For the federal government, the last year starts without elections. What does Prime Minister Alexander De Croo expect in 2023?
The new year is only two weeks old, but Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) has already had his hands full. The budget is crying out for attention, an 11-year-old girl died in a war on drugs, Engie had to negotiate to keep the lights on. And oh yes, the war in Ukraine is still there.
You had Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone this week. What do you have to tell each other then?
Alexander De Croo: “It always strikes me how incredibly well prepared that man is. He immediately thanked me for visiting a Ukrainian Saturday school in Brussels this weekend.”
What does Zelensky want from our country?
“He knows very well what he can ask our country and what not. We don’t have tanks and he doesn’t talk about that. He does ask for humanitarian aid: rebuilding schools and hospitals. We are also strong in that.”
Is he still angry with Belgium because of our diamond trade with Russia?
“He has put his finger on a sore spot in every country. But I never really sensed ‘anger’ towards Belgium. I especially feel appreciation for us with him.”
Can Ukraine win the war?
“I can’t look into a crystal ball. I do think that the West should do everything it can to ensure that Ukraine wins that war. Because this battle is about everything we stand for: the free Western society against the horrific dictatorship.
“During corona I often heard: ‘How weak Western democracy is.’ Today we see that that is not true. In ‘strong’ Russia you have a million people who want to leave the country. And the idea that China handled corona much better – something I never believed – turns out to be false.
“In Western democracy there is a little more slowness, decisions sometimes take a little longer. But I prefer that to referenda where the question is only whether 90 or 95 percent vote in favour.”
Slowness. This brings us to the new agreement with Engie on the nuclear power plants. After ten months there is no more than an engagement.
“I am satisfied with our agreement. It’s a step forward. An important step. I never claimed that it would all be solved now.”
We have no guarantee whatsoever that Doel 4 and Tihange 3 will be up and running by the end of 2026.
“The works will be started immediately to make that restart possible. Anyone with any technical understanding realizes that there is no absolute certainty with nuclear power plants. You cannot 100% guarantee a timely renewal. But Engie now says: ‘We finance those works ourselves’. That shows to me that they want the whole operation to succeed.”
How will you ensure that the maximum invoice for nuclear waste disposal is correct? That the taxpayer will not pay for it later.
“I have every confidence in that. Really and truly. I have learned in recent weeks that we have experts in Belgium who have devoted their entire lives to that calculation.”
What if Engie later says: ‘That maximum invoice is much too high.’ Are you going to take it down to save Doel 4 and Tihange 3?
“I will follow the calculation of our experts. It will be ready by mid-March. And if we can’t figure it out, there won’t be a maximum invoice.
“Of course Engie is interested in that maximum invoice. They want to remove that uncertainty. But it can also be quite interesting for us to relieve ourselves of some of the uncertainty associated with that nuclear bill – which still runs until 2135, right?
How so?
“In the current system, with a three-yearly recalculation of costs, you assume that Engie will be able to cover those costs for decades to come. But who can predict that Engie will remain a healthy company all this time? That it still exists? You never know. They have to pay the maximum invoice now. Instead of ten birds in the sky, I prefer to have one in my hand.”
The Belgian state becomes co-owner of the nuclear power plants. A special decision for a Liberal prime minister.
“Yes, ten years ago I probably would have had a different view of it than I do today. But above all it shows the growing importance of the idea’taking back control‘. In the past, we often said – not unjustly – that our energy supply is out of our hands, that decisions are made in Paris. Now we change that again. I do not follow the criticism that this partnership will cost us a lot of money. In recent decades, these nuclear power plants have been very profitable.”
In the meantime, there is still no solution for the winter of 2025-2026. Grid operator Elia fears power shortages.
“We asked Elia to calculate the worst case of the worst case scenario for the coming winters. We are now going to act on that.”
But what then?
“To be clear: these are some difficult hours in a winter. Anyway, we will of course do everything we can not to sit in the dark for a few hours. And there are scenarios for that too. For example, we can plan the energy needs of the industry.”
Over to Antwerp. The war on drugs continues to escalate.
