European Commission confirms Belgium’s 2015 budget

The European Commission has just published its Winter Economic Forecast.

The Commission examined Belgium’s budget for 2015 and found that the structural effort of 0.7% of GDP (instead of 0.4% in November) is in line with the government’s objective. The public budget balance should be 2.6% instead of the 2.8% estimated in November, in other words well below the threshold of 3%.

The federal government welcomed the forecasts, which underscore just how effective Belgium’s fiscal discipline is. Accordingly, we can look forward calmly to future budget audits.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said, “Right from the start we based our policy on a serious and responsible budget framework. Today, the European Commission has shown that we were right to do so. This encourages us to stay the course set by the government. We must continue our budget discipline while deploying our strategy for supporting employment and purchasing power in order to ensure the long-term financing of our solidarity.”

Budget Minister Hervé Jamar commented that “The European Commission congratulated the government on its discipline in implementing its budget efforts. The Commission notes that Belgium is on the right track and I am delighted about that. The European Commission’s report encourages us to continue along the path of sound budget policy. The spring budget conclave will be the next stage in the federal government’s budget work. We will tackle it with all the necessary discipline, without losing sight of our objectives in the longer term.”

And lastly, Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt said, “The government is keeping its promises and, compared to all EU Member States, is making the biggest effort in terms of improving the structural balance. The outlook for 2015 and the years ahead is quite simply positive. However, past results have shown that that was not enough to guarantee a positive report from the European Commission in March. The past and present are joining forces to show us the way forward. The measures set out in the coalition agreement must be implemented resolutely so as to stay the course and reach the ultimate objective: a balanced budget.”