Georges-Louis Bouchez called, at Voka Vlaams-Brabant in Leuven, for a decisive economic change of course. Before an audience of CEOs, the MR President convincingly set out his vision: reviving growth, cutting public spending, lowering taxes and fundamentally rethinking the state with the help of technology and artificial intelligence.
According to Mr Bouchez, the budget debate cannot be limited to finding 10 billion euros. “You can raise 10 billion in extra taxes and your budget looks balanced, while the taxes cause your consumption and your economy to plummet. Five years later, you again have a deficit of 20 billion,” he said. In his view, economic growth is at least as crucial as savings. “Half a percentage point of extra growth would bring in 1.5 billion euros in public revenue. One percentage point would already cover 30% of the effort.”
Bouchez wants to bring the population along in an exciting project for the next fifty years. “People are willing to make certain efforts, but on one condition: knowing why.”
VAT
As is known, the MR President opposes a VAT increase. This would curb domestic consumption and therefore growth too. He pointed to the many Belgians who shop across the border: “A packet of cigarettes, for example, costs 12 euros in Belgium and 6 euros in Luxembourg. People don't stop smoking, they simply buy in Luxembourg.”
For Mr Bouchez, the problem lies in the sharp rise in spending. Since 2000, Belgian public revenue has remained close to half of GDP, while spending rose from 49.5% to nearly 56%. Belgium spends 348 billion euros every year, across all levels of government. “Saving 10 billion is 3% of spending. If a board of directors asks you to cut your costs by 3%, you open the champagne when you get home.”
Subsidies
Bouchez also cited the Netherlands, which functions without problems with public spending at 45% of GDP. “If Belgium functioned like the Netherlands, we would spend 60 billion euros less every year.” He called for less fragmentation, a re-federalisation of certain competences and a thorough review of subsidies and administrative structures.
According to the MR President, public administrations must change radically. “We now have four times more civil servants than in the 1960s, in the age of computing and artificial intelligence.” Technology must simplify processes and make the state more productive, so that civil servants can work more efficiently and deliver better services.
Pieces of the state
He also called for a change in mentality in the way we view public money. “The state doesn't exist. The state is a fiction: you, me, we are all small pieces of the state.” Public money is neither abstract nor magical: it is taxpayers' money. “If we teach children that they themselves are part of the state, we will manage public money very differently,” Mr Bouchez added.
His central message to Flemish entrepreneurs therefore remains unchanged: Belgium must choose growth, investment and competitiveness. “Either we carry out reforms that allow us to compete with China and the United States, or we carry on as before. In that case, I fear the worst for the next ten years.”
After his speech, Georges-Louis Bouchez spent more than two more hours talking with the business leaders present.