The conditions are right for another inauspicious Monday, with Bart De Wever once again meeting King Philippe to tell him there is no agreement for a Federal Government.
The five parties that would form the coalition have now taken 169 days to figure out a deal they all would be willing to sign up to. How much longer they need to find this vital compromise is unclear.
What is clear is that financial imperatives will soon require political action, deal or no deal. So while formation discussions wear on ad infinitum, the caretaker government also meets today to discuss how the country's vital services continue to function without a new budget. In a television interview on Sunday, former State Secretary for the Budget Eva De Bleeker said that with the year ending in a matter of weeks, forming a new government that can draft a new budget will be "technically impossible".
As a result, Belgium will start 2025 with a system of provisional twelfths, that allows the last government to spend one-twelfth of the 2024 expenditure every month. It is expected that this system will be in place for at least the first three months of next year.
But although the twelfths system happens by default, it still contains elements that require input from serving ministers. This notably is the case with the health insurance budget, which will be in place for an entire year. But on this point parties in De Croo's caretaker government are divided, in disagreement over how much the budget can be raised.
Which leaves Beglium in the unenviable position of both the former and prospective governments wrangling over how to tax and how to spend.
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