Lhe European Commission published on Tuesday its assessment of the public finances of the Member States of the Union; and its recommendations. For Belgium, she didn’t have much to say. And for good reason: our country has not submitted a draft 2025 budget, nor a multi-year adjustment plan. Logic: two governments – federal and Brussels Region – are still missing.
We are not alone. Austria is in the same situation. Other Member States have not sent the Commission either a draft budget for next year (Spain) or a multiannual plan (Bulgaria, Germany and Lithuania) as of mid-October, as requires the European calendar.
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Belgium, let us remember, has obtained a deadline: it must submit the two documents by December 31. Otherwise ? The Commission has clarified that it does not want to speculate on such a possibility. In other words: if so, we’ll see.
On the rue de la Loi side, the Prime Minister for Current Affairs, Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) proposed, in consultation with Bart De Wever (N-VA) still busy forming Arizona, to develop a budget in the form of provisional twelfths for the first three months of next year, the Belga agency reported this Monday. Understand: just in case.
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Excessive deficit
In the meantime, Belgium has been subject to an excessive deficit procedure since this summer. According to the Commission’s autumn forecast, our deficit is expected to reach 4.6% of GDP this year and, with unchanged policy, to widen over the next two years. The Commission recommended this Tuesday that our country bring it below 3% by the end of 2027 as part of a budgetary adjustment procedure lasting… 4 years.
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Oops, that, a priori, does not suit us. The new European rules offer the possibility to Member States to spread the adjustment over 7 years, through structural reforms and investments. And Belgium intended to take advantage of it. Is it lead? No. Our country can always ask for 7 years when it submits its multi-year plan. Would we say: so far, so good?
