Brussels Coalition Talks Stalled as Ecolo Rejects MR Involvement
Brussels, Belgium – June 3, 2025 – Attempts โto forge a Brussels โฃgovernmentโค excluding the โขSocialist Partyโ (PS) have hitโ a โroadblock, withโค Ecolo refusing toโค engage inโข negotiations alongsideโข the Reformist Movement (MR). The โคimpasse, revealed today, centers on Ecolo’s unwillingness to collaborate with MR leader Georges-Louis Bouchez, despite a โprevious softening of the party’s stance toward potential โcoalition participation.
The situation unfolded after Brussels committed Presidentโฃ Yvan โฃVerougstraete initiated โฃexploratory talks with various parties,including MR,PS,PTB,and Dรฉfi,ostensibly to discuss the region’s budgetary trajectory. โVerougstraete aimed to identify potential common ground for โa governing majority, but the effort quickly morphed into a search for a coalitionโ excluding the PS – a move that ultimately proved unsuccessful with โEcolo.
While Ecolo co-chair Marie Lecocq had,โ in April, signaled openness โขtoโ joining a Brussels majority, and even โresponded positively to an invitation โfrom Ahmedโข Laaouej (PS) โfor discussions with the PTB and Fouad Ahidar, โtheโค prospect of negotiating with MR proved insurmountable.
“For Ecolo, it was unachievable to sit at the same โtable as Georges-Louis Bouchez,” a well-informed source disclosed.โข
Ecolo maintains it does not have โขa formal veto against โthe MR, leaving the door open for potential future discussions, but significant concessions would be โrequired.
Dรฉfi leader Bernard Clerfayt expressed disappointment withโค the process, stating, “It wasโฃ planned to talk about the budgetary trajectory of the region. But under discussion on โFriday,โ I understood that it was a question of discussing โa majority without the PS. It is regrettableโฃ that Yvan created a large table to discuss on the substance to โฃfinally end up โoffering a coalition, like the others before him.”
Verougstraete defended theโ approach,explaining that the discussions wereโ intended to gauge each party’s redโฃ lines and โinternal procedures beforeโค formulating aโ viable coalition proposal. “There โคwas no official proposal concerningโฃ majorities,” he stated. “Since all โthe โคparties reported to us that โขthe realization of budgetaryโ arbitrationsโ couldโ only beโ done inโ the context of a โnegotiation process, around a table, we asked all the parties โwhatโข their red lines andโ their internal proceduresโ were โin order to be able to make the proposal that โseemed โas solid as possible for the future. the response โคof the different parties belongs to them.”
The failure of this initiative leavesโฃ the formation โขof a Brussels government in uncertainty, with the PS remainingโ a key โขplayer in any potential majority.โ Marie Lecocq’s priority remains rebuildingโ herโ party from opposition, but the possibility of aโ left-leaningโ coalition with โthe PS, PTB, and perhaps Dรฉfi, โremains on the table.