De Wever: « Begeling letter Brussels government makes land in disgrace »

« For a fully-fledged federal custody, unfortunately there is a solid legal basis, otherwise I would have dared to argue for it for a long time, » Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) replies to the question of MP Jean-Marie Dedecker (independent). He had argued frankly to place the capital region under guardianship. The reason: untold debt mountain, huge deficits on the budget, crime, you name it.

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It becomes very painfully clear in the file of the reconstruction of Schumanplein. That is a roundabout right in the European district of Brussels and it gets a prestigious makeover with a spectacular pavilion. Only, the Brussels -Capital Region no longer has money to continue with it. So the resigning government – a year after the elections, took the Brussels formation still stuck – the initiative to write letters to the European institutions asking if they cannot match something. « A begging letter, » says De Wever. « A new low point. They disgrace our country. »

It is also not an exclusive Brussels problem. The financial markets and Europe do not grind for the Belgian state structure. They look at the overall picture. The Brussels mess weighs firmly on that. Next year, the Region will look up to a deficit of 2.4 billion euros on a budget of 7 billion euros and has a debt mountain of 15.6 billion euros. And not a government in sight that can work on it.

On Friday, the Ratingbureau Standard & Poor’s will come with its assessment of the creditworthiness of the Brussels Region. No one in the Wetstraat doubts that it will be a negative message and that Brussels will get more difficult to find financing in the markets.

And when they turn to the federal government, De Wever is ready. “Then I link conditions as the IMF does with others Failed States. «