N-VA to receive record €12.3 million annual funding

Flemish nationalist party N-VA will receive €12.3 million annually up until the next election, making it the party in Belgium with the highest public funding. The grant, which is calculated according to the number of MPs elected to the federal and regional parliaments, represents the largest figure ever awarded to a political party in the country.

The party saw its annual funding increase by €4.2 million following the elections last May, after which it emerged as the largest party in the country. The sum is paid annually, which means that the N-VA could end up with a total of €43 million by the 2019 elections, according to a study by two University of Leuven political scientists.

This would give the party a huge financial advantage over its rivals, according to analysts. Party spokesperson Joachim Pohlman said that he was surprised by the figures. “According to our calculations, we would have about half that amount in 2019, with some €21 to €22 million in the bank,”  he told De Morgen. 

Most other parties will receive public funding similar to their pre-election levels, apart from the far-right Vlaams Belang, which will lose €2.5 million. It has already launched an appeal to party members to donate more.

Political parties in Belgium now receive total annual funding of nearly €61 million – an increase of €4 million on the previous year. The figure represents 80% of parties’ total revenue.

The N-VA currently has €18.4 million in reserve, compared to €8.45 million in 2010. Their current balance puts them just behind the French-speaking socialists PS, which currently holds the most reserves at €18.8 million.

photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters/Corbis