Van Rompuy Government

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Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2007–11 Belgian political crisis

Timeline
  • 2007 elections
    Leterme I Government

    The Leterme I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 20 March 2008 to 22 December 2008. It took office when the Flemish Christian democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Belgian general election of 2007 and comprised five parties: the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH).

    The Van Rompuy Government was the federal government of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009. Herman Van Rompuy was nominated as the first President of the European Council and resigned shortly after as Premier. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister after the Leterme I Government fell on 22 December 2008.

    Leterme II Government Belgian federal government in 2009 and 2010

    The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Van Rompuy I Government which ended when Herman Van Rompuy became the first President of the European Council. It comprised five parties: the Dutch-speaking Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Dutch-speaking Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) and the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH).

  • 2010 elections

    Following the Belgian general election held on 13 June 2010, a process of cabinet formation started in Belgium. The election produced a very fragmented political landscape, with 11 parties elected to the Chamber of Representatives, none of which won more than 20% of the seats. The Flemish-Nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the largest party in Flanders and the country as a whole, controlled 27 of 150 seats in the lower chamber. The Francophone Socialist Party (PS), the largest in Wallonia, controlled 26 seats. Cabinet negotiations continued for a long time. On 1 June 2011, Belgium matched the record for time taken to form a new democratic government after an election, at 353 days, held until then by Cambodia in 2003–2004. On 11 October 2011, the final agreement for institutional reform was presented to the media. A government coalition was named on 5 December 2011 and sworn in after a total of 541 days of negotiations and formation on 6 December 2011, and 589 days without an elected government with Elio Di Rupo named Prime Minister of the Di Rupo I Government.

    Di Rupo Government federal government of Belgium (2011-2014)

    The Di Rupo Government was the federal cabinet of Belgium sworn in on 6 December 2011, after a record-breaking 541 days of negotiations following the June 2010 elections. The government included social democrats (sp.a/PS), Christian democrats (CD&V/cdH) and liberals, respectively of the Dutch and French language groups. The government notably excluded the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Flemish nationalist party which achieved a plurality and became the largest party. Its absence, together with the unwillingness of Open Vld to enter into an eight-party coalition that included the green parties, caused the government coalition to lack a majority in the Dutch language group. It was the first time that the Belgian prime minister had been openly gay, as Di Rupo became the world's first male openly gay head of government. Elio Di Rupo became the first native French-speaking prime minister since 1979 and the first prime minister from Wallonia since 1974 and first socialist prime minister since 1974.

    The sixth state reform in the federal kingdom of Belgium is the result after the 2010–2011 Belgian government formation, with 541 days of negotiations the longest ever in Belgium and possibly the world. The agreement was made among the Christian-democratic CD&V and cdH, social-democratic sp.a and PS, liberal Open Vld and MR and ecologist Groen! and Ecolo, each respectively a Flemish and French-speaking party. The first six parties, therefore not including the green parties, then formed the Di Rupo I Government. The Flemish nationalist party New Flemish Alliance, which became the largest after the 2010 elections, is notably not part of the agreement nor of the government coalition.

2007 Belgian federal election

The 2007 Belgian federal election took place on Sunday 10 June 2007. Voters went to the polls in order to elect new members for the Chamber of Representatives and Senate.

The 2007–2008 Belgian government formation followed the general election of 10 June 2007, and comprised a period of negotiation in which the Flemish parties Flemish Liberal Democratic, Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) and New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), and the French-speaking parties Reformist Movement (MR), Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) and Humanist Democratic Centre (CdH) negotiated to form a government coalition. The negotiations were characterized by the disagreement between the Dutch- and French-speaking parties about the need for and nature of a constitutional reform. According to some, this political conflict could have led to a partition of Belgium.

The Verhofstadt III government was an interim Belgian government inaugurated on December 21, 2007 and lasting until 23 March 2008. It was led by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt government and contained representatives from the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V), the Francophone Socialists (PS), the Francophone Liberals (MR) and Francophone Christian Democrats (CDH).

See also
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde former constituency in Belgium

The area within Belgium known as Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde encompasses the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the 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.

Partition of Belgium hypothetical split of the country into Wallonia and Flanders

The partition of Belgium is a hypothetical situation which has been discussed by both Belgian and international media envisioning a split of the country along linguistic divisions, with each of the Flemish Community (Flanders) and the French-speaking Community (Wallonia) either becoming independent states or, historically, joining the Netherlands and France, respectively. Both communities currently have a large degree of autonomy within the Belgian federation.

