Michel Government  

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"Mon pays sera du bon côté de l'histoire" --Charles Michel (Dec 10, 2018) regarding the signing of the Global Compact for Migration


"Addressing the conference Mr Michel stressed the need to respond to challenges together: "I have chosen multilateralism and I don’t believe for one instant that unilateral action or sovereign acts will lead magically lead to a spontaneous result. We need responsibility. We need courage. It's an important moment. It's a step forward; I stand here before you saying we have made the choice to put the country, the kingdom of Belgium, whose history has always been on the right side of those who chose co-operation and responsibility and once again my country is going to be on the right side of history."[1]

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The Michel Governments were various Belgian federal governments lead by Prime Minister Charles Michel:

It was the government that failed to implement the betonstop.

Michel I (2014–2018)

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.

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. On 5 December, parliament voted 106 to 36 in favor of backing the agreement. Michel stated that he would endorse the pact on behalf of the parliament, not on behalf of the divided government. 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.

Michel II (2018–present)

It came into existence on 9 December 2018 following the exit of N-VA from the Michel I Government. As the Prime Minister did not offer the government's resignation to the King until the 18th, it is constitutionally still the same government as the one that started in 2014, albeit a heavily reshuffled government following the resignation of all N-VA ministers and secretaries of state. Politically, however, it is in an entirely different situation, as it has no support from N-VA and thus operates as a new government.

On 10 December, several parties had called for the government to propose a motion of confidence.


Michel attempted to continue with the minority cabinet with support from the centre-left opposition, who instead announced on 18 December that they would submit a motion of no confidence against the cabinet.

On 18 December, Premier Michel offered his resignation to King Philippe.

On 20 December, the Chamber of Representatives almost unanimously voted a draft budget to enable provisional spending for the first three months of 2019 based on the 2018 budget.

The King accepted Michel's resignation on 21 December after consulting party leaders. The outgoing cabinet continues governing as a caretaker government, likely until after the European Parliament, Belgian regional and federal elections of 26 May 2019.





Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Michel Government" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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