Valerie Van Peel: “We either rise together or fall together”

Prime Minister Bart De Wever remains responsible for negotiating a multi-year budget with the parties in the Arizona coalition. The task remains unchanged: find at least €10 billion in savings. N-VA president Valerie Van Peel is calling on all coalition partners to drop their vetoes and put an end to the caricatures. “Our prosperity is at stake. We need to come out of the trenches. We need each other.”

There is no doubt about the severity of Belgium’s budgetary situation. The country already spends €16 billion a year on interest payments on its national debt. Without action, that figure could soar to €52 billion by 2035.

“That is more than the entire federal budget for justice, policing, defence and other policy areas combined,” says Valerie Van Peel. “If we fail to get the situation under control, we will be worse off tomorrow than we are today. And the longer we wait, the greater the effort required.”

Everyone needs to make concessions

The five parties in the Arizona coalition have confirmed to the King that they want to continue governing together. The willingness to reach an agreement is clearly there. The challenge now is to make the difficult decisions.

“There are only so many ways to find €10 billion without damaging our economy or undermining our welfare state. That means everyone will have to make sacrifices. And every party must be prepared to let go of its vetoes.”

Van Peel acknowledges that some measures are difficult for supporters of the various coalition parties to accept, including those of the N-VA.

“There are measures that are difficult for us to explain to our own supporters too. But if everyone simply digs in their heels, we will get nowhere. The common good must come first.”

Business owners and workers are not on opposing sides

Van Peel is therefore urging the coalition partners to stop resorting to cheap caricatures. One example, she argues, is the artificial divide between business owners and employees.

“As if every business owner were some kind of crook whose only ambition is to get richer at the expense of those who have less. Businesses create jobs. When they thrive, they can employ more people, pay higher wages and boost purchasing power. Workers are the first to benefit.”

That does not mean those with the broadest shoulders should be exempt from contributing more. But any additional effort must be carefully considered.

“We are also talking about entrepreneurs who have invested almost everything they own in their businesses, who create jobs and who already pay substantial amounts in tax. Without entrepreneurs, there is no prosperity. Without prosperity, there can be no well-being. We must not saw off the branch we are sitting on.”

Work must pay more

Van Peel also rejects the idea that every tax reform is necessarily bad for the economy.

“That is another caricature. A sensible shift in taxation from labour to consumption could actually give our economy more breathing room. Work must pay more.”

She stresses that the government wants to reduce the overall tax burden.

“Every budget proposal put forward so far has included an overall reduction in the tax burden by the end of the parliamentary term. Lower taxes, not higher ones.”

Reforming 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

Van Peel is also calling for greater honesty in the debate on social security. She rejects the suggestion that every spending cut automatically comes at the expense of vulnerable people.

“No one, absolutely no one, wants to push people into hardship. Every social security reform is designed precisely to ensure that support reaches those who genuinely need it. People who are genuinely ill, people who have fallen on hard times. That is the only way we can continue to provide them with proper support in the future.”

“For years, money has been spent on people who were not entitled to it or did not need it. We need to put an end to that abuse and waste. This government has already made significant progress, but there is still work to be done.”

“Bart is not there just to keep things ticking over”

Van Peel describes Prime Minister De Wever’s latest failure to meet the budget deadline as painful. She also understands the disappointment it has caused. But she believes the scale of the challenge should not be underestimated.

“Bart refuses to settle for a half-hearted deal. He wants to lead a government that genuinely tackles the problems we face. A government that breaks with the mismanagement of the past and puts an end to ever-increasing spending on borrowed money. He is not there just to keep things ticking over. Settling for fewer savings simply to secure an agreement would be irresponsible.”

Taking responsibility

Van Peel concludes with an appeal to all coalition partners to shoulder their responsibilities together once again.

“This government has already shown that it has the courage to make difficult decisions. We need to find that courage again. This is not about choosing one side over another, and certainly not about setting one group against another. We either rise together or fall together.”