Most notably this government doesn't have a majority in the Flemish language group, as the two largest political parties in Flanders (and simultaneously in all of Belgium) are part of the opposition: N-VA and Vlaams Belang. Other opposition parties are the Francophone parties Les Engagés and DéFI and the nationwide PVDA-PTB.[1]
The Constitution requires an equal number of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers (regardless of the Prime Minister) and with all parties requiring some positions, the number of members in the Government has increased considerably, from 12 to 14 ministers with an additional 5 extra Secretaries of State for a total of 7 extra members in the Government compared to the previous Wilmès II Government.
With several new parties coming in to the government and many existing parties replacing their ministers, only three ministers remain which were already present in the Wilmès II Government: Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (who was Minister of Development Cooperation, Finance and fighting Fiscal Fraud), the previous Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès who now becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs and David Clarinval who moves from Minister of Budget, Civil Service, National Lottery and Scientific Policy to Minister of the Middle Class, SMEs, Self-employed, Agriculture, and Institutional Affairs. A large number of government members were relatively unknown at the time of their appointment, as several parties decided to opt for new faces instead of familiar ones. One notable returnee is Frank Vandenbroucke who, after a nine-year break from politics, returns to become Minister of Health and Social Affairs, and has held multiple positions in the period 1994–2009, including Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Social Affairs, Labor, and Pensions.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, Foreign Trade and Federal Cultural Institutions (absent from 22 April 2022 until 14 July 2022, replaced by colleagues De Croo, Clarinval and Michel)
Minister of the Small Businesses, Self-Employed, SMEs and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal (from 22 April 2022 until 14 July 2022 also acting Minister of Foreign Trade and Deputy Prime Minister for the MR (replacing Sophie Wilmès))
Secretary of State for Digitization, in charge of Administrative Simplification, Privacy and Buildings Administration (from 22 April 2022 until 14 July 2022 also acting Secretary of State for Federal Cultural Institutions (replacing Sophie Wilmès)) Deputy to the Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in charge of the National Lottery Deputy to the Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal
Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in charge of the National Lottery Deputy to the Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal
On 21 April 2022, Sophie Wilmès took a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons. Officially she remains in office as both Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, however, in reality all her duties have been taken over by other members of the cabinet from 22 April 2022. Prime minister Alexander De Croo is the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of European Affairs, David Clarinval took over her duties as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade, and finally Mathieu Michel took over the portfolio of Federal Cultural Institutions.[3] On 14 July 2022 Wilmès resigned definitively as a member of the De Croo government, with all her portfolios allocated to newcomer Hadja Lahbib, although David Clarinval kept the position of Deputy Prime Minister for the MR.[4]
On 27 June 2022, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi was replaced by Nicole de Moor, as Mahdi had been elected the new party president of CD&V.[5]
After a first revision of the budget after errors and a new proposal containing different errors, Secretary of State for BudgetEva De Bleeker [nl] offered her resignation on 18 November 2022 and was immediately replaced by Alexia Bertrand [nl]. Bertrand is a member of the French speaking liberals of MR, but was invited to become a party member as well for the Flemish speaking liberals of Open Vld, allowing her to take up the position.[6]
On 23 April 2023, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity Sarah Schlitz resigned following a week of criticism mainly centered around the use of a personal logo in governmental projects (thus promoting herself with tax money which is forbidden), lying about having requested the logo to be used and on top of that one of her staff members compared the New Flemish Alliance with Nazism.[8] Schlitz' party Ecolo appointed Marie-Colline Leroy as her successor and she was sworn in on 2 May 2023.[9]
Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned on 20 October 2023, a few days after the 2023 Brussels shooting, as it turned out an error had been made as Tunisia had asked already in 2022 to transfer the perpetrator but the dossier had not been processed.[10]. Two days later, Open Vld appointed Paul Van Tigchelt to replace him [11] causing former party president Gwendolyn Rutten to announce her immediate retirement from national politics.[12]