The HRF’s report, Peeters said, shows his government is on the right track: “This is a recognition that Flanders, in accordance with our government programme, is going for a balanced budget and is correct not to run up a deficit,” he said.

The HRF indeed rules out deficit spending by all six governments – federal, regional and community – and calls for budgets to be balanced by 2015. That contrasts with a report last year that left the door open for the three regions together to run up a deficit of 1.2%, something Peeters’ government has rejected.

Peeters said the latest report was “positive” for Flanders. “However, the investment needs of Flemish society will remain very high.”

For the federal government, the news is less good: the HRF estimates the federal government will have to find about €10.5 billion in savings in the next three years, over and above the €13 billion that was saved in the latest round of budget negotiations. In comparison, all three regions together are facing savings of €800 million.

The HRF suggests the transfer of certain responsibilities from the federal state to the regions, without transferring the money required to service them, thereby pushing further budget cuts onto the regions. Federal finance minister Steven Vanackere (pictured) called the report “more readable, more transparent and more clear” than previous reports. “The figures circulating at the moment – €10 to €11 billion – might seem like a lot, but I would remind you that just in December last year and at the budget control in March the federal government took steps to save €13 billion. Now we’re looking at a comparable effort but spread over three years and divided among all governments. Which doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re facing a mammoth task.”

The budget problems, he warned, ensure that the tax burden on individuals and companies is not likely to come down soon. That will only happen “through budgetary orthodoxy, and this and the next administration will have their hands full providing it,” he told Knack magazine. “People will have to accept a high rate of taxation by the government for quite some time yet.”