European Commission accepts that Belgium submits multi-year plan by the end of this year

“The Commission has evaluated the information provided by all the Member States that requested a deferral and has confirmed its agreement for this deferral to each relevant Member State,” the European Union’s executive body told Belga.

As a result of the recent reform of the European budgetary rules, Member States had to submit a structural plan for the budget, reforms, and medium-term investments to the Commission by September 20. The Commission will pay special attention to the plans of Belgium and the seven other Member States currently subject to an excessive deficit procedure.

Federal formateur De Wever first marked the date of September 20 as a guideline for forming a new government, but that deadline was not met. Therefore, he asked Alexia Bertrand, Secretary of State for Budget in the outgoing government, to request a deferral from the Commission until the end of the year.

Belgium is certainly not the only Member State seeking extensions. On September 20, only Denmark and Malta had completed their work. No less than 21 governments have requested a deferral until the end of October. The four remaining Member States, including Belgium, have requested a further deferral.

The Commission has already presented reference trajectories to help countries draw up their plans. Under certain conditions, it can accept a seven-year trajectory to put public finances on a sustainable path. For Belgium, the consolidation effort could amount to 28 billion euros.