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The Flemish Government is seeking between €1.6 billion and €1.9 billion in Flemish budget savings.
- Budget negotiations resumed on Sunday, 27 September, after Saturday’s discussions ended earlier than expected.
- Coalition partners N-VA, Vooruit and CD&V remain divided over how the savings should be distributed.
- The talks come immediately before the annual September Declaration, which sets out the government’s main budget priorities.
Brussels, 27 September, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Flemish Government resumed high-level budget negotiations on Sunday as Minister-President Matthias Diependaele’s coalition seeks between €1.6 billion and €1.9 billion in savings. The talks are intended to put the region’s finances on a sustainable path as ministers finalise the 2027 budget ahead of the annual September Declaration.
Flemish budget savings talks resume after Saturday impasse
The core cabinet returned to negotiations on Sunday afternoon after talks finished earlier than planned on Saturday evening.
Coalition parties said there had not been an outright conflict, but their proposals remained too far apart to reach an agreement. Further calculations continued at cabinet level into Saturday night, according to Belga reporting carried by The Brussels Times.
Diependaele initially met the government’s deputy prime ministers on Sunday, with a broader meeting involving other ministers expected later. Negotiators were not expecting an agreement before late Sunday evening or overnight.
Coalition parties differ over where savings should fall
The negotiations involve Diependaele’s N-VA and its coalition partners Vooruit and CD&V. Reports indicate continuing disagreements over how the savings burden should be divided between government departments.
According to sources cited by The Brussels Times, the two coalition partners have argued that N-VA has not proposed sufficient savings within its own areas of responsibility. Tensions have also been fuelled by proposals becoming public while negotiations are continuing.
One proposal reported on Saturday would replace the current roughly €1,300 birth grant with money placed into an investment fund for children until adulthood. Vooruit and CD&V reacted cautiously, with both questioning the proposal during budget negotiations.
A Vooruit source said that while new proposals were welcome, the plan would affect families’ “purchasing power.”
Flanders remains focused on balancing its finances
The current negotiations follow a major fiscal adjustment announced last year. In the 2025 September Declaration, the Flemish Government said it would undertake an interim €1.5 billion savings exercise as part of its objective of returning the budget to balance by 2027.
Explaining that approach at the time, Diependaele stressed the importance of maintaining “sound public finances” while preparing Flanders for future economic and investment needs.
The government’s 2027 budget preparation is already formally under way. In July, ministers approved instructions covering policy and budget documentation for the 2027 budget cycle.
September Declaration puts pressure on budget negotiations
The timing leaves the coalition facing an immediate political deadline. Flemish rules provide for the September Declaration on the fourth Monday of September, when the minister-president outlines the general social situation and the main budget priorities for the following year.
The final scale and composition of the Flemish budget savings will depend on an agreement between the three coalition parties. As of Sunday afternoon, no definitive package worth €1.9 billion had been announced.
