Lectures for the XXIst Century

The Historic and the Current Political Development in Belgium: For King and Lasagne

2 the historic and the current PoLiticaL deveLoPment in BeLGium: for KinG and LasaGne1 tim PaUweLs introduction In the summer and autumn of 2007, the international media published a considerable number of articles discussing the possible or even immanent end of the state of Belgium. The attention of the international media was not surprising, as Belgium, after the 2007 elections, was unable to form a new federal government for almost half a year. As a consequence, the federal political landscape was in a complete stalemate. But when, as a journalist, I explained to some of my foreign colleagues that an immediate division of the country was rather unlikely in the short term, many of them lost interest. Very few were really interested in understanding the Belgian situation. This article is an attempt to prove these colleagues wrong. It is my personal view that Belgian history and politics are both intriguing and interesting, not only to Belgians, but also, and perhaps even mainly, to foreigners. The history of this part of Europe is a tantalising lesson in how nations develop. All of the present-day concepts ‘Flanders’, ‘Belgium’ and ‘Wallonia’ stem from the 19th century. Before that, other concepts were far stronger (‘Brabant’) or such words like ‘Flanders’ simply had a different meaning. This complex history has led to a unique federal system which has to deal with an enormous challenge: how to organise an efficient democratic government in a country with (at least) two totally different political landscapes, completely different media on each side of the language barrier and two different public debates . This may seem a uniquely ‘Belgian’ challenge, but, then again, doesn’t the European Union have to combine at least 27 different public debates and 27 different media landscapes? Maybe the Belgian case is worth studying after all … 1 This article has previously been published in Lectures for the XXIst Century – 2008 (Volume 1). 26 the BeLGian chaLLenGe The Belgian challenge is to create a more or less efficient state apparatus and a sense of federal loyalty out of what might be described as two different democracies. Indeed, the Flemish and the French communities in Belgium each have a unique political landscape and their own media, and the country has a largely split public debate. Typically, when, as in many countries, a poll was organised on television to elect ‘the greatest Belgian’, the election was organised separately in the Flemish and French communities, following different formats and procedures (the Flemish television programme decided on Father Damien as the greatest Belgian, while the French-speaking one chose Jacques Brel). Foreigners are often somewhat puzzled by the size of the gap between the two communities, a gap which is not always that apparent when looking at Belgium from abroad. a coat of two different faBrics with one Button Of Belgium’s 10. million inhabitants, 6.1 million live in Flanders , which (just like Brussels and Wallonia) is an autonomous region in Belgium. The Flemish region is officially Dutch-speaking , with the exception of a few municipalities around Brussels and along the language border, which have limited language rights for French-speaking inhabitants. Wallonia has 3.4 million inhabitants , who mainly speak French, with the exception of a small German -speaking community in the east, which is entitled to organise its own culture and education, and a few municipalities with limited language rights for Dutch-speaking inhabitants. With 1 million inhabitants, Brussels is by far the largest city in Belgium. It constitutes – by Belgian standards – a whale in an aquarium, as about ten per cent of the Belgian population lives there. The city is officially bilingual (French-Dutch) but election results suggest that 8 to 90 per cent of the Brussels population identifies more with the French-speaking political landscape. Brussels is often seen as the button which keeps the Belgian coat together. Geographically, the city is a French-dominated island on Flemish territory. In spite of the predominantly French language-oriented, cosmopolitan population, Flanders sees Brussels as its capital (the Flemish Government and the Flemish Parliament both have their headquarters in Brussels). Brussels itself 27 has a troubled relationship with Flanders. Leading French-speaking personalities from Brussels have repeatedly stated that in the event of Flemish independence, they would keep Brussels out of an independent Flemish republic. And even though French-oriented inhabitants of Brussels do not necessarily see themselves as ‘Walloons’, they do share political and...