Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde
Encyclopedia
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (often abbreviated as BHV) is a Belgian
electoral and judicial arrondissement (the judicial arrondissement being unambiguously better known as the Brussels judicial Arrondissement, after the location of its main court
s) in the center of the country, encompassing:
All Belgian electoral arrondissements coincide with the Belgian provinces except for Flemish Brabant
, which is divided into this arrondissement, i.e., Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, and the Arrondissement of Leuven.
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde arrondissement has been the subject of a highly sensitive dispute within Belgium. The Flemish want to split it into two arrondissements (like the administrative ones), while the Francophones want to keep it as is or, at a minimum, split it with concessions.
The lists for the federal and European elections are composed of both Dutch and French-language parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Dutch or French-language parties), while the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde and bilingual Brussels. Consequently:
According to the Flemish, this constitutes a discrimination. In 2003, the Court of Arbitration (in the meantime renamed to the "Belgian Constitutional Court") judged that the BHV-district is unconstitutional.
in 1830, when the country was created as a unitary state
. At that time, French was the only language in politics, administration, justice, the army and all education except primary, to the disadvantage of Dutch speakers. Some Dutch speakers therefore decided to raise their children in French. Discrimination of the Dutch language started to lessen from the end of the 19th century onwards and came to a complete end in 1967, the year in which the Belgian Constitution got an official Dutch version.
Belgium, as a unitary state, consisted of nine provinces with several electoral arrondissements. One of these provinces was Brabant, which consisted of the arrondissements of BHV, Leuven and Nivelles. In the course of history, the administrative and political situation in Belgium has changed considerably and BHV has grown to become a major exception within the contemporary federal state
of Belgium.
The Belgian law of June 28, 1932, on "the use of languages for administrative matters" reinforced the 1921 law and based the language status of every Belgian municipality on the decennial linguistic census. The criterion to belong to the Flemish or Walloon language area was the attainment of a threshold of 50%; whereas, over 30% the municipal authorities had to offer services in the minority language as well. A municipality could ask the government to change its linguistic status by a royal decree only after a census would have shown a passage over the 30% or 50% threshold.
The 1932 law was implemented only once. As the invasion of Belgium by Germany in 1940 prevented the organization of the decennial census, the next (and last) linguistic census took place in 1947. The results suggested that the progression of French language had kept intensifying. These results were disputed by Flemish politicians who questioned the survey methodology. The percentage of Dutch-speakers had fallen under the 30% threshold in 9 municipalities while 12 and 9 municipalities had respectively passed over the threshold of 50% and 30% French-speakers. Only one municipality (Rekkem) had fallen under the threshold of 30% French-speakers. In order to mitigate their impact, the results of the 1947 census were not made public until 1954, after that an ad hoc law modifying the 1932 law was voted. Around Brussels, the three municipalities where French-speakers had passed the 50% threshold were transferred to the bilingual area of Brussels (Evere, Ganshoren and Berchem-Sainte-Agathe/Sint-Agatha-Berchem), and language facilities were granted to French-speakers in four of the five municipalities where the percentage of French-speakers had passed the 30% threshold (Drogenbos, Kraainem, Wemmel and Linkebeek).
There are no official figures to support claims, on the French-speaking side, that many more families shifted from Dutch to French after 1947. On the Flemish side, as the decennial linguistic census and the dynamic system were seen as a serious threat to their cultural territory, politicians started opposing them and Flemish mayors boycotted the 1960 census.
-Spaak
government; that the language border would be officially fixed and would not be changed. The linguistic census and dynamic system would be abolished and replaced with a static system, i.e. the linguistic status of every municipality would be fixed once and for all.
However, the process of deciding on the geographical position of such a static linguistic border led to bitter resentment, by both communities, including within political parties which had transcended language cleavages until then. Instead of reflecting the usual left/right divide, the laws which fixed the position of the linguistic border were voted (in 1962 and 1963) by the majority formed by Flemish members in Parliament against the minority formed by their French-speaking counterparts.
