Michel I Government

The Michel I Government was the Federal Government of Belgium formed following the 2014 Belgian government formation and sworn in on 11 October 2014. The administration is a centre-right coalition of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) and the Reformist Movement (MR). The prime minister is Charles Michel. The government had an agenda of socio-economic reforms, especially through austerity measures, with its priorities being improving Belgium's economic competitiveness and reducing unemployment. It fell in December 2018 over the Global Compact for Migration.

Michel Government
94th Cabinet of Belgium (since 1830)
Date formed	11 October 2014
Date dissolved	9 December 2018 (de facto) 21 December 2018 (de jure)
People and organisations
Head of state	Philippe of Belgium
Head of government	Charles Michel
Member party	N-VA (Flemish) MR (Walloon) CD&V (Flemish) Open Vld (Flemish)
Status in legislature	Coalition 83 / 150
History
Election(s)	2014
Incoming formation	2014 Belgian government formation
Predecessor	Di Rupo
Successor	Michel II

Inaugural coalition majority

The government's nickname, the "Swedish coalition", refers to the flag of Sweden (pictured)

Investiture and status in parliament

The government was sworn in on 11 October 2014, taking the oath of office before King Filip of Belgium. The four parties had a majority in the Chamber of Representatives with 85 members out of 150. On 16 October 2014, the motion of confidence from the Chamber of Representatives was approved by a vote of 84 in favour, 58 against and one abstention (by Aldo Carcaci, the People's Party MP).[1]

The government's number of seats was reduced to 83 when two N-VA members, Hendrik Vuye and Veerle Wouters, left the party in September 2016.

Coalition

The government consists of a centre-right coalition of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) and the Reformist Movement (MR). It is nicknamed "Swedish coalition" inasmuch as the party colours yellow (N-VA) and blue (liberal, i.e. MR and Open Vld) and the cross (Christianity, i.e. CD&V) are combined on the Swedish flag. Initially (given doubts about its durability) the government was also called a "kamikaze coalition", inasmuch as the MR is the only French-speaking party in the coalition.

For the first time in 25 years, the French-speaking Socialist Party did not become a part of the federal government, whereas the Flemish nationalist N-VA helped form a government for the first time. Initially no French-speaking party wanted to partner with the N-VA, but in negotiations MR agreed to do so on the condition that the government's focus would be on socio-economic issues and that no "community-related" issues (as arise in the complex Belgian federal system) or constitutional reform plans would be part of the cabinet programme.

Policies and events

Despite three parties (all but N-VA) having been part of the preceding Di Rupo Government as well, the programme of this coalition differs substantially from the previous one. The emphasis is on socio-economic reforms, especially through austerity measures. Important goals for the parties include helping businesses become more competitive, and increasing job growth.

The announced measures were met by protests primarily from the labour unions, which argued that the measures favour employers and disproportionately burden employees and families. The unions, ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and ACLVB/CGSLB, which play an important and institutionalised role in Belgium's political process, did not accept the government's offer for dialogue, maintaining that the government was not seriously inclined to reconsider any of the measures. Instead, the unions organised several regional and national strikes in November and December 2014, culminating in a one-day general strike on 15 December.[2]

An often recurring subject was whether or not a capital gains tax should be introduced, together with a general tax reform. In the summer of 2017, the corporate gains tax was announced to be reduced from 33.99% to 29% starting 2018 and further down to 25% from 2020 whereas a capital gains tax of 0.15% on gains on financial securities was introduced for wealthier citizens holding accounts of at least 0.5 million Eur in value. Meanwhile the first 627 Eur of income through dividends became tax exempt.

The government presided over the arrest of suspects who were accused of playing a role in the Paris attacks of November 2015, as well as a terrorist attack in Brussels in March 2016.

In December 2018, a political crisis emerged over whether to sign the Global Compact for Migration; N-VA was against whereas the other three parties supported it. On December 4, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, announced that the issue would be taken to parliament for a vote.[3] On 5 December, parliament voted 106 to 36 in favor of backing the agreement.[4] Michel stated that he would endorse the pact on behalf of the parliament, not on behalf of the divided government.[5] Consequently, N-VA quit the government; the other three parties continue as a minority government (Michel II).

On 18 December 2018, Michel submitted the cabinet's resignation to the King, who accepted it on 21 December.[6]

Composition

The Constitution requires an equal number of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers (regardless of the Prime Minister). Since MR is the only French-speaking party, it has more ministers than it would otherwise get with its electoral weight; this is compensated by having only Dutch-speaking Secretaries of State.

Minister	Name	Party
Prime Minister	Charles Michel |		MR
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of the Interior, Safety and Director of buildings	Jan Jambon |		N-VA
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs	Didier Reynders |		MR
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Employment, Economy, Consumer Affairs	Kris Peeters |		CD&V
Deputy Prime Minister – Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecom and Postal Services	Alexander De Croo |		Open Vld
Minister of the Middle Class, SMEs, Self-employed and Agriculture	Denis Ducarme |		MR
Minister of Budget	Sophie Wilmès |		MR
Minister of Energy	Marie-Christine Marghem |		MR
Minister of Mobility	François Bellot |		MR
Minister of Pensions	Daniel Bacquelaine |		MR
Minister of Defence	Sander Loones |		N-VA
Minister of Finance and fighting Fiscal Fraud	Johan Van Overtveldt |		N-VA
Minister of Justice	Koen Geens |		CD&V
Minister of Social Affairs and Health	Maggie De Block |		Open Vld
Secretary of State	Name	Party
Secretary of State for Asylum, Migration and Administrative Simplification	Theo Francken |		N-VA
Secretary of State for Equal Rights, Disabled Persons, Scientific Policy, Urban Policy and fighting Poverty	Zuhal Demir |		N-VA
Secretary of State for Foreign Trade	Pieter De Crem |		CD&V
Secretary of State for Social fraud, Privacy and the North Sea	Philippe De Backer |		Open Vld

