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The Crown Council of Belgium (Dutch : Kroonraad, French : Conseil de la Couronne, [1] German : Kronrat) is composed of the King of the Belgians, the Ministers and the Ministers of State (mostly former ministers and other major politicians). The constitutional Monarch chairs the Crown Council, which has no legal competence but simply advises the crown when consulted on extraordinary matters.
During a session of the Crown Council, the Ministers of State can do nothing but advise the King, as the authority to make political decisions is vested in the King and the Federal Government, in accordance with the Belgian Constitution.
To date, the Crown Council has met on only five occasions:
| Date | Reason | Monarch |
|---|---|---|
| 16 July 1870 | The start of the Franco-Prussian War | King Leopold II |
| 2–3 August 1914 | The German ultimatum to Belgium at the beginning of World War I | King Albert I |
| 2 May 1919 | The Treaty of Versailles | |
| 23 March 1950 | The Royal Question | King Leopold III |
| 18 February 1960 | The independence of Belgian Congo | King Baudouin I |
Nowadays, the Crown Council is seen as an old-fashioned or even outdated political organ.[ citation needed ] The title of Minister of State is given as an honorary title, with no view to any possible Crown Council meeting.[ citation needed ] None of the living Ministers of State have ever participated in a Crown Council session. During the 2007–08 Belgian government formation though, King Albert II formally asked the help of several Ministers of State with experience in solving political crises. The King consulted Ministers of State Wilfried Martens, Jean-Luc Dehaene, Guy Verhofstadt, Philippe Moureaux, Willy Claes, Gérard Deprez, Jos Geysels, Philippe Busquin, Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, José Daras, Raymond Langendries, Herman De Croo, Louis Michel, Herman Van Rompuy and Armand De Decker. Some political analysts saw this as comparable to the Crown Council. [2] Commonly, Ministers of State are appointed to formal offices is the process of forming a government or to solve a cabinet crisis.
Leopold III was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both at home and abroad.
The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces.
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Paul-Henri Charles Spaak was an influential Belgian Socialist politician, diplomat and statesman who thrice served as the prime minister of Belgium and later as the second secretary general of NATO. Along with Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer, he was a leader in the formation of the institutions that evolved into the European Union.
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