EU denies it warned Belgium on political impasse

The European Commission on Thursday denied it was pressuring Belgian political parties to overcome their differences and create a new government. It has been more than a year that the country has been without an effective government. The Walloon newspaper Le Soir on Thursday said the commission had told Belgian negotiators that it was giving them a deadline to reach a deal. A spokesperson for the commission said that report was not true. Le Soir said the EU will publish its warning in the week starting on September 12, as it releases its monthly report on the financial situation of member states. Belgium is ruled by a caretaker government for more than a year as the Francophone parties and rival Flemish separatists failed to break a political impasse since the general elections in June 2010 returned a hung Parliament. Failure to break the stalemate prevents the caretaker government from making major budget decisions. It is also reducing investors’ confidence in Belgium’s public finances. In a statement issued on Thursday, the European Commission said that the media reports on the Commission’s position on the state of the Belgian government and the economic situation are unfounded. The Commission made it clear that “Contrary to what is claimed, there is no change in the Commission’s position.”