In the past, this lack of a definitive view made the Christian-democrats a party with which many could agree. These days, however, voters prefer decisive stands. N-VA is particularly good at this, but CD&V had yet to come to terms with this new reality. In the words of its president, Wouter Beke, his party “lacked a story”.

When he set out to “renew” the party – a process every Flemish party goes through every so many years – Beke chose not to stick to general principles, which in CD&V’s case would inevitable be woolly again, as the “personalism” in which Christian-democrats believe cannot be explained in one or two simple phrases.

Instead, with the renewal operation named Innesto, CD&V is moving away from anything too hazy. A group of “high potentials” has come up with a list of concrete proposals, often touching upon longstanding taboos.

One is to do away with the housing bonus, a system by which homeowners can deduct from their taxes the costs related to home buying or building. Flemings are notorious for having “a brick in the belly”, homeownership being the ambition of almost all families. The housing bonus has made this ambition within the reach of a large part of the population. As the system has become too expensive, scrapping it may be inevitable. But popular it will never be.

Another taboo is the appointment of ambtenaren, or tenured civil servants, a system that guarantees them lifelong employment and generous pensions. While most agree that this is outdated, abolishing it, as CD&V proposes, is easier said than done. The same thing goes for reducing the two month school holiday to just six weeks off in summer. Many people believe this is a good idea, but nothing will probably come of it, with the tourism sector, teachers’ unions and some parents disagreeing.

So far, the reactions to CD&V’s proposals have been mostly negative – one disadvantage of being concrete. Whether the renewal will also renew CD&V’s electoral success remains to be seen. But for now, Wouter Beke deserves credit for the clarity with which he speaks, something entirely new to his party.