2024-09-07 04:06:00
Men (and sometimes women) in the shadows, the sherpas assist party presidents in negotiations to form an executive. An overview of these technicians who keep a close eye on things.
What do Tensing Norgay – the first man to set foot on the summit of Everest in 1953 with Edmund Hillary – and Eddy Peeters (CD&V), You are Ghysels (Forward), Patrick van Ypersele (The Committed), Axel Miller (MR), et Sven De Neef (N-VA)? They are all Sherpas. While the first helped the New Zealand climber conquer the world’s highest peak, the others are assisting negotiators trying to form a federal government. “They are the memory of the negotiations, from A to Z,” observes a source.
A little dive among these (few) women and men in the shadows in order to understand how the current negotiations are structured which mix the party presidents (the “ideologues”), women and men politicians first-rank (the “pragmatists”) and the sherpas (the “technicians”). If the Sherpas are accompanied by a whole series of collaborators which interchange depending on the themes covered, we can identify five main sherpas: one per party.
For the N-VAwe find Sven De Neefthe sherpa the Bart De Weverthe trainer. Considered the “sherpa des sherpas“Sven De Neef, director of the study centre of the Flemish nationalist party, is at the helm everywhere. He is the one who hands out the notes and calls the meetings. “When we receive a summons, it is often for the next day. There is not really any room for manoeuvre”, says a negotiator.
In the ongoing negotiations, Bart De Wever’s sherpa is a little above the fray and is part of what is called “the training group” in which we find the president of the N-VA and Anne-Laure Mouligneauxthe party’s French-speaking spokesperson. Sven De Neef was notably Johan Van Overtveldt’s chief of staff when the latter was Minister of Finance.
To assist him, Sammy Mahdithe president of the CD&V, has set his sights on Eddy Peetersa sort of leader of the Flemish Christians that some describe as the memory of the CD&V. The man has a CV that would make more than one person pale. Between 2008 and today, he has been – in order – chief of staff of Jo Vandeurzen, Steven Vanacker, Pieter De Crem, Kris Peeters, Wouter Beke, Koen Geens, Nathalie Muyle and, finally, Vincent Van Peteghem. A living encyclopedia, we tell you.
On the French-speaking side, it is notably Axel Miller who whispers in the ear of President Georges-Louis Bouchez.
On the side of the Flemish socialists, the president Conner Rousseau is assisted by You are Ghyselsdirector of the Vooruit study centre, considered the tax expert of the Flemish socialists, who worked in the office of the Secretary of State for the fight against social and tax fraud, John Crombez.
On the French-speaking side, it is notably Axel Miller who whispers in the president’s ear Georges-Louis Bouchez. The man who is now the president’s chief of staff and director of the Jean Gol study center already has several lives behind him. After a career as a lawyer, he was CEO of Dexia, headed the investment bank Petercam before bouncing back at the head of D’Ieteren and then landing at the MR. If Axel Miller is the main sherpa, he works with Gérald Duffy (David Clarinval’s chef de cabinet) and Valentine Delwart (general secretary of the MR, presented as coordinator between the different levels of negotiations – regional and federal). It is said that Jolan VereeckeGeorges-Louis Bouchez’s special advisor, is never far away.
Finally, it is Patrick van Ypersele who assists Maxime Prevot during federal negotiations. A lawyer by training, presented as a very good technician with a detailed knowledge of institutional files, Maxime Prévot’s sherpa is currently secretary of the Engagés group in the Chamber. Over the years, he has left his mark on various firms (Jean-Pol Poncelet, Melchior Wathelet père et fils and Catherine Fonck).
Three levels of reading
In reality, A whole galaxy revolves around the negotiators currently at work. As has been said, the initial notes are written by the N-VA, which has a hand in these negotiations. Most of the time, they are transmitted to working groups composed of seasoned parliamentarians and collaborators recruited according to their expertise. “In these working groups, we find the heart of the reactor of each party,” says an expert.
“The Sherpas talk to each other a lot, they have meetings together and have a real influence in the discussions. They are not just note-makers.”
When the notes have been pre-chewed in the first reading by these working groups, they go back to the groupe central composed of party presidents often accompanied by one or two parliamentarians who negotiated in the working groups, the sherpa and one or two collaborators.
“The Sherpas talk to each other a lot, they have meetings together and have a real influence in the debates. They are not just note makersthey can speak in plenary, even if they prefer to turn to their party president,” assures a regular at these negotiations. “Our role is to be able to give multi-angle advice to our president“, explained a sherpa who assures us that he is trying to “provide the president with advice on the negotiation process and on the substance of the issues.”
The further we go, the more complicated it gets. We have seen it, there is three levels of negotiators (presidents, politicians and sherpas, and their teams of technicians), but there are also two levels of negotiationsat least during the first phase led by Bart De Wever before he had to throw in the towel.
In addition to the working groups addressing different themes, the party presidents and those called their “+1” discussed the supernote by Bart De Wever between them, without the sherpas. A desire of the president of the N-VA, it is said, so that the discussions are more political and less technical.
When the presidents retreat to their teepees for a powwow without the Sherpas, they are each accompanied by a +1. Usually, this is David Clarinval (MR), Vanessa Matz (The Committed), Jan Jambon and Théo Francken (N-VA, knowing that Bart De Wever is above the fray), Frank Vandenbroucke (Forward), Vincent Van Peteghem and sometimes Annelies Verlinden (CD&V). Great people.
Sherpas sometimes “out”
It is under this version (presidents +1) that a good part of the discussions of the supernota (employment, budget, taxation) was carried out, the sherpas remaining in ambushbut not being present around the table. “Without the Sherpas, the discussions are more political. The Sherpas are less flexible than the politicians, they are able to block discussions on technical points,” assures a source.
Yet, The discussions are not lacking in technicality. And without the Sherpas, sometimes things go wrong. “When we started negotiating VAT, we didn’t know what type of products would go up and what type would go down. We would have needed analyses done by technicians,” explains a negotiator before confessing this astonishing thing.We may find ourselves fighting over something that has already been decided. We arrived at the technicians who explained to us that we had got stuck on a point already included in a royal decree.”
“If the notes are not studied first by the technicians and the sherpas, the negotiations will last eight years.”
Could the negotiations succeed without the help of the Sherpas? and their teams? “Not easy,” says a technician used to negotiations. Even if he recognizes that at a certain point – we are not there yet – the files are quite deep and arbitrations must be made. At this stage, it is the party presidents who decide and who take their responsibility.
“There comes a time when you have to jump into the void,” says a Sherpa who has a clear vision of his task. “We are irresponsible who we do not have no democratic accountability.” In other words, these high-ranking and highly discreet technicians are only accountable to their party president, who will be the only one to face the void. “We give all the elements to the president who must jump. If it goes badly, he will be the only one to break his face, if it goes well, he will take the glory,” assures a long-term sherpa.
“In the discussions that took place, we immediately focused on symbols “while there are hundreds of points that we have not discussed. I prefer that we go through the notes with technicians,” analyzes a negotiator, emphasizing theThe interest of the presence of Sherpas around the table. “If the notes are not studied first by the technicians and the sherpas, the negotiations will last eight years,” assures this negotiator.
Another participant in the negotiations – even if he recognizes the quality of the work provided by the trainer and his team – wonders if Bart De Wever did not want to rush into things during the first attempt to reach an agreement. Now back in the saddle, the trainer seems to have understood that he was going to have to ease off. “I was hoping that we could reach an agreement at the speed of a TGV, but we failed. Now, it will be more like an omnibus while time is running out to take strong measures,” Bart De Wever recently published on social networks.
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