Belgian government nears collapse over 10 billion euro budget hole

King Philippe is considering Prime Minister De Wever's resignation. If he accepts it, elections must follow within forty days.

Belgium's government could fall over a 10 billion euro budget hole, forcing elections within forty days if King Philippe accepts. The search for the money lasted two months. The Palace said on 2 November it is 'considering' Prime Minister De Wever's resignation.

Politico reported Tuesday was widely seen as the unofficial deadline, since the budget had to pass through parliament before the end of the year.

The talks failed over money and shoulders. Night talks broke down mainly because MR, the French-speaking liberal party, opposed too many taxes on the table, while Vooruit, the Flemish social-democratic party, and Les Engagés, the French-speaking centre party, insisted that the richest pay a bigger share. On Sunday afternoon, Les Engagés proposed a much higher capital gains tax and a financial transaction tax to raise money from the richest. MR called the plan unacceptable.

Earlier, in mid-October, the other government parties had already rejected De Wever's plan to freeze federal spending, a freeze worth about 4 billion euros.

Some at the table wanted to cut the exercise to 8 billion euros to reach a deal anyway, the source said.

De Wever found that far too weak against the goal.

De Wever then proposed degressive salaries for government members to underline the urgency, found no support, and said he would offer his resignation.

MR defended its line. The party said the budget plan broke the government accord's rule that taxes cover at most one ninth of the budget effort. It pleaded for lower taxes, because Belgians already pay too much. Frédéric De Gucht, president of the Anders grouping, said two months of talks had produced only a resignation letter. Businesses close, people lose jobs and families cannot pay their bills, he said. That, he said, is not governing.