What I heard from nine out of ten Belgian political parties

This post has been updated to include responses from Vooruit, Open VLD and PvdA.

You may remember that last week I asked ten Belgian political parties about their views on the excessively high import charges on small items shipped to Belgium from the UK with the Belgian state-owned postal company bpost, with a view to informing my vote in the coming elections.

As it happens I had another case today, of a friend who sent me some freebie academic books whose value is sadly more than the €45 threshold for a gift. A kind thought, but screwed by Belgian regulations; I will get the parcel returned to the sender, pick up the books via a UK contact, and Bpost will do all the work of handling the parcel and get nothing in return because of their greed.

Well, I have heard back from nine of those parties, three small and six larger. I’m sorry to report that six out of nine replies were pretty unsatisfactory. For your reference and amusement, this is what I got:


From the BLANCO Party, whose sole policy is that spoilt ballots and non-voters should be represented by an unoccupied seat in the new parliament:

Beste Nicholas,Dear Nicholas,
Hartelijk dank voor je interesse in Partij BLANCO.Thank you very much for your interest in the BLANCO Party
Zoals je op onze website PartijBLANCO.be kan nalezen is het een essentieel en enige onderdeel van ons programma om geen enkel standpunt in te nemen betreffende andere thema’s dan hetgeen waar we als partij voor staan. As you can read on our website PartijBLANCO.be, it is an essential and only [?] element of our programme not to take any position on any issues other than the one that we as a party stand for.
Wij met Partij BLANCO willen een keuze en zichtbare vertegenwoordiging geven aan de kiezers die vinden dat geen enkele partij hun stem nog verdient, Dat betekent dat ipv blanco of niet te stemmen, wat uiteindelijk toch maar meer steun en zetels geeft aan de verkozen partijen, er beter gestemd wordt op Partij BLANCO omdat die stem dan door ons geneutraliseerd wordt en geen enkele van de gevestigde, ook niet de extreme partijen, ten goede komt.We in the BLANCO Party want to give a choice and visible representation to voters who feel that no party deserves their vote anymore. That means that instead of voting blank or not voting, which in the end only gives more support and seats to the elected parties anyway, it is better to vote for the BLANCO Party because that vote is then neutralised by us and does not benefit any of the established parties, including the extreme parties.
Een verkozene van Partij BLANCO zal zich bij elke stemming in het parlement onthouden behalve voor het wetsvoorstel dat we zelf ingediend zullen hebben om in de toekomst te kunnen stemmen voor een niet toegewezen zetel. Wanneer dit gerealiseerd is zal de Partij BLANCO ophouden met te bestaan. An elected member of the BLANCO Party will abstain in any vote in parliament except for the legislative proposal that we ourselves will have tabled to vote for an unallocated seat in the future. When this is realised, the BLANCO Party will cease to exist.
Dus ok [sic] deze reden kan en zal de Partij BLANCO geen mening geven over wat je hier aanbrengt. So for this reason, the BLANCO Party cannot and will not give an opinion on what you bring up here.
Ik wens je alvast wel veel succes om dit aan te kaarten bij andere instanties of partijen. I do wish you every success in raising this with other bodies or parties.
Met vriendelijke groeten en dank je voor je begrip. Kind regards and thank you for your understanding.

Full marks for courtesy and clarity; they do not care about my issue, and they have no interest at all in helping me with it. Definitely not getting my vote, but they did not lose my respect.


The right-wing New Flemish Alliance, N-VA sent me a brief but substantive answer from a headquarters policy worker.

Geachte meneer WhyteDear Mr. Whyte
Beste NicholasDear Nicholas
Hartelijk dank voor uw mail.Thank you very much for your mail.
Wij willen dat Bpost een volledig privébedrijf wordt en dat er meer concurrentie in de sector komt. Als u niet tevreden bent van de service van Bpost kan u dan eenvoudig omschakelen naar een andere firma.We want Bpost to become a completely private company and to have more competition in the sector. If you are not satisfied with Bpost’s service you can then easily switch to another company.

This was followed by some boilerplate about where to find out more about the party’s policies and candidates, signing off with an optimistic

Wij hopen u hiermee voldoende te hebben geïnformeerd.We hope this has given you sufficient information.

Well, yes, in a sense. The thing is that if someone outside Belgium has sent me a parcel, I don’t get to choose whether or not it comes via Bpost, but I do have to pay Bpost’s exorbitant charges if I want to receive my goods. I cannot, as they put it, “easily switch to another company”, and it is difficult to see how diversification in the Belgian market is going to help me. Essentially this gaslighting reply tells me that, as with the BLANCO Party, N-VA’s ideological perspective matters more to them than my own lived experience. I wasn’t likely to vote for them anyway, but now I definitely won’t.


