Government of the Brussels-Capital Region | |
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Gouvernement de la région de Bruxelles-Capitale Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Regering | |
Overview | |
Established | 12 July 1989 |
Country | Belgium |
Polity | Brussels-capital Region |
Leader | Minister-President |
Appointed by | Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region |
Headquarters | Hôtel de Grimbergen, City of Brussels |
Website | be.brussels |
Politics and government of Brussels |
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The government of the Brussels-Capital Region is the political administration of the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. [1] [2] An election is held every five years. The government is headed by a Minister-President (currently Rudi Vervoort), four ministers and three state secretaries.
Additionally, there is a Governor of the Brussels Capital Region, who is appointed by the cabinet and has the responsibility to enforce laws concerned with public order in the Brussels-Capital Region. The governor's powers are relatively limited.
The Brussels capital region is divided into 19 municipalities. Each municipality has its own government, responsible for the handling of local level duties, such as law enforcement and the upkeep of schools and roads within its borders. [3] Municipal administration is also conducted by a mayor, a council, and an executive. [3]
The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region is also known as the Brussels Regional Parliament. It is the main decision-making body for the Brussels-Capital Region. Constitutionally, the parliament is made up of 72 French-speaking members and 17 Dutch-speaking members.
The Brussels Parliament role mainly consists in controlling the government of the Brussels-Capital Region, approving the budget and creating and passing legislation in regional matters, known as ordinances, which are legally binding. One of its first tasks after the Parliament is renewed is appointing five ministers and three regional secretaries of state, who together form the cabinet of the Brussels-Capital Region.
The 89 members of the Brussels Parliament are divided into two language groups: 72 belong to the French-speaking group and 17 members belong to the Dutch-speaking group. The members of the French-speaking group also make up the Parlement francophone bruxellois (in English: French-speaking Brussels Parliament), which was formerly known as the Assembly of the French Community Commission, while the members of the Dutch-speaking group make up the Council of the Flemish Community Commission. The Parlement francophone bruxellois and the Council of the Flemish Community Commission together form the United Assembly of the Common Community Commission. The Community Commissions are to a certain extent responsible for Community competencies within the Brussels-Capital Region.
19 of the 72 French-speaking members of the Brussels Parliament are also members of the Parliament of the French Community of Belgium. People voting for a Flemish party have to vote separately for 6 directly-elected members of the Flemish Parliament.
Due to the multiple capacities of single members, there are members of the Brussels Parliament who are at the same member of the Parliament of the French Community of Belgium and of the Belgian Senate as "community senators" for the French Community. However, there are certain restrictions in place in order to prevent one person from combining too many mandates. For instance, it is impossible to be a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and of one of the Regional Parliaments at the same time.
The cabinet of the Brussels-Capital region comprises eight members, headed by a Minister-President. There are four ministers in the cabinet, two of which must be French-speaking and two Flemish. Of the three more junior Secretaries of State, at least one must be Flemish. The Minister-President is in practice always a francophone, so the cabinet of the Region has 5 French-speaking and 3 Dutch-speaking members.
Government of the Brussels-Capital Region - Vervoort III | |||
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Party | Name | Function | |
PS | Rudi Vervoort | Minister-President; Minister of Urban Renewal, Spatial Development, Safety & Prevention, Tourism, the image of Brussels and bicultural issues of regional importance, Student Affairs and Paying Passenger Transport | |
Groen | Elke Van den Brandt | Minister of Mobility, Public Works and Road Safety | |
Ecolo | Alain Maron | Minister of Environment & Climate, Social Integration, Health, Energy, Water, Cleanliness and the Port of Brussels | |
Open Vld | Sven Gatz | Minister of Finance, Budget, Civil Service, Promotion of Multilingualism, Tourism, Statistics, Urbanism, Heritage, the image of Brussels and bicultural issues of regional importance | |
DéFI | Bernard Clerfayt | Minister of Employment, Professional Education, Local Authorities, Digitization, Animal Welfare and Child Benefits | |
PS | Nawal Ben Hamou | Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities and Housing | |
one.brussels-sp.a | Pascal Smet | Secretary of State for Urbanism, European and International Affairs, Foreign Trade, Fire Fighting and Emergency Medical Assistance | |
Ecolo | Barbara Trachte | Secretary of State for Economic Transition and Research |