State reform in Belgium

State reform, in Belgium, context 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.

The Van Rompuy Government was the federal government of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until 15 November 2009. [1] Herman Van Rompuy was nominated as the first President of the European Council and resigned shortly after as Premier. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy (Christian Democratic and Flemish, CD&V) was sworn in as Prime Minister after the Leterme I Government fell on 22 December 2008.

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Herman Van Rompuy 49th Prime Minister of Belgium and 1st President of the European Council

Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy is a Belgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent President of the European Council from 2009 to 2014.

President of the European Council principal representative of the European Union on the world stage

The President of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council, as well as a principal representative of the European Union (EU) on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as the President of the European Commission, and provides political direction to the European Union (EU).

Contents

On 18 December 2008, Yves Leterme offered his government's resignation to King Albert after a scandal erupted surrounding the investigation of the sale of the failing Fortis bank to BNP Paribas. [2] Leterme, Jo Vandeurzen, and Didier Reynders were accused of violating the separation of powers by trying to influence the Court of Appeals and of exerting improper influence by the First Chairman of the Court of Cassation. [3] Three days later the resignation was accepted by the king.

Yves Leterme former Belgian prime minister

Yves Camille Désiré Leterme is a Belgian politician, a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He was the 48th Prime Minister of Belgium, from November 2009 to December 2011.

Albert II of Belgium Sixth king of the Belgians

Albert II reigned as King of the Belgians, from 1993 until his abdication in 2013.

BNP Paribas French bank and financial services company

BNP Paribas S.A. is a French international banking group. It is the world's 8th largest bank by total assets, and currently operates with a presence in 77 countries. It was formed through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas in 2000, but has a corporate identity stretching back to its first foundation in 1848 as a national bank. It is one of three major international French banks, along with Société Générale and Crédit Agricole. The group is listed on the first market of Euronext Paris and a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, while it also included in the French CAC 40 index.

To be official, the Van Rompuy I government needed a vote of confidence from the Chamber of Representatives. It received the vote of confidence on 2 January 2009. [4]

The government was succeeded on 24 November 2009 by the Leterme II Government.

Composition

The Van Rompuy I Government comprises 15 ministers and seven secretaries of state. Its initial composition is as follows: [5]

MinisterNameParty
Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy CD&V
Deputy Prime Minister - Finance and Institutional Reforms Didier Reynders MR
Deputy Prime Minister - Social Affairs and Public Health Laurette Onkelinx PS
Deputy Prime Minister - Budget Guy Vanhengel Open VLD
Deputy Prime Minister - Civil Service and Public Enterprise Steven Vanackere CD&V
Deputy Prime Minister - Employment and Equal Opportunities Joëlle Milquet CDH
Justice Stefaan De Clerck CD&V
Defence Pieter De Crem CD&V
Pensions and Large Cities Michel Daerden PS
Climate and Energy Paul Magnette PS
Development Cooperation Charles Michel MR
SMEs, the Self-employed, Agriculture and Science Policy Sabine Laruelle MR
Interior Annemie Turtelboom Open VLD
Enterprise and Simplification Vincent Van Quickenborne Open VLD
Foreign Affairs Yves Leterme CD&V
Secretary of StateNameParty
Mobility (Prime Minister) Etienne Schouppe CD&V
Coordination of the Fight against Fraud (Prime Minister) Carl Devlies CD&V
Finance (Finance) Bernard Clerfayt MR
Preparation of the European Presidency (Foreign Affairs) Olivier Chastel MR
Social Integration and the Fight against Poverty (Social Affairs and Public Health) Philippe Courard PS
Disabled Persons (Social Affairs and Public Health) Jean-Marc Delizée PS
Budget (Budget), Family Policy (Justice/Employment) and Asylum and Immigration (Prime Minister) Melchior Wathelet Jr. CDH

Government reshuffle

On 17 July 2009, as a consequence of the regional elections, the government was reshuffled:

See also

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The following lists events that happened during 2008 in the Kingdom of Belgium.

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Events in the year 2009 in Belgium.

References

  1. Leterme II heeft eed afgelegd De Morgen, 2009-11-25
  2. Belgium Prime Minister offers resignation over banking deal
  3. "Belgian PM's resignation accepted". BBC News. 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  4. La Chambre a confiance
  5. "Herman Van Rompuy named Prime Minister" (in Dutch). belgium.be. 2008-12-30. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2008-12-30.