Late addition 1: I posted this blog on Tuesday 28 May, and on Wednesday 29 May I got a reply from the centre-left Vooruit (formerly the Flemish Socialist Party).

Dag Nicholas,Hi Nicholas,
Bedankt voor je mail. De kosten waar je over spreekt zijn administratieve kosten die Bpost aanrekent, en dus niet de invoerrechten of de btw (waar politici zelf over beslissen).Thank you for your email. The costs you are talking about are administrative costs that Bpost charges, and thus not import duties or VAT (which politicians decide on themselves).
Het gaat hier dus voornamelijk over een gevolg van Brexit. Dat is een jammerlijke zaak, maar daar hebben wij niet voor gekozen in België. Wij vinden het als Vooruit belangrijk dat de consument goed geïnformeerd wordt over alle kosten. We hebben daar ook de minister over ondervraagd. Dat moet duidelijk en transparant zijn, maar de administratieve kosten worden intern door Bpost bepaald. De politiek kan een publiek bedrijf daar niet zomaar iets opleggen. So this is mainly a consequence of Brexit. That is a pity, but we did not choose that in Belgium. As Vooruit, we think it is important that consumers are well informed about all costs. We also questioned the minister about that. It has to be clear and transparent, but the administrative costs are determined internally by Bpost. Politics cannot just impose something on a public company there.
Bedankt voor het sturen.Thank you for sending.
Met vriendelijke groetenKind regards

I’m not sure if this is better or worse than N-VA. They too refuse to do anything, but not because of free market ideology, but because the powers of the state are too limited. Anyway, they intend to do nothing for me, and I shall return the favour.


Late addition 2: On 30 May I heard back from the liberal Open VLD. Some of you may need clarification that in Belgium (and France) “liberal” means economically right-wing, rather than socially left-wing as in the USA. Their reply was pretty much the same as I got from N-VA:

Geachte heer WhyteDear Mr Whyte
Beste NicholasDear Nicholas
We hebben uw mail correct ontvangen en met de nodige aandacht gelezen. Alvast bedankt om deze problematiek bij ons aan te kaarten.We have received your email correctly and read it with due consideration. Thank you in advance for raising this issue with us.
Het feit dat Bpost 18,50 euro rekent voor douaneformaliteiten is geen Belgisch wetgeving, maar Bpost policy. Of deze 18,50 euro representatief is voor de effectieve kost van de douaneformaliteiten, dat kunnen we niet zeggen.The fact that Bpost charges 18.50 euros for customs formalities is not Belgian law, but Bpost policy. Whether this 18.50 euros is representative of the effective cost of customs formalities, we cannot say.
Wel kunnen we u meegeven dat onze partij wil afzien van onze deelname in Bpost en Bpost van de subsidie-infuus willen halen. Op die manier zorgen we ervoor dat koerierdiensten eerlijk met elkaar kunnen concurreren. Als Bpost geen quasi monopolie heeft op de pakjesmarkt in België, kunnen andere koeriers misschien dezelfde dienst aanbieden, maar minder douanekosten aanrekenen aan consument.
​U kan dit ook terugvinden in ons verkiezingsprogramma, heel concreet onder resolutie 220.
But we can tell you that our party wants to renounce our participation in Bpost and take Bpost off the subsidy drip. That way, we will ensure that courier services can compete fairly with each other. If Bpost does not have a quasi monopoly on the parcel market in Belgium, other couriers may be able to offer the same service but charge less customs fees to consumers.
You can also find this in our election programme, very specifically under resolution 220.
Resolutie 220: De overheid trekt zich terug uit een aantal sectoren. Ze treedt terug uit sectoren zoals telecom, post, banken en de uitbating van bedrijfsrestaurants, arbeidsbemiddeling, congrescentra of vakantiecentra. We privatiseren Bpost en
Proximus. We liberaliseren het openbaar vervoer. De overheid stelt een duidelijk kwalitatief kader op voor de organisatie van openbaar vervoer en houdt zich niet bezig met het uitvoeren ervan. Dit moet maximaal aan de private sector uitbesteed worden.
Resolution 220: The government is withdrawing from a number of sectors. It is withdrawing from sectors such as telecoms, post, banking and the operation of company restaurants, employment services, convention centres or holiday centres. We are privatising Bpost and
Proximus. We will liberalise public transport. The government sets a clear qualitative framework for the organisation of public transport and is not concerned with its implementation. This should be outsourced to the private sector as much as possible.
[paragraph of campaign boilerplate]
Met vriendelijke groetenKind regards

Unlike all the others, the message was not signed by a human being. (Was it written by an AI, I wonder?)

