The risks
If negotiators are turning to this alternative today, it is also to avoid the new deadline being set at Easter, even if, “no one anymore believes that it will be possible to land by November 22″, says an insider of the negotiations.
Without an agreement in the coming weeks, Belgium will have to move to a provisional twelfth system to finance public institutions and their workers. In the absence of a full government, this budget tranche is adopted by parliament for one month in order to ensure the continuity of state action.
Without a budget, Belgium will be sanctioned by the European Commission and its rating will be downgraded by the rating agencies (Moody’s, S&P).
The mutual funds are angry because the Inami budget (health care sectors) has not been fixed.
The MR strongly hopes to have a new executive before December, otherwise it will have to find a replacement for Hadja Lahbib. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will indeed have to hand over her post to take on the mantle of European Commissioner once Ursula von der Leyen’s new commission has been validated by the European Parliament. If all the candidate commissioners pass their hearings like the Belgian representative, the new commission will be able to take up its functions in the last month of the year. It is difficult to see Georges-Louis Bouchez, president of the MR, letting outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo inherit this position.
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