Through these laws voted in 1962 and 1963:
a) Bilingual Brussels was limited to the 19 municipalities it already encompassed since 1954.
b) In the Flemish Halle and Vilvoorde, out of the 7 municipalities where French-speakers had reached between 27% and 48% at the census of 1947, 4 kept the extended linguistic and political facilities they had been granted in 1954 and 2 more were granted the same (Wezembeek-Oppem and Sint-Genesius-Rode/Rhode-Saint-Genèse). (Arguing that since 1947 many more people had shifted from Dutch to French, French-speaking Members of Parliament demanded that those six municipalities be detached from the Dutch-speaking area and added to bilingual Brussels, which was fiercely resisted by their Flemish counterparts.)
The same arrangement was made for a number of municipalities on new the border between the Dutch- and French-speaking areas, where local linguistic minorities could enjoy identical facilities: e.g. Flobecq and Enghien in the French-speaking area(where the Dutch-speaking minorities had reached respectively 7.2% and 12.1% in 1947 ); and Voeren/Fourons in the Dutch-speaking area (where the French-speaking population had reached 56.9% in 1947 ).
In 1964, the Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF), a party advocating the extension of Brussels, was founded. By 1970 all Belgian political parties had split into Dutch-speaking and French-speaking parties. The position of the linguistic border was endorsed in the 1970 State Reform (requiring 2/3 majority) and, in return for contributing to this endorsement, the French-speaking minority was granted new measures which included the requirement of a special majority (2/3 majority in total and at least 50% in each linguistic group) to pass such laws as those of 1962 and 1963 in future; and (article 54) the possibility for any linguistic group to block a Bill and open negotiations when it considers that such Bill seriously jeopardizes its interests.
According to the French-speaking parties the compromise also included an agreement that in the future the existing voting and judicial opportunities for the large French-speaking minority around Brussels would be maintained and that the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral and judicial arrondissement would remain unimpaired. The Flemish parties deny this, saying that this was never the intention. Importantly, these opportunities are not enshrined in the Constitution, but in law, and can be amended by a simple majority.
Consequently, Bills intended at splitting the BHV arrondissement have been put forward several times and countered as many times by the French-speaking minority on grounds of the article 54 of the Belgian Constitution.
Later on, in 1980, the Cultural Communities became known as Communities. Also two regions were established: the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region. Although the creation of a Brussels Region was provided for in 1970, the Brussels-Capital Region was not established until a later reform.
The province of Brabant
had been one of the nine provinces of Belgium. But due to the arrangement of the linguistic border, which passes through this province, the province was abolished after several reforms:
In 1989 Brussels-Capital Region was created, but the region was still part of the province of Brabant.
With the reform in 1993 making Belgium into a federal state, Brabant became part of all three regions: the Brussels, Flemish and Walloon Region.
Until 1995, the province of Brabant contained the following electoral arrondissements:
In 1995, this province was split into:
However, the arrondissements stayed the same.
. It judged that, among other things, the definition of the electoral arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde for national and European elections
is a violation of the non-discrimination principle between Belgians, taken in combination with articles 1 through 5 of the Constitution (especially article 4, defining the language areas).
However, it left open the precise nature of any solution, and thus did not demand the splitting of the electoral district, but neither did it allow it to be kept as it is now.
Nevertheless, the Court declared the results of the then-complete 2003 elections (held under the law declared unconstitutional) to be valid, to avoid having to redo the elections.
The court however did not rule on all aspects of constitutionality. Among other things, it did not rule on the fact that some French-speakers now enjoy de facto
rights that Flemish do not. This applies mainly to the fact that a French-speaker from Brussels who moves into a commune in the Flemish Region can still continue to vote for his French-speaking Brussels candidates, whereas a Fleming
who moves into the (equally) monolingual Walloon Region
cannot vote any longer for his Flemish candidates of choice from the two regions where Dutch is an official language (Flemish Region
and Brussels Region).