Anyway, as with the others, Open VLD has no intention of doing anything to help, and explained their reasoning for not doing anything in slightly more detail, which I respect although it does not incline me to vote for them.


Next is from the Belgische Unie – Union Belge, whose policy is to abolish all of the regional and community structures and transfer their powers to the central government and to the provinces. Their leader sent me this personal reply.

Meneer Whyte,Mr Whyte,
Mijn excuses voor mijn laat antwoord. U begrijpt dat het erg druk is voor mij.I apologise for my late reply. You understand that things are very busy for me.
Uw vraag gaat over de kosten van een autonoom “openbaar” bedrijf. Openbaar in die zin dat de staat er een meerderheidsparticipatie van 51% in heeft.Your question is about the cost of an autonomous “public” company. Public in the sense that the state has a majority 51% stake in it.
Het probleem dat u aanhaalt, kende ik niet in die zin dat ik niet wist dat er zo’n grote prijsverschillen zijn.  I did not know the problem you raise in the sense that I did not know that there are such large price differences.
Normaal houdt de regering zich niet bezig met het beheer van een autonoom bedrijf.Normally, the government is not involved in the management of an autonomous company.
De regering zou dit eens met BPost moeten bespreken, ook al lijkt het mij dat de baas van BPost dit soort beslissingen moet nemen en niet de regering. De regering kan wel druk uitoefenen om die kost te doen dalen. Het gaat uiteindelijk om de concurrentiepositie van een belangrijk Belgisch bedrijf. The government should discuss this with BPost at some point, even though it seems to me that the boss of BPost should take such decisions, not the government. The government can, however, exert pressure to bring that cost down. It is ultimately about the competitive position of an important Belgian company.
Als verkozen parlementslid zou ik hierover in de Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers een parlementaire vraag kunnen stellen.As an elected MP, I could ask a parliamentary question about this in the Chamber of Representatives.
Ik hoop dat ik volledig op uw vraag heb geantwoord.
I hope I have fully answered your question.
Beste groeten,Best regards,

So, this loses marks on several grounds. First, no empathy is expressed for the problem. Second, it is not clear if he actually thinks anything should be done; he seems to say both that the government should not interfere and that it should. Finally, he doesn’t even commit firmly to asking a parliamentary question. So, not getting my vote.


I mentioned in my previous post that I had brought this problem up with one of the sitting MPs for our area a few years ago, and that she more or less told me to go pound rocks. I will reveal now that it was Els van Hoof of the Christian Democrats (CD&V), now running for re-election under the slogan “Who Els?”. I did not write to her last week, but instead contacted the party headquarters and the lead candidate of the provincial list. I got a reply from a policy worker in the central party secretariat as follows:

Geachte heer Whyte,Dear Mr Whyte,
Onze voorzitter heeft uw bericht goed ontvangen waarvoor dank.Our leader has received your message well, for which thanks.
We lezen uw klacht:We read your complaint:
‘De invoerrechten zijn voordeliger in de ons omringende landen dan wat in België door BPOST wordt aangerekend op boeken die u bestelt in het V.K.’‘Import duties are more advantageous in neighbouring countries than what is charged in Belgium by BPOST on books you order in the U.K.’
Zoals u wel weet zijn we op enkele weken verwijderd van de verkiezingen. Onze voorzitter en vele collega’s zijn nu in campagnemodus. Zij bevinden zich vooral op de baan en niet op kantoor, noch achter hun PC.As you are well aware, we are just weeks away from the elections. Our leader and many colleagues are now in campaign mode. They are mostly on the road and not in the office, nor at their PCs.
De desbetreffende adviseur is met campagneverlof omdat hijzelf kandidaat is bij de Federale verkiezingen. Ik kan u dus geen afdoend antwoord bezorgen op uw vraag over bpost, helaas.The relevant adviser is on leave because he himself is a candidate in the Federal elections. So I cannot provide you with a conclusive answer to your question about bpost, unfortunately.
Daar komt nog bij dat het parlement ontbonden is waardoor we ook geen schriftelijke of mondelinge vraag aan de betrokken minister kunnen stellen.On top of that, parliament has been dissolved so we cannot put a written or oral question to the minister concerned either.
Maar ik lees ook dat u al een oplossing heeft gevonden en dat u dankzij uw vrienden in het V.K. dan toch deze extra douanekosten kan vermijden.But I also read that you have already found a solution and that, thanks to your friends in the UK, you can avoid these extra customs charges after all.
Ik breng uw vraag alsnog onder de aandacht van onze adviseur. Hij zal zeker niet nalaten, zodra hij uit campagneverlof is, uw vraag te behandelen.I will still bring your question to the attention of our adviser. He will certainly not fail to address your question as soon as he back from the campaign.
Dank u voor uw begrip en vriendelijke groeten,Thank you for your understanding and kind regards,

