FWB Agrees 2027 Budget, RTBF to Save Extra €20 Million

The government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) concluded its initial 2027 budget on Friday 9 October, setting the French-speaking Community’s deficit at €1.27 billion and asking public broadcaster RTBF to find at least €20 million in additional savings by 2029. According to RTBF, the deficit is projected to fall from the €1.7 billion forecast for 2026, moving closer to the coalition’s target of stabilising it at €1.2 billion by 2029.

Context

The FWB — the French-speaking Community of Belgium — is competent for education, culture, media, youth and part of social affairs. It has no direct tax powers and depends largely on federal endowments under the special financing law, making its structural deficit a recurring political headache. The MR-Engagés coalition set out an austerity trajectory at the start of the legislature, and the 2027 budget is the latest step in that plan.

A Decline That Is Partly Artificial

The headline improvement comes with an important caveat. As La Libre Belgique reports, the FWB will benefit in 2027 from a one-off positive correction of about €163 million on past endowments, provided for under the special financing law. Because that revenue is non-recurring, the deficit is expected to rise again in 2028 before returning to the €1.2 billion target in 2029.

Minister-President Elisabeth Degryse (Les Engagés) defended the government’s record. “The efforts we have asked of all the actors of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation are very substantial and are showing their effects,” she said, as cited by 7sur7. The executive also said the budget contains “no new savings measures of a scale comparable to previous budget exercises.”

RTBF Asked to Do More

Central to the budget is the pressure on RTBF. The public broadcaster, which had already been placed under an indexation freeze on its endowment through 2029 — worth about €130 million over five years — must now make an “additional effort of at least €20 million by 2029,” integrated into a new management contract to be negotiated during 2027.

“The year 2027 will be used to rewrite RTBF’s management contract, which will take effect on 1 January 2028,” Degryse said. “Within that framework, RTBF’s missions will be redefined, and we believe it is healthy to set a precise budgetary objective of €20 million now.”

The broadcaster reacted with a mixture of acceptance and frustration. “We take note, but not without a certain incomprehension,” RTBF spokesperson Isabelle Bastaits told Sudinfo, as reproduced by Media Marketing. “We are still under the savings linked to the amendment to the management contract decided in July 2025. Moreover, while everyone is affected by inflation, we are particularly hit: salaries, production support, investments. It is a kind of double penalty: inflation adds to non-indexation, which makes the efforts even more complicated.”

According to Media Marketing, RTBF reported total revenue of €479.7 million in 2025, down 0.8 percent on 2024, of which €350.8 million came from the public endowment. The July 2025 amendment to the 2023-2027 management contract — which ended indexation and removed an extra 2 percent top-up — had already caused a €15.9 million shortfall against initial financing plans. The broadcaster’s finances will now be steered by a new chief executive: Christophe Dujardin, designated on 18 September and taking office on 1 November for a six-year term. As Paris Match noted, Dujardin must present a strategic plan to the FWB Parliament within two months of his appointment, which will serve as the foundation for the 2028-2032 management contract.

The July 2025 amendment was framed by Media Minister Jacqueline Galant (MR) as a deliberate recentring of the public broadcaster. “RTBF is not meant to become the centre of gravity of French-speaking Belgian broadcasting,” she said at the time, as reported by RTBF. The measure opened sports rights to private media, reinstated advertising in the Matin Première morning slot, and formalised the end of indexation.

Other Measures and Reinvestments

Beyond RTBF, the budget trims spending across several areas. The FWB will reduce its diplomatic representation abroad, capping the number of general delegates — currently 14 — and forgoing any diplomatic competition for the rest of the legislature, for savings of about €12 million by 2029. In the civil service, staff in so-called critical missions will be replaced in full, while other roles will be replaced at only one in five.

The government also announced targeted reinvestments. A total of €14 million is earmarked by 2029 for personalised support of second- and third-year secondary pupils, and a €13 million “Ombrage” call for projects will launch in 2027 to help schools cope with extreme heat through tree-planting and the installation of blinds. “I think schools have done their part, everyone can see it, and these efforts are allowing us to gradually reinvest in our schools exactly as we committed to,” said Education Minister Valérie Glatigny. A collective anti-drug strategy is also planned by the end of 2026, with no figure attached yet, and electronic surveillance is to be strengthened following a protocol with the federal government.

Opposition Pushback

The budget drew sharp criticism from the opposition, coming amid months of social mobilisation by teachers, universities, culture and youth sectors. PS group leader Martin Casier said the government “remains deaf to the demands of those on the ground,” accusing it of building “an economic, social and cultural desert” through measures that “sacrifice a whole generation.” Ecolo group leader Barbara Trachte called the budget “asphyxiating and totally disconnected from the realities people are living,” adding that the government “continues to concoct its budget in an ivory tower.” Both parties welcomed the school heat-adaptation funding but deemed it insufficient, with the PS also criticising the plan for excluding crèches and early-childhood facilities.

What’s Next

The budget’s broad lines will go to the Parliament’s Budget Committee on 19 October, with finalised documents submitted to Parliament ahead of decree discussions in the week of 7 December. For RTBF, the real test begins in 2027, when negotiations over its new management contract will determine how — and where — the additional €20 million in savings will be found. As Bastaits put it, “the new management contract, which will be negotiated during 2027, therefore starts with a serious handicap.”