A discrimination is that French-speaking candidates from Brussels can compete for votes in a part of Flanders without being subject to the entire valid legislation (only to the Belgian laws, but not to the Flemish laws applicable in Flemish region), whereas Flemish candidates in the Walloon Region always have to obey both Belgian and regional/community legislation.
Following the ruling of the Constitutional Court, after having remained unsolved after decades, the BHV issue was suddenly a hot topic.
With the elections for the Flemish Parliament in 2004
, all Flemish parties added to their programs the demand to split BHV. In the Flemish coalition agreement of 2004, the issue was included as "to be realised immediately", signed by the three large Flemish parties Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) and Different Socialist Party (SP.A), in addition to the Flemish-nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (the at that time CD&V cartel partner) and the left-liberal Spirit
(the at that time SP.A cartel partner). Although the Flemish government or the Flemish parliament have no legal power concerning the case, the issue was seen as a commitment of the then governing parties at a federal level, VLD and SP.A, to settle the case in the federal government.
and of the European Parliament
Elections of the Chamber
Voters can choose between candidates from both Flemish and Walloon parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Flemish or Walloon parties), although the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde (belonging to the Flemish Community
) and bilingual Brussels (belonging to both communities), and consequently French-speakers living in monolingual Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde can vote for French-language parties, whereas Dutch-speakers living in monolingual French-speaking Walloon Brabant
(equal to the former electoral arrondissement of Nivelles) cannot vote for Dutch-language parties.
This is discrimination according to the Flemish. The Flemish want to split BHV, while French-speakers are opposed to such a split unless parts of the compromise reached in 1970 on the static system (see above) are revised at the same time. From the francophone point of view, the maintenance of the BHV district was a part of the 1970 compromise. Flemish demands for the area to be split are met with demands by the Francophone community for the six special-facility communes
to be officially added to Brussels proper. This Francophone demand would create a previously non-existent "corridor" between the French-speaking region of Wallonia and majority French-speaking Brussels, much to the dismay of Flemish politicians.
Belgians who live abroad may choose in which electoral arrondissement they are registered.
, adds to this issue.
Halle-Vilvoorde
Brussels (names are written in respectively French and Dutch)
, argue that there is no way out, other than splitting BHV, that will respect the entire Belgian constitution.
On the political level, Flemings argue that French-speakers who choose to live in Flanders should respect the Flemish institutions, legislation and official language (Dutch) and should stop requesting an exceptional status (of not having to respect the Flemish institutions that are constitutionally established and internationally recognized). French-speakers are asked to respect the division of Belgium in four linguistic areas, a division that was democratically approved, with support of a majority of French-speaking members in the Belgian parliament.
Flemings say that they want the same level of respect for their institutions as is the case everywhere else in the European Union
. Moreover, they say that splitting BHV is necessary in order to moderate the opposition and intolerance of those French-speakers towards the local and historic Flemish population and their political institutions.
.
This would then give them a kind of an 'extraterritorial' voting right.
This point of view differs sharply from many French-speaking businessman and academics. 'Beci', a Brussels based employers organisation with 90% membership of French-speaking businessmen, explicitly states it favours respect for all the existing institutions, including the boundaries between the language areas. Similarly, a growing number of French-speaking intellectuals and academics state that French-speakers living in the Flemish region
should stop behaving as if they are not in Flanders, and thus vote for the Flemish electoral college.
Philippe Van Parijs
, a leading French-speaking philosopher and economist from the UCL
also defends strict 'territoriality' and for ending both the linguistic facilities, and the 'extraterritorial' voting rights for French-speakers living in the Flemish Region
. In an interview in De Standaard
and Le Soir
on 23 August 2007, he defended this.
There are binding rulings (as early as from 1968) from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg — an institution with direct authority in all EU states — that confirm that the recognition of specific minority rights for the French-speakers is to be limited to a very few number of municipalities and to a limited set of public services.
