There has been a lot of discussion about next year’s budget in recent weeks. State Secretary Eva De Bleeker (Open Vld) resigned last month after she was accused of making a mistake: the proceeds from the adjustment of excise duties on energy were not included in the budget and the deficit suddenly turned out much higher than estimated. The reform was supposed to make the VAT reduction on energy budget neutral, but will only come into effect when prices have fallen back to the 2021 level. The opposition, N-VA in the lead, thought that De Bleeker was right, and accused Prime Minister Alexander De Croo of not taking the budget seriously.
The issue was raised again today in the Finance Committee. “The only certainty is the uncertainty”, posited the new Secretary of State for the Budget Alexia Bertrand (MR). “Everything will depend on prices in March,” she said. The reduced VAT applies provisionally until 31 March 2023, after which the government may extend the measure or not depending on the state of affairs of the excise reform. Moreover, the details of the excise reform are not yet known, says Bertrand.
N-VA Member of Parliament Sander Loones concluded that “no decision has been taken”, while the left-wing government parties claim that the VAT reduction is final.
Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit) pointed out that the draft law on the reform of excise duties is ready for advice at the Council of State. “The decision has been made,” he said. PS party leader Ahmed Laaouej emphasized that a royal decree to simply extend the VAT reduction is enough for the government.
The budget was finally given the green light in the Commission. That happened majority against opposition. The text will go to plenary in the week of 19 December.
LOOK. This was Eva De Bleeker’s blunder course in 2 minutes