 He served as state secretary for European Affairs of Belgium from 12 July 2003 until 12 February 2004 when he became Minister-President of Brussels for the second time on the resignation of Daniel Ducarme following revelations of Ducarme's unpaid taxes in the newspaper "L'Avenir".He led the MR list in the elections of June 2004, losing to the Socialists led by former Minister-President Charles Picqué and gave up the minister-presidency a month later.Simonet was hospitalised on 9 September 2006 as the result of a pulmonary embolism.