Egmont pact

Last updated March 29, 2019

The Egmont pact (Dutch : Egmontpact; French : Pacte d'Egmont; German : Egmont-Pakt) of 1977 is an agreement on the reform of Belgium into a federal state and on the relations between the linguistic communities in the country.^[1] The pact was not carried out due to the resignation of the government, but important elements of the pact were used in later Belgian state reforms.

Dutch(Nederlands ) is a West Germanic language spoken by around 23 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting the majority of people in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives English and German.

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) has largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French.

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

Content

The Egmont pact covered agreements on a number of various topics:

The establishment of autonomous councils and executives (a government) for the three communities in Belgium (which followed the establishment of the three Cultural Communities in 1970 - Flemish, French and German), next to the establishment of three Regions (Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia), also with autonomous councils and their own executives.
An agreement on the linguistic relations in Brussels and its periphery, with the inscription right in Brussels for French speakers from 14 Dutch-speaking municipalities around Brussels. This would give them language facilities and the right to vote in Brussels.
A reform of the country's institutions.

Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is Brussels, although the Brussels Capital Region has an independent regional government, and the government of Flanders only oversees the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels such as (Flemish) culture and education.

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region. Brussels is the most densely populated and the richest region in Belgium in terms of GDP per capita. It covers 161 km² (62 sq mi), a relatively small area compared to the two other regions, and has a population of 1.2 million. The metropolitan area of Brussels counts over 2.1 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium. It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven and Walloon Brabant, home to over 5 million people.

Wallonia is a region of Belgium. As the southern portion of the country, Wallonia is primarily French-speaking, and accounts for 55% of Belgium's territory and a third of its population. The Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium, which is the political entity responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education, because the French Community of Belgium encompasses both Wallonia and the majority French-Speaking Brussels-Capital Region. The German-speaking minority in eastern Wallonia results from WWI and the subsequent annexation of three cantons that were initially part of the former German empire. This community represents less than 1% of the Belgian population. It forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium, which has its own government and parliament for culture-related issues.

Failure

The agreement was not put into practice as there was an immediate protest from the Flemish side. Especially the points on Brussels, with the end of institutional equality between French and Dutch speakers, were unacceptable for a lot of Flemings.

Flemish Movement political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders

The Flemish Movement is the political movement for greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, for the overall protection of Flemish culture and history, and in some cases, for splitting from Belgium and forming an independent state.

The advice on the law that would have put the Egmont pact in practice was, on a number of points, heavily criticised by the Council of State. Resistance against the pact rose within the CVP, and more and more MPs demanded new negotiations. These were refused by the French-speaking parties. The CVP remained divided. On October 11, 1978, in an emotional speech, PM Leo Tindemans unexpectedly announced the resignation of his government.

Council of State, is the supreme administrative court of Belgium. Its functions include assisting the executive with legal advice and being the supreme court for administrative justice. Its members are high level jurists.

Consequences

The Egmont crisis had consequences for some Belgian parties. The radical right wing from the Volksunie separated itself, leading to the creation of the far right Vlaams Blok political party. One of the last unitary parties in Belgium, the socialist BSP-PSB, was split into a French-speaking and a Dutch-speaking party. The last remaining unitary party being until today the PVDA-PTB.

Vlaams Blok was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. From its creation in 1978, it was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement. Vlaams Blok's track record in the Flemish and Belgian parliament elections was strong. The election campaigns consisted mainly of the immigration and law-and-order theme, combined with the desire for Flemish autonomy.

Although the Egmont pact itself failed, it was an important exercise towards the federalisation of Belgium. Much of the Egmont pact have been carried out (see Communities, regions and provinces of Belgium ). Other points were realised much later on, such as the division of the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and to some extent the rights for French speakers in the Brussels Periphery.

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References

↑ State, Paul F. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Brussels. Scarecrow Press. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-8108-5075-3.

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Dutch-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 7 August 2006).

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[1] State, Paul F. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Brussels. Scarecrow Press. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-8108-5075-3.