Magnette unveils 16-billion-euro alternative budget plan
Paul Magnette, president of Belgium’s Socialist Party (PS), has presented a detailed alternative budget proposal aimed at freeing up 16 billion euros without imposing new burdens on workers or pensioners. Speaking at the PS Family Day in Durbuy on Sunday and in a radio interview on Monday, Magnette declared that “finding billions isn’t that complicated,” directly challenging the federal government’s austerity approach as it prepares the 2027 budget.
A government under fiscal pressure
The federal government, led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever, is seeking approximately 10 billion euros in savings by the end of the legislature in 2029 to comply with European Union spending rules. Belgium’s current budget deficit stands at 4% of GDP (25.5 billion euros) and is projected to reach 6% (43 billion euros) by 2029 without intervention, according to RTBF.
Magnette argues that the government’s approach places an unfair burden on ordinary citizens. “95% of the budget effort is borne by workers through new taxes, tariff increases, or by pensioners who will face drastic savings on their pensions,” he said, adding that “pensioners will lose on average 1,000 euros.”
The PS’s alternative proposals
During his Family Day address at Adventure Valley in Durbuy, Magnette outlined five key measures to generate the funds:
- Reducing military spending: approximately 2 billion euros
- Taxing excess profits of banks and the energy sector: approximately 2 billion euros
- Better targeting corporate subsidies: approximately 2 billion euros
- Annual 1% salary increases: approximately 4 billion euros in state revenue
- Taxing large fortunes: approximately 6 billion euros
“On paper we can indeed find 16 billion without touching workers and pensioners,” Magnette insisted. “And, very importantly, without harming our economy.”
The PS leader also directly addressed billionaire Marc Coucke, owner of Adventure Valley where the event was held: “Keep investing in Wallonia, that’s great. But that shouldn’t stop you from paying a little bit more taxes.” He noted that “when you work, you pay on average 40% in taxes, and billionaires pay half of that. That’s not right.”
A clash of economic visions
The budget debate reflects a fundamental disagreement over economic policy. De Wever advocates budget rigor and spending cuts to comply with EU fiscal rules, while Magnette proposes a Keynesian approach—injecting money into the economy to stimulate growth and increase state revenues.
Magnette is sharply critical of the current government’s record. “The policy being implemented by the government is a total failure,” he said, claiming that “the Belgian economy is going extremely badly” and is “deteriorating to a point not seen in 30 years.” He contrasted this with the previous Vivaldi coalition, in which the PS participated, citing “300,000 additional jobs created, 400,000 people out of poverty, and a deficit rate below 3%.”
De Wever, for his part, acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead. In an interview with Bel RTL, the Prime Minister admitted: “I don’t sleep well and I think about it a lot.” He warned that “everyone will feel the consequences of what we do, no matter how we do it,” adding that “all of Europe is in difficulty, the world is changing very fast and Europe has become an old continent.”
Questions about feasibility
Critics have raised questions about the practicality of Magnette’s proposals. An RTBF analysis noted the historical irony: the PS was forced to implement austerity measures when in government in the 1990s under Dehaene and in 2011 under Elio Di Rupo. The column recalled the famous 1980s quote by Guy Mathot—“the deficit appeared on its own, it will disappear the same way”—which proved wrong.
Questions also remain about the mechanisms behind some proposals, particularly how a 1% annual salary increase would generate 4 billion euros in state revenue, and the technical and political feasibility of a significant wealth tax in Belgium.
What’s next
The federal government is expected to reach a budget agreement for 2027 by mid-October. As negotiations intensify, the PS’s alternative proposals set the stage for a significant political battle between the government’s austerity approach and the opposition’s stimulus vision. With Belgium’s inflation at 3.96% in August and the economy under strain, the coming weeks will be decisive in determining the country’s fiscal trajectory.