(27 Nov 2011)
1. Wide exterior of Belgian Federal Parliament building
2. Mid of Belgium flag flying outside building
3. Mid of sign reading (French) "Parliament"
4. Wide of Belgium's chief negotiator Elio Di Rupo arriving at news conference
5. Cutaway of media
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Elio Di Rupo, Chief negotiator:
"We are presenting a budget for 2012 that we can qualify as responsible and rigorous, including as I have said a cut of 11.3 (b) billion euros, and budget perspectives for the next two years. In this way, Belgium respects its commitments towards the European Union. The 2012 budget will allow us to reduce our national budget deficit to 2.8 percent of GDP."
7. Wide of news conference
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Elio Di Rupo, Chief negotiator:
"We hope to get a government in the coming week. We still have to work on several issues and hope to conclude within the shortest time possible."
9. Cutaway of camera
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Elio Di Rupo, Chief negotiator: (on the downgrading by credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's):
"Despite the difficulties, despite the differences, there is, among the negotiators and the six political families, a will to get a budget. Here it is, there are still some administrative questions plus a debate at the parliament, and we hope a government in the coming days. So we did our job, but there are still other conditions who led this rating agency to take the decision it decided to took."
11. Wide pan of news conference
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Elio Di Rupo, Chief negotiator: (on whether this will reassure the markets and whether Belgium is ready to face other austerity measures)
"I think that Belgium is able not only to take measures that need to be taken but also to face every other kind of situation, even if this situation should be degraded. I hope the situation will be maintained, but we know the uncertainties that are surrounding us in neighbouring countries and in the financial world, in particular. So, to answer your question, what I am saying is that we are proving that Belgium is capable to take extremely difficult measures and that we are ready to face any kind of situation."
13. Cutaway of photographer
14. Wide of Di Rupo leaving
STORYLINE:
Belgium's 2012 budget - clinched after a world-record government stalemate - will meet the demands of the European Union (EU), Belgium's chief negotiator said on Sunday, adding that he hoped it would assuage nervous markets.
Elio Di Rupo said next year's budget will have a deficit of 2.8 percent of GDP to remain within the EU target.
He called the 11.3 (b) billion euros (14.95 (b) billion US dollars) in austerity measures a step towards assuring a balanced budget in 2015 and the toughest measures taken by the nation in some 70 years.
Di Rupo, a French-speaking Socialist, is now expected to lead a grand coalition of socialists, Christian democrats and liberals, each split into Dutch- and French-speaking parties.
"We hope to get a government in the coming week. We still have to work on several issues and hope to conclude within the shortest time possible," Di Rupo told reporters.
Belgium has had only a caretaker government since 13 June 2010, as a series of negotiators tried and failed to bridge the divide between the country's 6.5 (m) million Dutch-speakers and 4.5 (m) million French-speakers.
But the talks were given much greater urgency late on Friday when Standard & Poor's downgraded Belgium's credit rating, potentially leading to increasing interest rates and a downward financial spiral.
Belgium was seen as the next most likely victim.
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