Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed in his resignation on Monday after his five-party coalition failed to agree on a plan to tackle the country's mounting budget crisis. King Philippe has not yet decided whether to accept it.
The Royal Palace said the King regretted that no agreement had been reached and would begin consultations with the leaders of the coalition parties from Tuesday, before meeting De Wever again on Friday. The government needs to find about 10 billion euros in savings to stay within EU fiscal limits, and a 2027 budget must be agreed before December 31.
Overnight talks broke down over a familiar split: the conservative N-VA and liberal MR want spending cuts, while the socialists, centrists and Christian Democrats want more tax on higher incomes.
De Wever, a Flemish nationalist who took office in February 2025 promising to fix Belgium's finances, now faces a full-blown political crisis. Belgium's public debt is expected to reach about 110 percent of GDP this year, among the highest in the European Union, while students and trade unions have staged repeated protests and strikes against government policies.
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