Government of the Brussels-Capital Region - Vervoort II | |||
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Party | Name | Function | |
PS | Rudi Vervoort | Minister-President; Minister of Local Authorities, Spatial Planning, Monuments and Landscapes, Student Affairs, Civil Service, Scientific Research and Public Proverty | |
Open Vld | Guy Vanhengel | Minister of Finance, Budget, Development Aid and Foreign Relations | |
DéFI | Didier Gosuin | Minister of Employment, Economy, Fire Department and Urgent Medical Care | |
sp.a | Pascal Smet | Minister of Public Works and Transport | |
CDH | Céline Fremault | Minister of Housing, Environment and Energy | |
PS | Fadila Laanan | Secretary of State for Collection and Processing of Waste, Scientific Research, Sports Infrastructure and Civil Service | |
DéFI | Cécile Jodogne | Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Fire Department and Urgent Medical Care | |
CD&V | Bianca Debaets | Secretary of State for Development Aid, Road Traffic Safety, IT and Digital Transition, Equal Opportunities and Animal Welfare |
Government of the Brussels-Capital Region - Vervoort I | |||
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Party | Name | Function | |
PS | Rudi Vervoort | Minister-President; Minister of Local Authorities, Spatial Planning, Monuments and Landscapes, Development Aid and Statistics | |
VLD | Guy Vanhengel | Minister of Finance, Budget and Foreign Relations | |
CD&V | Brigitte Grouwels | Minister of Public Works, Transport, the Port of Brussels, and IT | |
Ecolo | Evelyne Huytebroeck | Minister of Environment, Energy, Water Jurisdiction and City Rejuvenation | |
CDH | Céline Fremault | Minister of Employment, Economy, Foreign Trade and Scientific Research | |
Groen | Bruno De Lille | Secretary of State for Mobility, Equal Opportunities and the Civil Service | |
PS | Rachid Madrane | Secretary of State for Town Planning, Collection and Processing of Waste and Environmental Maintenance | |
Ecolo | Christos Doulkeridis | Secretary of State for Housing/Habitation, Fire Department and Urgent Medical Care |
Government of the Brussels-Capital Region - Picqué IV | |||
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Party | Name | Function | |
PS | Charles Picqué | Minister-President; Minister of Local Authorities, Spatial Planning, Monuments and Landscapes, Development Aid and Statistics | |
VLD | Guy Vanhengel | Minister of Finance, Budget and Foreign Relations | |
CD&V | Brigitte Grouwels | Minister of Public Works, Transport, the Port of Brussels, and IT | |
Ecolo | Evelyne Huytebroeck | Minister of Environment, Energy, Water Jurisdiction and City Rejuvenation | |
CDH | Benoit Cerexhe | Minister of Employment, Economy, Foreign Trade and Scientific Research | |
Groen | Bruno De Lille | Secretary of State for Mobility, Equal Opportunities and the Civil Service | |
PS | Emir Kir | Secretary of State for Public Sanitation and Monument Conservation | |
Ecolo | Christos Doulkeridis | Secretary of State for Housing/Habitation, Fire Department and Urgent Medical Care |
After the elections of 2004, the French-speaking parties PS, Ecolo and CDH formed a coalition with the Dutch-speaking parties Open VLD, CD&V en SP.A.
Cabinet of the Brussels-Capital Region - Picqué III | |||
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Party | Name | Function | |
PS | Charles Picqué | Minister-President; Minister of Local Power, Urban Planning, Monuments and Landscapes, Urban Renovation, Housing/Habitation, Public Cleansing, Foreign Trade and Development Aid | |
Open VLD | Guy Vanhengel | Minister of Finance, Budget, Foreign Relations and regional IT | |
cdH | Benoît Cerexhe | Minister of Employment, Economy, Scientific Research, Fire Department and Urgent Medical Care | |
Ecolo | Evelyne Huytebroeck | Minister of Environment, Energy et Water Jurisdiction | |
sp.a | Pascal Smet | Minister of Mobility and Public Works | |
PS | Françoise Dupuis | Secretary of State for Housing/Habitation and Urbanism | |
PS | Emir Kir | Secretary of State for Public Cleansing, Monuments and Landscapes | |
CD&V | Brigitte Grouwels | Secretary of State for Public Service and the Port of Brussels |
Minister-President | Time in office | Party |
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Charles Picqué (1st term) | 12 July 1989 – 22 June 1995 | PS |
Charles Picqué (2nd term) | 22 June 1995 – 15 July 1999 | PS |
Jacques Simonet (1st term) | 15 July 1999 – 18 October 2000 | PRL |
François-Xavier de Donnéa | 18 October 2000 – 6 June 2003 | PRL/MR |
Daniel Ducarme | 6 June 2003 – 18 February 2004 | MR |
Jacques Simonet (2nd term) | 18 February – 19 July 2004 | MR |
Charles Picqué (3rd term) | 19 July 2004 – 19 July 2009 | PS |
Charles Picqué (4th term) | 19 July 2009 – 7 May 2013 | PS |
Rudi Vervoort (1st term) | 7 May 2013 – 20 July 2014 | PS |
Rudi Vervoort (2nd term) | 20 July 2014 – 17 July 2019 | PS |
Rudi Vervoort (3rd term) | 17 July 2019 – present | PS |
The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state, and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government, in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The federation is made up of (language-based) communities and (territorial) regions. Philippe is the seventh and current King of the Belgians, having ascended the throne on 21 July 2013.