Full marks for respectful tone, but none at all for content. “We’re all very busy” is of course completely true for any political party in campaign mode; I’ve been there myself and I have some sympathy. However, I note that the replies that I got from all three of the micro-parties were personal notes from the party leaders themselves, one of whom is a sitting MP running for re-election. Another sitting MP running for re-election replied on behalf of one of the other large parties who got back to me. All seven of the other parties gave me a policy-led reply, even if it wasn’t a very good one. Since the CD&V did not feel it worth while to give me a serious answer, I won’t waste any more time thinking about them.

Though I did appreciate the fact that the Christian Democrats encouraged me to evade the Belgian charges entirely. That’s the sort of loyalty to country that you want to see from a party that has been in government for 130 of the last 140 years. (Counting governments-in-exile.)


Late addition 3: On 4 June, two weeks after I first wrote and five days before the election, I heard back from the local lijsttrekker for the hard left PvdA. I actually voted PvdA in my first Belgian election, so was interested to see this response in particular. He said:

Beste,Hello,
Onze standpunt is dat post een publieke dienst zou moeten zijn. In die zin zijn wij tegen de liberalisering van die markt die met zich mee hoge prijzen (bpost) en heel slechte werkomstandigheden (zie postNL) heeft gebracht. Bpost is nog steeds een overheidsbedrijf maar wordt gerund als een privé-bedrijf die winst moet maken om te concurreren met bedrijven als postNL of DPD die met een keten van onderaannemers werken om zo de lonen en werkomstandigheden nog meer te drukken.Our position is that mail should be a public service. In that sense, we are against the liberalisation of that market which has brought with it high prices (bpost) and very poor working conditions (see postNL). Bpost is still a public company but is run as a private company that has to make a profit in order to compete with companies like postNL or DPD that work with a chain of subcontractors in order to further reduce wages and working conditions.
Wij willen dus de prijzen van bpost verlagen en een kwaliteitsvolle dienstverlening garanderen, ookal gaat ten koste van een beetje winst.So we want to lower bpost’s prices and guarantee a quality service, even if at the cost of a little profit.
Met vriendelijke groeten,Kind regards,

I think this is a fine general reply; in summary, “we will throw money at the problem until it is solved”. I find it a little short on specifics with regard to the import of low-value goods, which the two other parties who responded did give me, but I give PvdA good marks for trying.

Late addition 4: A campaign officer from the central PvdA also got back to me on 6 June with this rather insubstantial response, which at least does not contradict what I got from the local candidate.

Beste Nicholas,Dear Nicholas,
Ik moet u helaas teleurstellen, op dit moment hebben wij daar geen standpunt over.I regret to disappoint you, at the moment we do not have a position on that.
Wij zijn voorstander van een post in publiek beheer, een bedrijf dat niet gedreven is door winst maar door goede en betaalbare dienstverlening voor de mensen.We are in favour of a publicly managed post office, a company driven not by profit but by good and affordable services for the people.
Met vriendelijke groeten,Kind regards,

This was the only party where both of my messages got replies.


The best reply from the microparties was the newly founded Voor U, set up by an MP from the Liberal Open VLD party, who parted company with them late last year. Looking at the party’s programme, I find them well to the right of me, though with some points that I approve of – abolishing the provinces, for instance. I got a personal reply from the founder and leader, who is also the lead candidate in Flemish Brabant.

Beste Nicholas,Dear Nicholas,
Dank u voor uw bericht.Thank you for your message.
Het probleem dat u aankaart moet inderdaad dringend opgelost worden.The problem you raise indeed needs to be solved urgently.
Mijn zoon studeerde in Engeland en ik ben er de afgelopen jaren vaak geweest.My son studied in England and I have been there many times in recent years.
De Brexit is een historische vergissing. Ik hoop dat de Britten dat rechtzetten.Brexit is a historic mistake. I hope the British will correct it.
Die douanekosten vind ik een soort EU pesterij waar we vanaf moeten. Er zou een limiet moeten komen op douanekosten bvb douanekosten mogen nooit meer bedragen dan 5% van de kostprijs van het goed (als er gehandeld wordt tussen democratische landen met een vrije markt).I think these customs fees are a kind of EU bullying that we should get rid of. There should be a limit on customs fees e.g. customs fees should never exceed 5% of the cost price of the goods (when trading between democratic countries with a free market).
Ik heb [X] in cc gezet. Zij is onze EU lijsttrekker.I have copied [X] on this. She is our EU list leader.
Beste groeten,Best regards,

Full marks for empathy. Full marks for supplying an alternative policy solution. However it’s a bit ambitious to rewrite the EU VAT code single-handed, and I wouldn’t vote for a party purely on that basis unless I felt that they had a clear sense of how it could be negotiated with the other 26 member states, the Commission and the Parliament. Also, the terminology of “EU bullying” is a bit unfair when it’s specifically the Belgian charges that I was concerned with. Still, the best of the three micro-party replies by some way.

