concluded by noting that the detailed arrangements, as usual, will be worked out and debated in the relevant parliamentary committees:
“But the effort must be shared fairly—regardless of the mechanism or the timing of indexation.”