Changes in composition

• On May 21, 2015 the portfolios Urban Policy and fighting Fiscal Fraud were re-allocated between three N-VA members. Urban Policy moved from Jan Jambon to Elke Sleurs, while Sleurs handed over Fiscal Fraud to Johan Van Overtveldt.[7]
• On September 21, 2015 it was announced that minister of Budget Hervé Jamar (MR) would resign to become governor of Liège. He was succeeded by Sophie Wilmès (MR).[8]
• On March 25, 2016, in the aftermath of the March 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens both offered their resignation over their failure to detain one of the suspects, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, despite warnings from Turkey's government in 2015. Michel rejected both resignations and the government's composition remained unchanged.[9]
• On April 15, 2016, in the aftermath of the March 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, minister of mobility Jacqueline Galant (MR) resigned, after it became known that prior to the attacks she had received a summary of a damning European Commission report (2015) on security at Belgian airports.[10][11] Two days later she was replaced by François Bellot.[12][13]
• On April 29, 2016, Bart Tommelein (Open Vld) left his position as Secretary of State for Social fraud, Privacy and the North Sea to replace Annemie Turtelboom who had resigned earlier that same day as Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget and Energy in the Flemish Government. While Tommelein was replacing Turtelboom, he was himself replaced by Philippe De Backer who gave up his position as Member of the European Parliament.[14]
• On February 20, 2017, Elke Sleurs (N-VA) announced she would leave her position as Secretary of State for Equal Rights, Disabled Persons, Scientific Policy, Urban Policy and fighting Poverty to become lijsttrekker in Ghent for the upcoming 2018 municipal elections.[15] Three days later, the N-VA decided to replace Sleurs with Zuhal Demir. Demir was sworn in by the King on 24 February 2017.[16]
• On July 26, 2017, Willy Borsus (MR) was appointed Minister-President of the Walloon Government, leaving his position as Minister of the Middle Class, SMEs, Self-employed and Agriculture, which was taken by Denis Ducarme.[17]
• Following the Belgian local elections of October 2018, Minister of Defence Steven Vandeput was elected Mayor of Hasselt, a position he will be taking up as from 1 January 2019. Vandeput will therefore vacate his position in the federal government and on 2 November 2018, the N-VA nominated Sander Loones as his successor, with Loones already taking up the position on 12 November 2018.[18]
• On 9 December 2018, King Philippe approved the resignation of 5 N-VA members of cabinet: three ministers, Jan Jambon, Johan Van Overtveldt and Sander Loones, and two state secretaries, Theo Francken and Zuhal Demir. Secretaries of state Pieter De Crem (CD&V) and Philippe De Backer (Open Vld) were appointed as ministers.[19][20] The following portfolios were reattributed: Asylum and Migration to Maggie De Block, Interior to Pieter De Crem, Finance to Alexander De Croo, Telecommunications, Postal Services, Administrative Simplification and Digital Agenda to Philippe De Backer, Defence to Didier Reynders, Equal Rights, Disabled Persons and fighting Poverty to Kris Peeters, Scientific Policy and Civil Service to Sophie Wilmès, and Urban Policy to Denis Ducarme.[21]

References

1. "De federale regering krijgt het vertrouwen van de Kamer". deredactie.be. 16 October 2014.
2. "Belgium grinds to a halt for one-day general strike". The Guardian. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
3. Casert, Raf (4 December 2018). "Dispute over UN migration pact fractures Belgian government". The Washington Post.
4. "Belgian PM wins backing for UN migration pact". France 24. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
5. "Belgian PM Charles Michel wins backing for UN migration pact". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
6. "Michel dient ontslag van de regering in: 'Ik ga naar de koning'". 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
7. Redactie. "Sleurs (N-VA): "Dit is geen degradatie"". De Morgen.
8. Jamar wordt gouverneur van Luik
9. Mortimer, Caroline (24 March 2016). "Brussels attacks: Belgian interior and justice ministers offer their resignation in wake of assault on city". The Independent. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
10. “Unacceptable that Parliament was not informed”
11. Belgium minister quits in Brussels airport security row
12. “Unacceptable that Parliament was not informed”
13. François Bellot wordt nieuwe minister van Mobiliteit
14. “Bart Tommelein succeeds Annemie Turtelboom”
15. “Bracke zet stap opzij als lijsttrekker in Gent, Sleurs neemt over en vertrekt als staatssecretaris”
16. Zuhal Demir: "Ik ben een madame van de aanpak"
17. Willy Borsus wordt Waals minister-president
18. Sander Loones (N-VA) wordt minister van Defensie: “Wil het werk van Steven Vandeput verderzetten”
19. "Audiëntie 9 december 2018". De Belgische Monarchie (in Dutch). 9 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
20. "Belgian King Approves Resignation of 5 Federal Gov't Members - Reports". Sputnik News. RTL-TVI. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
21. "Overzicht: dit is de nieuwe Belgische regering" (in Dutch). De Morgen. 9 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.