Timeline
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
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. 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, 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, 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 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.
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).
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 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 reigned as King of the Belgians, from 1993 until his abdication in 2013.
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.
The Van Rompuy I Government comprises 15 ministers and seven secretaries of state. Its initial composition is as follows: [5]
Minister | Name | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
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 State | Name | Party | |
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 |
On 17 July 2009, as a consequence of the regional elections, the government was reshuffled:
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, commonly known as Open VLD or simply as the VLD, is a conservative-liberal Flemish political party in Belgium. The party was created in 1992 from the former Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV) and politicians from other parties. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 until March 2008. Open VLD most recently formed the Federal Government with N-VA, CD&V and the Francophone Reformist Movement (MR).
Christian Democratic and Flemish is a Christian-democratic Flemish political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism (ACV) and trade associations (UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party was named the Christian People's Party.
Patrick Yvonne Hugo Dewael, is a liberal Belgian politician. He is a member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats, or Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (VLD). He is the nephew of the late liberal minister Herman Vanderpoorten and the cousin of Marleen Vanderpoorten, who also served as Flemish minister of Education in the government led by Dewael. He obtained a degree in law and notariat from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Currently, he serves as the President of the Chamber of Representatives, a position he also held from 2008 to 2010.
The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, and the public administration divided into 13 policy areas, each with an executive department and multiple agencies.
The 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis was a period of tense communal relations and political instability in Belgium, which was rooted in the differing opinions on state reform, and in the continued existence of the controversial electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV). Parties from the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community are in general strongly in favour for a devolution of powers to the communities and regions, and the splitting of the unconstitutional BHV district, while French-speaking French Community of Belgium is generally in favour of retaining the status quo. After the 2010 elections, the topics of public debt, deficit cuts and socio-economic reform were added to the debate, with most Flemish parties in favour of finding money by strongly reducing spending, whilst the proposals supported by most French-speaking parties also included a significant raise in taxes. The crisis came to an end in December 2011 with the inauguration of a new federal government which agreed on partition of the BHV district and on policies aimed at tackling the economic downturn. The country's continuing linguistic divide played a large part in the crisis. Several times during the period Belgium was threatened to be split up amid rising Flemish separatism.
Steven Vanackere, is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reform in the Leterme II government. He is the son of Leo Vanackere, who, following a political career as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate of Belgium, became the Provincial Governor of West-Flanders in 1979. His grandfather, Remi Wallays, had also been a senator and had been a former Mayor of Wevelgem.
Elections for the Federal Parliament were held in Belgium on 13 June 2010, during the midst of the 2007-11 Belgian political crisis. After the fall of the previous Leterme II Government over the withdrawal of Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats from the government the King dissolved the legislature and called new elections. The New Flemish Alliance, led by Bart De Wever, emerged as the plurality party with 27 seats, just one more than the francophone Socialist Party, led by Elio Di Rupo, which was the largest party in the Wallonia region and Brussels. It took a world record 541 days until a government was formed, resulting in a government led by Di Rupo.
The Agriculture Minister of Belgium is the political minister office responsible for agriculture. In 2001, the Regions became mainly responsible for agriculture as part of the fifth state reform.
Annemie Turtelboom is a Belgian politician and a member of the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats.
The Verhofstadt II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 12 July 2003 to 21 December 2007.
Guido De Padt is a Belgian politician and Senator for the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats. Since December 2011, he also is the mayor of Geraardsbergen, an office he also held from 2001 until 2006.
The following lists events that happened during 2008 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
The Michel I Government was the Federal Government of Belgium formed following the 2014 Belgian government formation and sworn in on 11 October 2014. The administration is a centre-right coalition of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats and the Reformist Movement (MR). The prime minister is Charles Michel. The government had an agenda of socio-economic reforms, especially through austerity measures, with its priorities being improving Belgium's economic competitiveness and reducing unemployment. It fell in December 2018 over the Global Compact for Migration.
Events in the year 2009 in Belgium.