No breakthrough on Flemish government talks

Geert Bourgeois and Kris Peeters, the respective negotiators of the nationalist N-VA and the Christian-democrat CD&V, have failed to secure a breakthrough in their talks on a new Flemish government coalition, six weeks after elections in Flanders.

The two negotiators met alone without any entourage, and while no official details were released about the encounter there is now little expectation that a coalition can be announced by the N-VA’s target of July 11, Flemish Community Day.

The meeting between Bourgeois and Peeters replaced a scheduled gathering of the working group of the eight main negotiators. While the early weeks of talks between N-VA and the CD&V were characterised by discretion and what both said was a “good working atmosphere”, recent discussions appear to be tense, with the N-VA complaining about the slow pace, and the CD&V criticising their counterparts’ “ill-considered” economic demands.