Brussels region agrees budget for coming year

The Brussels-Capital regional government has reached an agreement on its budget for 2017. The details will be announced today in the Brussels parliament. The agreement covers both the regional government and the community commissions for matters pertaining to Flemish and French-speaking responsibilities.

Spending in 2017 is expected to remain at the level of 2016 – around €4 billion. The budget is expected to involve spending cuts, in an effort to balance the books. Brussels is also likely to follow Flanders and Wallonia by safeguarding “productive investments” – in the case of Brussels, mainly investment in mobility.

The government is thought not to be considering any new or increased taxes, though a tax reform recently introduced to stimulate the housing market will be retained.

Meanwhile, an attempt by the Brussels regional government to push the responsibility for approving or rejecting the free-trade agreement between the EU and Canada on to the Brussels Parliament will not succeed, the parliament’s chair, Charles Picqué, told Bruzz. The government cannot come to an internal agreement, and minister-president Rudi Vervoort has called for the parliament to vote on the issue.

“That has no point,” Picqué said. “A vote in parliament has no weight with the European Commission. The Brussels government is trying to shift the blame, but that won’t solve the problem.” The majority of members – principally the French-speaking parties with the exception of MR, the party of prime minister Charles Michel – are against the treaty, Picqué said.

Photo: Benoit Doppagne/Belga