(Fors) “It’s not a war. If you always imagine it as a war on drugs, you will indeed come up with solutions such as: deploy the army. That is nothing more than flexing muscles, the politics of Facebook likes. It is no coincidence that the parties calling for the military are also the ones that spend the most on social media.
“What happened this week gives us all chills. A girl who dies in a conflict she has nothing to do with. But this is about a core task of the government: protecting its citizens. The last thing we should do is reduce that task to political finger-pointing and empty shouting.”
There’s no point in deploying the army?
“The solution is not to militarize the whole of Antwerp. Protecting the population and tackling crime: that is a task for the police, not for the army. The army is not allowed to arrest anyone, to question anyone. The police and the army each have their own role. And I don’t want a blur in that.”
Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) wants the army to guard the port. Have the military not shown that they can do that in the face of the terrorist threat?
“I was not in favor of that at the time. But that was stationary surveillance, at a fixed location. That’s not what you need in the fight against drug crime. Well: rapid interventions and in-depth investigative work, such as the hacking of the Sky ECC network.”
Another suggestion from De Wever: convene the Security Council.
“That will look spectacular for the cameras. But much more important is that De Wever and ministers Vincent Van Quickenborne (Justice, Open Vld, ed.) and Annelies Verlinden (Home Affairs, cd&v, ed.) spent two hours together this week. That’s where the real work happens.”
Perhaps such a meeting creates some political urgency?
“There is already a Security Council every two months. And drug violence has long been high on the agenda there. As a result, more people are going to the federal judicial police and tens of millions are being invested in customs. We are recruiting extra police officers, a port attorney has been appointed, an exchange agreement with Dubai has been approved.”
The point is that the violence in the streets of Antwerp does not seem to be abating.
“Vincent Van Quickenborne said about this in parliament: it could very well be that things get worse before they get better. You’re up against an opponent with incredible financial resources, someone who seems to be beyond the rules. That is not an easy battle, but still: Italy has finally brought the mafia to its knees.”
After the death of the 11-year-old girl, you appealed to cocaine users.
“I will continue to do that. For many years it has been said that there is blood on those drugs, however much users think it is all harmless. We can try very hard to destroy the supply and revenue model of that drug trade. But if there is no demand, there will be no supply.”
Drugs are also used in the upper class of society, including in the political world.
“I have never had any indication anywhere in my political circle that that would be the case. I’ve also never seen anyone use coke.”
May we wish you a working government before 2023?
“Absolutely, just like we had a working government last year. He didn’t do everything perfectly, but he got results. For example, so many jobs have never been created in one year.”
Difficult dossiers are still on the table, such as the pension reform. Is Paul Magnette (PS) still angry about your pension bill?
“Well, he said in an interview that he was angry, but he never called me. He must not have been so angry.”
Can we say that Vivaldi’s pension reform is disappointing?
“Yes, and that is why we are going to take an additional step.”
Can we expect big decisions from this government?
“Our country has been very successful in protecting purchasing power. But that also costs us something: there is still a certain threat to our companies. Competitiveness is a much bigger problem than a year ago. That theme should be much higher on the political agenda.”
Is there a scenario in which the port of Antwerp empties because the big industrialists leave?
“No. They tell us they’re not going to run away. But also that their investment plans today are in the US, not here. In the long run, that is a problem. Behind our backs, the Americans are simply calling our big industrialists with the message: why invest in Europe? We have to find an answer to that.”
One of the major concerns is the budget. The International Monetary Fund says that 4 billion euros need to be saved urgently.
“Alexia Bertrand (State Secretary for the Budget, Open Vld, ed.) is very aware of the challenge. Circumstances are also constantly changing. Interest rates are rising and that will increase the cost of our national debt. But on the other hand, there are the good prospects: there will probably be no recession for Belgium.”
Our budget is not on the brink of collapse?
“No. By the way, people tend to look only at the federal government. Don’t forget: a third of the deficit comes from the federal states, right? The impact of the federal support measures in the energy crisis has of course been great. At the appropriate time, we will have to let it go and work on the long-term health of the budget.”