Frequently asked questions

Since the regional elections of 9 June 2024, Brussels political parties have failed to form a majority coalition in parliament. Brussels' institutional structure, which requires majorities in both linguistic groups, complicates formation. Several attempts have failed due to disagreements over coalition formulas and the distribution of competences.

A caretaker government can only manage day-to-day matters and continue existing commitments. It cannot launch new policies, vote a new budget, or make strategic decisions. The budget is managed through provisional twelfths: each month, one twelfth of the previous budget is rolled over.

Infrastructure projects are frozen (Metro 3, tunnel renovations), housing policies are suspended (Housing Fund, rental guarantee), the job market suffers from inaction (ONEM exclusions), and the regional budget loses real value due to inflation without possible adjustment.

At the federal level, yes. Belgium held the world record for the longest period without a government: 541 days between 2010 and 2011. At the Brussels regional level, the current situation is unprecedented in both duration and complexity.

The Brussels political parties elected to the regional parliament. It is the President of the Brussels Parliament who steers the formation process and designates informateurs, formateurs, or facilitators (unlike at the federal level, the King plays no role in the formation of the regional government). As a last resort, new regional elections are theoretically possible but constitutionally near-impossible.

An emergency budget mechanism that rolls over one twelfth of the last approved budget each month. This allows salaries and current expenses to be paid but prevents any new investment and any adjustment to inflation or changing needs.

All our data comes from official sources (Court of Auditors, Brussels parliament, regional administrations) or reliable secondary sources (press, academic studies). Every figure is accompanied by its source and confidence level. Everything is available on the Data page.

No. Brussels Governance Monitor is an independent project hosted by Advice That SRL. It is not funded or supported by any political party, trade union, or interest group. The source code is published under the AGPL v3 licence to ensure full transparency.

You can report an error, propose a correction, or submit new sources via our GitHub repository. The source code is open and contributions are welcome. You can also subscribe to email alerts to follow the evolution of the situation.

There is no legal limit to the duration of caretaker government in Belgium. The situation could theoretically last until the next regional elections scheduled for 2029. In practice, citizen pressure, media attention, and European budget deadlines could accelerate negotiations.