Regular supra-national recommendations from the Council of Europe
— a body without direct authority and therefore a lesser status in the legal order in Belgium — expressed concerns in 2002 that the minority of French speakers in Flanders should be recognized and protected as an official linguistic minority, as defined by advise of the Venice Commission
. However, other reports from this institution provide arguments to the contrary (e.g. the fact that the francophones in Flanders cannot be regarded as looking back on long-standing and peaceful relations with the Flemish authorities). Also, they cannot be regarded as being "sufficient in numbers" within the Council's definition so as to constitute a linguistic minority within Flanders.
Flemish authorities have stated that the recommendations from the Council of Europe are invalid, as they didn't take into account the Belgian constitution, nor the European jurisprudence that confirms a very limited definition of the 'language facilities'. As such, the Council of Europe and especially its 'rapporteurs', appear to be neglecting the special character of Belgium. It should also be noted that, the French language minority around Brussels is of quite recent origin (see Frenchification of Brussels
). There is no 'historic French-speaking minority' in these areas.
and parties had been locked in debate over the future of this electoral district, and long overdue decisions had not been reached.
Compromise solutions have been proposed:
A deadline of May 11, 2005, by which time a decision was to be reached, has expired with a compromise eluding the negotiators. A compromise worked out by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
was explicitly opposed by only one coalition partner, namely the Flemish party Spirit
. It is believed that this compromise would have entitled the French Community with the right to exercise certain, limited powers over inhabitants of the Flemish Community, in return for the splitting of BHV.
After visiting King Albert II
to report the failure of the seven negotiation meetings to reach a successful conclusion, the Prime Minister requested a vote of confidence from the parliament. The Parliament supported the government on Friday 13th
May 2005 and the issue was put on hold until the next general election
in 2007.
looming, the problem of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde reemerged. Because the federal government failed to comply with a ruling of the Court of Arbitration that declared the provincial electoral districts compared to the two remaining arrondisemental ones in the former province of Brabant unconstitutional, several mayors in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde area have threatened to refuse to compile the lists of electors.
Professor and constitutional expert Paul Van Orshoven from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
declared that the elections, held on June 10, were unconstitutional. According to Van Orshoven there are two problems:
As in 2003, several mayors and groupings have called for a boycott of the elections. 24 communes have refused to cooperate in the organization of the elections. In May 2007, the commune Steenokkerzeel
launched a court case against the federal government for not complying with the ruling of the Court of Arbitration. The case should have started on May 25, 2007, but the case was mistakenly scheduled in a one-judge court room rather than a three-judge court room and is therefore delayed.
. On 7 November 2007, the Flemish-speaking parties voted at the Committee on the Interior of the Chamber of Representatives
for the disentanglement, while the French-speaking parties refused to vote and left the room. This situation has never previously occurred in Belgian history
. All representatives of the Flemish parties voted in favor of the split of the BHV electoral district, with the exception of Tinne van der Straeten, of Groen!, the Flemish green party, who abstained.
This situation shows that the Belgian debate goes far beyond legal quarrels about BHV; as the power of Walloon institutions decrease (and this since its industrial breakdown in the late 1960s), and as the Flemish government clearly consolidates its ideological orientation toward a situation of cultural domination - supported by demographic and financial matters. Every step in the Belgian debate can be interpreted symbolically as a fight between two cultures that will maybe never show mutual respect until they can be somehow protected from each other's domination.
On Sunday 23 December the interim Government officially came into office when it was acknowledged by the lower house of Parliament with 97 votes in favour. The transitional period came to an end on March 20, 2008, when Yves Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Leterme I Government
. Negotiations continued, but again no solution was reached and Leterme offered the King his resignation on 15 July 2008, but the King refused.
has stated that future federal elections (i.e. after 2007) would be deemed "unconstitutional" if a legal arrangement for Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde hadn't been put in place by then.
According to Article 65 of the Belgian Constitution
, the Federal Parliament
ends its term after four years, automatically leading to new federal elections within 40 days. This means the next federal elections were scheduled for 2011.
