Belgian prime minister offers King his resignation after budget negotiations collapse

Belgium faced a new political crisis after prime minster Bart De Wever tendered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday morning following the collapse of his government’s budget negotiations.

The Belgian monarch adopted a conciliatory role by not accepting his resignation, suspending it until Friday – the government’s deadline for presenting a budget for 2027.

King Philippe will now undertake consultations with the leaders of the majority parties of the ‘Arizona’ coalition, starting Tuesday. The final session will be with De Wever on Friday morning.

In a firmly worded statement, the Palace expressed regret over the failure to reach a budget agreement that is “credible and commensurate with current challenges,” reports RTBF.

Given the geopolitical and economic uncertainties, the King believes the country cannot afford a prolonged political crisis. He has called on the partners to prioritise “the general interest and a spirit of compromise.”

The move by De Wever followed weeks of failed negotiations to resolve a €10 billion budget gap between the prime minister and his coalition partners: Flemish socialist Vooruit, Flemish Christian democrat CD&V, Francophone liberal MR and Francophone centrist Les Engagés.

The deadlock in the negotiations centres mainly on a single issue, reports VRT. “It’s at a standstill because socialist Vooruit wants people with the ‘strongest shoulders’ to make greater efforts, as do centrist Les Engagés and Christian democrat CD&V. On the other hand, you have Flemish nationalist N-VA and conservative liberal MR – a classic left-right divide, in other words.”

MR deputy prime minister David Clarinval voiced opposition to “too much taxation, while according to foreign minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés), listing all the sticking points would take “an eternity”.

This is not the first political crisis for the ‘Arizona’ coalition. In early November 2025, the De Wever government found itself in a similar predicament in plugging a €10 billion budget shortfall.

Although the prime minister did not tender his resignation on that occasion, he did ask the King to extend the deadline and was granted an extra 50 days. Three weeks later an agreement was reached to make savings of €9.2 billion.

The question now is, can the coalition parties reach a similar compromise in only a couple of days?

Photo: Bart De Wever in from of Royal Palace, 10 November 2025 ©Bart De Wever Facebook page