N-VA slams Brussels budget deal: "Anders is cementing the PS’s grip on Brussels"

The Brussels Government is promising a balanced budget by 2029, but according to N-VA group leader in the Brussels Parliament Gilles Verstraeten, that trajectory is based on uncertain savings, one billion euros kept off budget and barely any structural reforms.

“This multi-year budget is built on castles in the air. The government is promising a balanced budget by 2029, but there is no credible way to verify those figures, while no structural reforms are being put in place to underpin them.”

Savings exist mainly on paper

The only concrete one-off source of revenue Verstraeten can identify in the agreement is the sale of the minister-president’s cabinet building on Hertogsstraat. For the bulk of its savings, he says, the government is relying on a reform of the Brussels administration that has yet to materialise.

According to Verstraeten, that is compounded by a serious credibility problem. He points out that around one billion euros remains outside the budget and that, since 2018, the Court of Audit has either rejected the Region’s accounts or been unable to express an opinion on them.

“And yet this government is presenting a balanced budget in 2029 as though it were a certainty. That is wishful thinking with taxpayers’ money.”

€625 million in interest

According to the N-VA, the mounting interest bill shows just how critical the situation is becoming. By 2029, Brussels is expected to be paying €625 million in interest, equivalent to 11% of its revenue.

“That is money that cannot be spent on security, cleanliness, mobility or social policy. Brussels is getting poorer while the banks are getting richer.”

Budget Minister Dirk De Smedt (Anders) also comes in for sharp criticism. Verstraeten describes him as “one of the architects of the disastrous budget policy of recent years” and accuses him of once again “reaching into his bag of tricks”.

“We are being treated to a good-news show, while Brussels continues to pile up enormous deficits despite all the warnings from the Federal Planning Bureau The Federal Planning Bureau (FPB) is a Belgian public agency which carries out studies and projections about economic, socio-economic and ecological policy issues. Its scientific expertise is at the disposal of the Government, Parliament, the social partners and the national and international institutions. Federal Planning Bureau and the credit rating agencies,” Verstraeten says.

PS gets its way

Beyond the budget figures, Verstraeten also takes aim at the political choices behind the agreement. And in his view, the fingerprints of the PS are all over it.

Municipalities and Public Centres for Social Welfare (OCMWs) will receive an additional €15 million. Preferential fares on Brussels public transport will not increase. There will also be no changes to subsidised contract workers (GECOs), child benefits or social housing rents. The Brussels Regional Housing Company will receive a further €131 million.

“And Lotfi Mostefa is staying at the helm of Anderlechtse Haard, even though MR had previously said that was unacceptable,” Verstraeten adds.

“Just like the coalition agreement, this deal was stitched together on the basis of pre-agreements negotiated by the PS-Anders axis with the support of MR. Anders is not a counterweight to the PS; it is the party’s life insurance. Thanks to Anders, the PS remains firmly in control of Brussels,” he concludes.