Wilmès I Government

The Wilmès I Government was a caretaker^[1] Federal Government of Belgium, led by Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès, the first ever female Prime Minister of Belgium.

Wilmès I Government
96th Cabinet of Belgium (since 1830)
Date formed	27 October 2019
Date dissolved	17 March 2020
People and organisations
Head of state	Philippe of Belgium
Head of government	Sophie Wilmès
No. of ministers	12
Member parties	MR (Walloon) CD&V (Flemish) Open Vld (Flemish)
Status in legislature	Caretaker minority coalition 38 / 150 (25%)
History
Election	2014 Belgian federal election
Legislature term	2014–2019
Budgets	18 July 2019 continuing resolution (3rd)
Predecessor	Michel II
Successor	Wilmès II

Distribution of seats in the Chamber of Representatives

History

The creation of the Wilmès Government was announced on 26 October 2019, when previous Prime Minister Charles Michel announced he would be succeeded by Sophie Wilmès ultimately on 1 November 2019, effectively forming a new government.^[2] Charles Michel left his post as he had been elected to become the next President of the European Council as from 1 December 2019 and wanted to have sufficient time to prepare for his role as President of the European Council hence leaving already by November.

The Wilmès Government was governing as a caretaker government, until a new cabinet was formed based on the results of the federal elections of 26 May 2019, for which negotiations were still ongoing. Hence the government was a continuation of the centre minority coalition cabinet of Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) and the Reformist Movement (MR) which together constituted the Michel II Government. On 16 March, the Wilmès Government was given support by several opposition parties to handle the coronavirus outbreak in Belgium, for which the cabinet was going to be supported by a majority in parliament by granting it special powers under the form of the Wilmès II Government.^[3] The opposition parties were giving support for three months to take corona measures, with a possible further three month extension, were the socialists (sp.a & PS), the greens (Groen and Ecolo), the cdH and DéFI, leaving only the N-VA and the PVDA/PTB and Vlaams Belang in the opposition.

Composition

The composition of the government was similar to that of the Michel II Government, with the only differences being Sophie Wilmès taking over the role of Charles Michel as prime minister and David Clarinval coming in to replace Wilmès as Minister of Budget, Civil Service, National Lottery and Scientific Policy.

Portfolio	Minister	Took office	Left office	Party
Prime Minister
Prime Minister	Sophie Wilmès	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		MR
Deputy Prime Ministers
Minister of Justice and Director of Buildings	Koen Geens	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		CD&V
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Beliris and European Affairs	Didier Reynders	27 October 2019	30 November 2019		MR
Minister of Budget, Civil Service, National Lottery and Scientific Policy	David Clarinval	30 November 2019	17 March 2020		MR
Minister of Development Cooperation, Finance and fighting Fiscal Fraud	Alexander De Croo	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		Open Vld
Minister
Minister of Administrative Simplification, Digital Agenda, Postal Services and Telecom	Philippe De Backer	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		Open Vld
Minister of the Interior and Safety	Pieter De Crem	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		CD&V
Minister of Asylum, Migration, Health and Social Affairs	Maggie De Block	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		Open Vld
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Disabled Persons, Economy, Employment, Equal Rights and Fighting Poverty	Nathalie Muylle	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		CD&V
Minister of the Middle Class, SMEs, Self-employed, Agriculture, Social Integration and Urban Policy	Denis Ducarme	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		MR
Minister of Budget, Civil Service, National Lottery and Scientific Policy	David Clarinval	27 October 2019	30 November 2019		MR
Minister of Pensions	Daniel Bacquelaine	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		MR
Minister of Mobility and the National Railway Company	François Bellot	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		MR
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defence and European Affairs	Philippe Goffin	30 November 2019	17 March 2020		MR
Minister of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development	Marie-Christine Marghem	27 October 2019	17 March 2020		MR

Changes in composition

• On 30 November 2019, Philippe Goffin took the place of Didier Reynders, taking over the portfolios of Foreign Affairs and Defence. Reynders left his post to take up the role of European Commissioner for Justice in the Von der Leyen Commission. David Clarinval was appointed the new Deputy Prime Minister for the Mouvement Réformateur^[4]