Federal government meets on budget again as sickness benefit plan divides coalition

Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) and his top ministers are due to meet at 19:00 on Wednesday 28 October 2026 to discuss the federal budget. It is expected to be the core cabinet's second session on the budget this week, following a meeting the previous Wednesday.

Government insiders do not expect a breakthrough. According to corridor talk reported by HLN, a deal is more likely at the beginning of next week. Parliament must approve the budget laws before the end of the year. Chamber speaker Peter De Roover (N-VA) said on Monday that this is still practically possible, but admitted it is a difficult exercise.

Sickness benefits at the centre of the dispute

At the previous meeting, Vooruit vice-premier Frank Vandenbroucke opposed what he called "nachtelijk broddelwerk", meaning sloppy late-night work. The core cabinet then decided to examine the budget table in detail first.

De Standaard reported on Tuesday that De Wever wants to limit sickness benefits over time for workers with burn-out or moderate depression. A government source confirmed this to Belga. According to De Standaard, a maximum period of two years is on the table for people with conditions such as burn-out or depression. At the end of 2025, just over 155,000 long-term sick people were affected, more than a quarter of the total. The details of the proposal have not been officially confirmed.

Coalition partner Vooruit opposes the measure and sees it as a major reason a budget agreement is delayed. Vandenbroucke, who is also minister of Public Health, says his reforms should already reduce the number of long-term sick people, while N-VA and MR want to go further. Legal experts say a separate limit for psychological conditions may conflict with anti-discrimination law. Earlier case law held that psychological conditions cannot simply be treated differently from physical ones.

Holiday pay and other pressure points

Last week De Wever called a report of a "disinformation campaign" over pensioners' holiday pay. He said it will not be abolished, but its indexation may be temporarily suspended. This followed criticism from PS and PVDA/PTB. De Wever is also expected to attend the 100th anniversary celebration of employers' organisation Voka in Antwerp on the evening of 28 October.

Separately, Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) is under pressure over the troubled i-Police digitalisation project. Her spokesperson and a spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor's office were placed under suspicion. The prosecutor's spokeswoman is reportedly suspected of passing confidential information about the i-Police investigation to the minister's office.

The opposition and coalition party MR demand quick text and explanation from Verlinden in parliament, which is currently in recess. On Tuesday it was said that the Chamber committees on Home Affairs and Justice might question Verlinden and Interior Minister Bernard Quintin (MR) together, possibly this week. Verlinden said on Tuesday evening on Facebook that she wants this as quickly as possible.

Justice committee chair Ismaël Nuino (Les Engagés) will not convene the committee this week. He wants to wait for a Court of Audit report expected in the coming days, and said it is neither urgent nor relevant to ask the minister to comment on an ongoing judicial investigation. Home Affairs committee chair Ortwin Depoortere (Vlaams Belang) wants to hold a meeting with the minister this week if possible, even without the Justice committee.