Late addition 5: I also received a reply from the Voor U lijsttrekker in Antwerp; I am not quite sure in what capacity, on 6 June, the day before the election. He wrote:

Beste Nicholas,Dear Nicholas,
Wat betreft Bpost: het is duidelijk dat deze organisatie inefficiënt is en zoals we gezien hebben ook niet vies van schimmige zaken. Hoog tijd voor echte concurrentie en een volledige depolitisering ervan.As far as Bpost is concerned, it is clear that this organisation is inefficient and, as we have seen, not averse to shadowy dealings either. High time for real competition and complete depoliticisation.
Wij hopen op uw stem morgen.We hope for your vote tomorrow.
Vriendelijke groeten,Kind regards,

Sympathetic but short on detail.


I’m glad to say that one of the mainstream parties came back with a thoroughly satisfactory reply, and unless someone else comes up with anything better, this reply probably gets my vote – the online stemtest indicated anyway that they are among the closest of the parties to my own views on many other issues. The provincial lead candidate, who is also a sitting MP, sent me this:

Dag Nicholas,Hello Nicholas,
Wij begrijpen uw vraag. De ombudsmannen post hebben deze problematiek ook aangestipt in het jaarverslag. De situatie inzake postzendingen met de UK is complexer geworden sinds Brexit. Bovendien is er een nieuwe Europese richtlijn die strengere regels oplegt voor e-commerce met landen buiten de EU. Bpost moet aan deze regels voldoen, en dat brengt inderdaad kosten met zich mee.We understand your question. The postal ombudsmen also touched upon this issue in their annual report. The situation regarding postal shipments with the UK has become more complex since Brexit. Moreover, there is a new European directive imposing stricter rules for e-commerce with countries outside the EU. Bpost has to comply with these rules, and this does indeed entail costs.
Wat de tarieven van bpost betreft, deze worden autonoom bepaald door het bedrijf, daar komt de overheid niet in tussen. Bpost heeft ook geen monopolie-positie, dus u kan eventueel de prijzen vergelijken met andere spelers.As for bpost’s rates, they are determined autonomously by the company, the government does not intervene. Bpost does not have a monopoly position either, so you can possibly compare prices with other players.
Wat betreft uw vraag inzake geschenken: ook dit is een vaak terugkerende klacht. Indien bpost uw zending niet als geschenk heeft geïdentificeerd, dan raden wij u aan klacht in te dienen. Bpost verzekert er ons van dat dan de nodige rechtzetting gebeuren.As for your question regarding gifts: this is also a frequent complaint. If bpost has not identified your shipment as a gift, we recommend you file a complaint. Bpost assures us that the necessary rectification will then take place.
Overkoepelend heeft de Minister van Post, op basis het jaarverslag van de ombudsman post, een dialoog gestart met bpost en de FOD Economie om te kijken waar zaken verbeterd kunnen worden.Overall, based on the annual report of the postal ombudsman, the Minister of Post has initiated a dialogue with bpost and the Federal Public Service for the Economy to see where things can be improved.
Met vriendelijke groetenKind regards

So, full marks again for empathy with the problem; full marks for explaining the background to the existing practice and for addressing my point about the inefficiency of the service; and full marks for pointing to a policy path forward. (Though as with the N-VA, I fear he is thinking wishfully about the reality of bpost’s monopoly position.)

This was from the representative of Groen, the Flemish Green party, whose deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter is in fact the responsible minister in the outgoing government, so perhaps they had an advantage; but the chap who wrote to me is not directly responsible for that dossier, so either he is very well-informed, or else he actually did some research before replying.

I will vote for him, and Groen therefore gets my support for the Federal House of Representatives – as previously noted, I am voting for Volt EU for the European and Flemish Parliaments.

Unless, that is, one of the other parties gets back to me with an even better reply. Let the record show that I contacted the other micro-party, L’Unie, eight days ago, with a chaser message four days ago, and have not heard back from any of them. There are twelve days left until the election.