This Sunday evening, trainer Bart De Wever announced that negotiators would meet this Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the supernote, which contains all the socio-economic reforms. The goal: to emerge from Thursday evening’s meeting with a government agreement. The president of the N-VA will work, during the hours that separate him from these meetings, to adapt his supernote to the demands of the CD&V, the Engagés, and especially Vooruit, while taking care not to come up against backlash from the MR by Georges-Louis Bouchez. The balancing act promises to be high-flying…
The optimism of certain negotiators was in fact dampened, a little before the weekend.
“We were confident until a few days ago, but things have become very complicated,” summarizes a federal source.
In recent days, the repeated leaks of socio-economic notes in the press – which often constitute a bad omen in a negotiation – have tensed up the various negotiators.
To the point that, since Friday, discussions on the trainer’s socio-economic note – which contains measures in terms of taxation, pensions and the labor market – have taken place between four eyes rather than with all the parties around from the table.
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Vooruit party office puts pressure on Conner Rousseau
On Saturday, the situation deteriorated sharply after a party office was held at Vooruit, notably due to union pressure. “After the leaks to the press, a series of members and activists of Vooruit put pressure on their president, Conner Rousseau”points out a French-speaking source. The Flemish socialist came out with a road map from his party, including strict conditions to follow to continue federal negotiations. At the center of Vooruit’s concerns is the question of automatic salary indexation. There is talk, in the trainer’s notes, of no longer indexing the salaries of civil servants and private sector workers (where indexation takes place quarterly) only once a year.
Throughout the weekend, the president of the N-VA held bilateral talks with the other parties, with a view to defusing the situation. This Sunday, the trainer met Sammy Mahdi (CD&V) again, from midday, followed by Georges-Louis Bouchez (MR), Conner Rousseau (Vooruit) and Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés).
-The socio-economic note, of course, clashes with the Flemish socialists of Vooruit. But it does not satisfy the CD&V and Les Engagés either.
It comes to us that, on the side of the French-speaking centrists, certain points are considered particularly sensitive and unsatisfactory, such as the proposal to no longer index social and unemployment benefits during the next legislature. The growth of the health care budget also poses a problem, as does the question of pensions for firefighters, police officers, teachers and the military.
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The CD&V also expressed its reservations. “There is still work to be done to ensure that those who work or have worked for a very long time do not suffer the consequences of the decisions we makeSammy Mahdi told VTM. The strongest shoulders must contribute more and we must impose stricter sanctions on people who do not work. The worker must not be the victim.”
“I hope we will reach a breakthrough in the coming days,” added Nicole De Moor (CD&V), still on VTM. The Federal Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration did not wish to criticize the trainer’s method. “There’s no point in pointing fingers and blaming.”
” It’s now a question of political will.”
As the final line approaches, several parties are visibly trying everything possible to sway the score in their direction. Is this a last minute dramatization, before a landing? The next few hours will be crucial, but Bart De Wever is going through a zone of strong turbulence. “Vooruit is clearly not helping by organizing a party office in the final stretch. But extending the trainer’s mission for another week would not change the root of the problem, concludes a Dutch-speaking source. It’s now a question of political will.”
