Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België, French: Royaume de Belgique, German: Königreich Belgien) is a Federal state in a continuous process of devolution. It is a developed country in North-Western Europe that is bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. Belgium has a population of over ten million people in only thirty thousand square kilometres, making it the 17th most densely populated country in the world. It ranked ninth on the 2005 United Nations Human Development Index.

Politics

Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy which evolved after World War II from a unitary state to a federal state. The bicameral Parliament (see: Belgian federal parliament) is composed of the Senate (see: Belgian senate) and the Chamber of Representatives (see: Belgian Chamber of Representatives). The former corresponds to a mix of directly-elected senior politicians and representatives of the communities and regions, while the latter proportionally represents all Belgians older than 18. Belgium is one of the few countries where voting is compulsory.

Related Topics:
Constitutional monarchy - Parliamentary democracy - World War II - Unitary state - Federal state - Bicameral - Parliament - Belgian federal parliament - Senate - Belgian senate - Chamber of Representatives - Belgian Chamber of Representatives - Proportionally represents

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The federal government (see: Belgian federal government), formally nominated by the king (see: list of Belgian monarchs), must have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives. It is chaired by the Prime Minister (see: list of Belgian Prime Ministers). The numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers are equal. The judicial system (see: Courts of Belgium) is a civil law system, originally based on the Napoleonic Code. The Court of Appeals is one level under the Court of Cassation, based on the model of the French Court of Cassation.

Related Topics:
Federal - Government - Belgian federal government - King - List of Belgian monarchs - Confidence - Prime Minister - List of Belgian Prime Ministers - Judicial system - Courts of Belgium - Civil law system - Napoleonic Code - Court of Appeals - Court of Cassation - French Court of Cassation

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Belgium's political institutions are complex, but the majority of political power is organised with the two main communities: the Flemings and their political parties; and the French speakers and their parties. Since around 1970, there are no longer significant national Belgian political parties, but only Dutch- or French-speaking parties (and one German-speaking party). The political landscape within each community is basically shared among three political families: the Liberals (right wing), the Christian Democrats (centrists) and the Social Democrats (left wing). Other important younger parties are the Green parties and, especially in Flanders, the nationalist and far right parties. Politics is strongly influenced by many powerful lobbies, like the trade unions, the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, and numerous other associations.

Related Topics:
Flemings - Liberal - Right wing - Christian Democrat - Centrist - Social Democrat - Left wing - Green parties - Nationalist - Far right - Trade union - Federation of Enterprises in Belgium

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The current king, Albert II, succeeded King Baudouin in 1993. Guy Verhofstadt (VLD) has been Prime Minister since 1999. From the 1999 election to the 2003 election, Verhofstadt chaired a Liberal-Social Democrat-Greens six-party coalition called the rainbow government. This has been the first government without the Christian Democrats since 1958.{{ref|rainbow_BBC}} Since 2003, he has been leading a Liberal-Social Democrat coalition of four parties.{{ref|chambre}} In the last years, concern has been raised by the rise of the Flemish far right nationalist separatist party Vlaams Belang, heir of the Vlaams Blok. Though in the opposition, the Vlaams Belang has a strong influence on the Belgian politics.

Related Topics:
Albert II - Baudouin - 1993 - Guy Verhofstadt - VLD - 1999 - 1999 election - 2003 election - Coalition - 1958 - Separatist - Vlaams Belang - Vlaams Blok

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Subsidiary branches of the Vlaams Blok have been qualified as racists in 2004 by the Ghent court of appeal,{{ref|VB_expa}}{{ref|VB_BBC}} which was partly uphold by the Court of Cassation, though some saw it as a political-inspired trial.

Related Topics:
Racist - 2004 - Ghent - Court of appeal - Court of Cassation

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Maybe the most representative achievement of the two successive Verhofstadt governments is the maintaining, as one of the few members of the European Union, of a balanced budget. This policy has been enabled by the successive goverments during the 1990s under the pressure of the European Council.

Related Topics:
1990s - European Council

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The fall of the preceeding government was mainly due to the dioxin crisis,{{ref|dioxin}} a major food intoxication scandal in 1999 which lead to the establishment of the Belgian Food Agency.{{ref|food}} This event led to a unusual high representation of the Greens at the parliament and to a particular emphasis of environmental politics during the first Verhofstadt legislature. One of their policy, for example, led to the nuclear phase-out legislation. This has been revised by the current government. The absence of Christian Democrats within the goverment enabled Verhofstadt to tackle ethic problems from a more liberal point of view and to develop new legislations on the use of soft drugs, same-sex marriages and euthanasia.

Related Topics:
Dioxin - 1999 - Nuclear phase-out - Ethic - Liberal - Soft drugs - Same-sex marriage - Euthanasia

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During both last legislatures, the government has promoted an active diplomacy in Africa{{ref|rwanda}} and during the Iraq disarmament crisis and a new legislation with respect to war crimes. Both legislatures are also marked by disputes between both Belgian communities. The major ones are the disagreements concerning nocturnal air traffic routes at the Brussels Airport and the status of the contentious electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.

Related Topics:
Iraq disarmament crisis - War crimes - Brussels Airport - Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde

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