The main explanation of the financial difficulties of the city of Liege are, on one hand, the growth of outlays due to the fusion of the communes in 1977, and, on the other hand, the rise of the interest rates. For the elections of October 1982, a «labour» coalition faced a «conservative» coalition. After the elections, the «labour» joined with the ecologists. For the first time, the ecologists are at the head of a big city, a city that is virtually in insolvency.