Belgium reached an agreement on the formation of the coalition government on Friday, the national monarchy announcedending seven months of partisan quarrels due to deeply unpopular proposed reductions in social consumption and other issues. The complete details of the agreement have only been officially published.
The new government was formed under the administration of Bart de Wevera, the leaders of the conservative Flemish nationalist party, the new Flemish Union. The party won Election in June with 17 percent of the vote, the highest share in competitorsin a victory that was a victory over the extremely right separatist party.
With the Agreement on Friday, Mr. de Wever is ready to become the next prime minister in the country, a leading coalition with five parties that negotiated with a hard line of migration and reducing into pension and care systems in the country. The party of Mr. de Wevera has joined forces with the liberal reformist movement and centrist Les Engages, two Francophone Parties, as well as the Flemish Socialist Party of Voroori (forward) and the Christian Democratic and Flaman party.
Belgium, whose capital is, Brussels, the home of the headquarters and the European Union and NATO, has only 12 million people and represents only About 3.4 percent of the total gross domestic product of the European Union. But it faces many challenges of common European countries, including the aging of the population that increases the costs of their pensions and health care.
Partly because of this, the nation has a relatively large deficit, 4.6 percent gross domestic product last year, based on estimates. The fiscal rules of the European Union which entered into force last year They increased pressure to control costs.
If the country does not submit a budget plan to the European Union on time, it risks strict four -year -old adjustment path And in the end, he could face punishments and fine.
The final Government formation agreement is expected to include significant budget reductions, increased military consumption and reduction of some taxes, on the basis of Leaks that previously reported news. The details of the agreement have not yet been published since the late Friday night in Belgium, but at least some parties have suggested that many popular consumption programs have been held.
On Social mediaMaxime Prévot, leader of the Central Coalition Party Les Engages, has announced that it is a “Reform Agreement for the Future, which guarantees indexation and provides payment of pensions for today and tomorrow.”
The prolonged procedure for the formation of the Government is not new in Belgium; One deviation in 2010 and 2011 Set the world recordwith parties that took 541 days to form a coalition.
Usually, the negotiations of Belgium are usually attributed to the deep divisions between Flanders, Belgium of the Dutch and more leaning northern regions, and Wallnia, national French speech and more left southern part.
But this time, an additional complication slowed down the procedure: the need to restrain in the budget deficit of the nation.
Creating pensions and health care is a challenge in many European countries. French decision To raise retirement age to restrict consumption has led to mass protests, and this month the Prime Minister of the country said he would consider a change of law.
Belgium faced its own version of this problem because she is trying to balance the precious social norms with a sharp fiscal reality. In recent weeks, teachers, military staff and trade unionists have organized strikes and protests against the proposal for reform pension that were leaked in Newspaper houses.
Belgian system of automatic salary adjustments Inflation has also become a flash in negotiations. Negotiators have sought them to suppress them to reduce state payments and bring Belgium more competitiveEven while centrally and leftist parties were concerned about how changes would affect workers. Other questions that caused the conversations included social used, pensions, health care and proposed Capital gain tax.
The agreement still have to approve the Congress parties. In her post on Friday, confirming that an agreement had been reached, the Belgian monarchy said that the prime minister’s oath date will be published later.
