Chamber debates budget and state of the union

Following prime minister Charles Michel’s State of the Union speech and presentation of the new budget on Sunday, it was the turn of the parliament on Monday to debate the issues. Later on Tuesday comes the traditional vote of confidence, which he is expected to pass easily.

The debate started at 10.00 on Monday and went on past 2.00 the next morning. Peter De Roover of N-VA blamed the opposition for the budget cuts that were necessary to fill a €3 billion gap. “The opposition is against a deficit, they are as one on that,” he said. “That immediately limits our options. Then, by definition, we have to turn to savings on spending, or income increases.”

Karin Temmerman of the opposition socialists criticised the government’s plan to allow people under 21 to be paid less than the legal minimum wage to encourage employers to take them on, calling the measure “scandalous”. From outside the chamber, she was joined by the Network Against Poverty, which pointed out that a cut in wages would make life even more difficult for young people on the rental market, where many already spend more than one-third of their income.

“Cuts are always painful,” countered De Roover (pictured), while claiming some of the cuts contained in the budget were made “not with an axe but a scalpel. In health care, such fine cuts were possible without reducing the quality of the care”.

Belgium’s five main health insurers (mutualities) issued a joint statement claiming the €900 million cuts in health spending would be “the largest social decline in 10 years”. The result would be either a drop in the quality of care or an increase in patient fees and supplements. The Belgian Doctors’ Association warned that the budget clause on limiting the index on doctors’ pay would force them to raise their fees unilaterally.

Unions representing military personnel threatened industrial action in response to the budget’s provision for raising the age at which military personnel can retire, bringing it into line with other sectors. At present, military personnel can retire at the age of 57; the new rule would see that go up to 58 in 2018, and by six months every year until reaching 63.

Unions describe the plan as “much more dramatic than we were expecting” and “far beyond what’s acceptable”.

Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA