Belgium (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Bart De Wever met King Philippe to discuss slow progress in forming a federal government with five parties, hindered by upcoming municipal elections and unresolved issues on taxation.
De Wever was set to meet the King at 11:30 on Monday to discuss his progress. The meeting was extended after about 30 minutes, but there hasn’t been significant progress in forming the next federal government since De Wever’s last visit to the Royal Palace.
What factors are delaying Belgium’s government formation process?
De Wever went back to work on September 2 to try to create a government with five parties: N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR, and Les Engagés. Maxime Prévot from Les Engagés helped De Wever when his first try failed because MR didn’t want to give in on taxes for Vooruit in his “socio-economic super-note.”Since then, talks have been moving slowly. Teams discuss various topics daily, but the leaders have only met to establish some ground rules. De Wever described it as moving like a local train rather than a high-speed one.
