Belgian coalition parties irked by PM’s comments on unemployed

Parties in the governing coalition reacted strongly to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo Labour Day speech in which he targeted the unemployed or those who ‘don’t want to work’, in order to support the proposal for a time limit on unemployment benefits.

On Sunday, De Croo made his position on unemployment clear as he spoke before Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld, Renew Europe) supporters gathered in Blankenberge.

“The problem is not that the strongest shoulders are not carrying enough, but that there are too few shoulders,” he said, noting the “inequality” between those who work and “those who don’t want to work”, noting the pressure workers have on their shoulders.

Despite pushback from parties, including the socialists, De Croo reiterated his proposal that would see people who refuse job offers several times lose their benefits.

“Apparently, minds have matured. Therefore, we will put our proposals on the table again in government, in the context of fiscal reform,” he explained, referring to the fact that, last week, Conner Rousseau, president of the Flemish social-democrat party (Vooruit, member of the seven-parties coalition/S&D) explained that he wanted to limit the granting of unemployment benefits to two years, with the obligation to accept a “basic job”.

“You can’t expect others to keep paying your bills all the time,” said De Croo, adding that, “of course, people who suffer setbacks, who become ill or lose their jobs, should be able to count on our solidarity. […] But we can only do that if more people contribute.”

In his speech, the prime minister also attacked the socialists, saying they target middle-class working people by viewing them as “big earners” just because they put aside some money.

“Families who go to work in pairs, living their dream of owning their own business, people who built something through hard work, suddenly have to contribute even more, as if they weren’t already doing so today,” he said, regretting that some people work every day but are left with less money than those who do not.

While the Flemish socialists are open to the proposal to limit unemployment benefits, for the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) – the biggest party in the coalition -, this is a red line.

According to Paul Magnette (PS), the Prime Minister had overstepped his role as arbitrator and spoke as a “leader of the Flemish right” rather than as a prime minister. “A prime minister does not attack his partners, he stands above the battle, he does not oppose workers to the unemployed, he respects the government agreement,” the MP said.

To make working more attractive, Magnette said that low and medium wages should be increased so that “those who can afford to pay, pay”.

The group’s leader, Ahmed Laaouej, also commented on De Croo’s speech.

The PS does not agree with De Croo’s proposal and his working method. “It is time for Alexander De Croo to recover his calm and his sense of responsibility,” he said on La Première, where he also described the prime minister as a “liberal band leader”.

For him, long-term unemployed should not be punished by reducing or removing their benefits, as this would not increase the employment rate. “The real problems are training and discrimination in hiring”, he explained.

As for the coalition’s liberal parties, the French-speaking Reformist Movement (MR, Renew Europe) and the Open VLD’s presidents declared that they were in favour of the limitation of unemployment benefits.

For its part, the French-speaking Green party (Ecolo, Greens/ALE), also a member of the coalition, does not want to see this proposal go forward.

“Some policymakers insist on the importance of the income difference between workers and non-workers. This is indeed a key factor in mobilising people towards work,” Ecolo said in a press release on Monday.

“But it must be achieved through better incomes from work, not by questioning the essential achievements of the [government] in terms of re-evaluating the lowest benefits, or investing in the transition of the economy,” it added.

(Anne-Sophie Gayet | EURACTIV.com)