The minister-president of the Brussels Capital-Region is the person leading the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region. The post is appointed for 5 years along with 4 ministers and 3 "state" secretaries. While being the leader of the Government, the Minister-President also is the president of the college of the Common Community Commission of Brussels.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country; in other words, the types overlap.
The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province and nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.
The Parliament of Wallonia is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium. The parliament building, the former Hospice Saint-Gilles, is situated in Namur, the capital of Wallonia, at the symbolic confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre, the two main rivers of the most inhabited parts of Wallonia, the Sillon industriel. On the other side of the Meuse, facing the Parliament, is the Élysette, the seat of the Government of Wallonia.
The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. It is also known as the Brussels Regional Parliament.
In Belgium, the French Community refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which is controversial because its name in the Belgian constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement. The name "French Community" refers to Francophone Belgians, and not to French people residing in Belgium. As such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as "the French-speaking Community of Belgium" for clarity, in analogy to the German-speaking Community of Belgium.
The Flemish Region, usually simply referred to as Flanders, is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Covering the northern portion of the country, the Flemish Region is primarily Dutch-speaking. With an area of 13,522 km2 (5,221 sq mi), it accounts for only 45% of Belgium's territory, but 57% of its population. It is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe with around 490/km2 (1,300/sq mi).
The Commission communautaire française (COCOF) or the French Community Commission is the local representative of the French-speaking authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium.
Until 2014, the Governor of the Administrative Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital has the responsibility to enforce laws concerned with public order in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. The governor's powers are actually quite limited. Just as the Governors of the provinces of Belgium he heads the coordination of all necessary actions and all emergency services during the provincial phase of a disaster on the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region.
The Flemish Community is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilities only within the precise geographical boundaries of the Dutch-language area and of the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital. Unlike in the French Community of Belgium, the competences of the Flemish Community have been unified with those of the Flemish Region and are exercised by one directly elected Flemish Parliament based in Brussels.
Belgian nationalism, sometimes pejoratively referred to as Belgicism, is a nationalist ideology. In its modern form it favours the reversal of federalism and the creation of a unitary state in Belgium. The ideology advocates reduced or no autonomy for the Flemish Community who constitute Flanders, the French Community of Belgium and the German-speaking Community of Belgium who constitute Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region which is inhabited by both Walloons and Flemings, and the dissolution of the regional counterparts of each ethnic group within Belgium.
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde is a judicial arrondissement encompasses the bilingual—French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde. Halle-Vilvoorde contains several municipalities with language facilities, i.e. municipalities where French-speaking people form a considerable part of the population and therefore have special language rights. The arrondissment is the location of a tribunal of first instance, enterprise tribunal and a labour tribunal.
The partition of Belgium is a hypothetical situation, which has been discussed by both Belgian and international media, envisioning a split of Belgium along linguistic divisions, with the Flemish Community (Flanders) and the French-speaking Community (Wallonia) becoming independent states. Alternatively, it is hypothesized that Flanders could join the Netherlands and Wallonia could join France or Luxembourg.
State reform, in the context of Belgium, is the ongoing process of seeking and finding constitutional and legal solutions to the problems and tensions in the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly between the Dutch-speakers of Flanders and the French-speakers of Wallonia. In general, Belgium has evolved from a unitary state to a federal state with communities, regions, and language areas.
Water supply and sanitation in Belgium is provided by a large variety of organizations: Most of the 581 municipalities of Belgium have delegated the responsibility for water supply and sanitation to regional or inter-municipal utilities. There are more than 62 water supply utilities, including 2 regional, 30 inter-municipal and 30 municipal utilities. Another 100 mostly small municipalities provide services directly without having a legally of financially separate entity for water supply. Water is not scarce in Belgium and water supply is generally continuous and of good quality. However, wastewater treatment has long lagged behind and Brussels only achieved full treatment of its wastewater in 2007. In 2004 the European Court of Justice ruled condemning Belgium's failure to comply with the EU wastewater directive, and the ruling has not been fully complied with so far. Wallonia satisfies 55% of the national needs in drinking water while it counts only 37% of the population. Flanders and Brussels are dependent on drinking water from Wallonia, at a level of 40% and 98% respectively.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.
Regional elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014 to choose representatives for the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. These elections were held on the same day as the 2014 European elections as well as the 2014 Belgian federal election.
Article 3: Belgium comprises three Regions: the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Region. Article 4: Belgium comprises four linguistic regions: the Dutch-speaking region, the French speaking region, the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital and the German-speaking region.
Since 18 June 1989, the date of the first regional elections, the Brussels-Capital Region has been an autonomous region comparable to the Flemish and Walloon Regions.(All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.)