There is a major energy deal in the Vivaldi pipeline. Now that the complete nuclear exit is becoming increasingly doubtful, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) is aiming for a comprehensive, broad agreement by next week at the latest. Too late, says the opposition. “Excise taxes should be lowered now, not tomorrow.”
The war in Ukraine has completely shaken up the energy debate in Belgium. Fuel prices are breaking record after record, but a response from the government is still awaited. Although there is a lot of movement.
At the beginning of this week, Groen and Ecolo announced that there was an opening to extend the two youngest nuclear power plants in our country. This ‘reassessment’, as the Greens have called their curve, appears to be the sign for other parties to go even further. After the call from N-VA chairman Bart De Wever, there are now also voices among the French-speaking liberals to keep more nuclear power stations open than the last two. “Our proposal is to legislate the cessation of gas imports,” said chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez in ‘De Tijd’. “To guarantee our independence, we need to move towards an energy mix of about 30 percent nuclear and about 70 percent renewable energy.” That call is dismissed in government circles as impossible. “This is just surfing in a bidding,” it sounds. “Keeping the youngest two reactors open is already going to be very difficult, anything more than that is unfeasible.”
Versailles
In the search for ways to dampen prices, there is suddenly a lot on the table. A VAT reduction to six percent on electricity and gas is now negotiable for Open Vld. And to ease fuel prices, everyone is looking at the reverse cliquet system of Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V). This means that excise duties fall when prices have reached a certain level. Nobody seems to be upset about an extension of the social rate for 1 million families either. The PS wants even more people to be entitled to it. Open Vld has a check for 400 euros in mind for those who have just fallen by the wayside.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) wants to include all these elements, including a decision on the nuclear phase-out, in a major energy deal that must be completed by 18 March at the latest. That agreement is probably only for next week: today the core cabinet focuses on the consequences of the Ukraine crisis, now Thursday and Friday De Croo will attend an informal European summit in Versailles. “It is incomprehensible that the government is still delayed,” says PVDA chairman Raoul Hedebouw. “The working class is impoverished by pumping up its car, while the government has already received 1.1 billion euros extra due to the high VAT revenues. This should reduce excise duties. Now, not tomorrow.”
Also read: Gas prices continue to explode: at the current level, the average family pays 8,000 (!) euros for a year of electricity and gas (+)
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