In April 2010, the Flemish liberal VLD withdrew themselves from the government because no solution was found for the problem of BHV at the agreed upon date, therefore causing the collapse of the Leterme II Government
. Consequently, new elections had to be set up, resulting in the general elections of June 2010
.
For these elections, several mayors in Halle-Vilvoorde started a legal procedure because BHV was still not solved, and they refused to organise the elections in their municipalities, as with the previous two federal elections. The province of Flemish Brabant organised the elections instead.
After these general elections, the next government will have to find a solution for BHV. N-VA, the winner and now largest party of Flanders and Belgium, want to split BHV without concessions for French speakers. During the 2010 Belgian government formation
, a solution for BHV has been part of a larger agreement. Mid-September 2011 a tentative agreement was reached to partially split the district.
Impact on seats per language group:
According to Glenn Audenaert, the head of the federal police, splitting BHV could have negative effects for the safety in the area, since criminals based in Brussels (a mostly French-speaking city) often act in the Dutch-speaking area around it, would have to be judged in Dutch-speaking courts.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
electoral and judicial arrondissement (the judicial arrondissement being unambiguously better known as the Brussels judicial Arrondissement, after the location of its main court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s) in the center of the country, encompassing:
- the officially bilingual (FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Brussels-Capital - the officially monolingual Dutch-speaking area around it, Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the administrative Halle-Vilvoorde administrative ArrondissementHalle-Vilvoorde administrative ArrondissementThe Halle-Vilvoorde Arrondissement is one of the two administrative arrondissements in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It almost completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region and lies to the west of the other arrondissement in the province, the Leuven Arrondissement...
. This area contains several municipalities with language facilities, i.e. municipalities where French-speaking people form a considerable part of the population and therefore have extra rights.
All Belgian electoral arrondissements coincide with the Belgian provinces except for Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...
, which is divided into this arrondissement, i.e., Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, and the Arrondissement of Leuven.
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde arrondissement has been the subject of a highly sensitive dispute within Belgium. The Flemish want to split it into two arrondissements (like the administrative ones), while the Francophones want to keep it as is or, at a minimum, split it with concessions.
The lists for the federal and European elections are composed of both Dutch and French-language parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Dutch or French-language parties), while the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde and bilingual Brussels. Consequently:
- French-speakers living in monolingual Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde can vote for French-language parties; whereas
- Dutch-speakers living in monolingual French-speaking Walloon BrabantWalloon BrabantWalloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
cannot vote for Dutch-language parties.
According to the Flemish, this constitutes a discrimination. In 2003, the Court of Arbitration (in the meantime renamed to the "Belgian Constitutional Court") judged that the BHV-district is unconstitutional.
Background history
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde judicial and electoral arrondissement has existed since the Belgian RevolutionBelgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
in 1830, when the country was created as a unitary state
Unitary state
A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate...
. At that time, French was the only language in politics, administration, justice, the army and all education except primary, to the disadvantage of Dutch speakers. Some Dutch speakers therefore decided to raise their children in French. Discrimination of the Dutch language started to lessen from the end of the 19th century onwards and came to a complete end in 1967, the year in which the Belgian Constitution got an official Dutch version.
Belgium, as a unitary state, consisted of nine provinces with several electoral arrondissements. One of these provinces was Brabant, which consisted of the arrondissements of BHV, Leuven and Nivelles. In the course of history, the administrative and political situation in Belgium has changed considerably and BHV has grown to become a major exception within the contemporary federal state
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
of Belgium.
1920s–1960s
Dynamic system
In 1921 Belgium was divided into two monolingual entities (French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders). Both languages could be used in Brussels (16 municipalities at that time). A special status was established wherever a large minority used the other language along the linguistic border.The Belgian law of June 28, 1932, on "the use of languages for administrative matters" reinforced the 1921 law and based the language status of every Belgian municipality on the decennial linguistic census. The criterion to belong to the Flemish or Walloon language area was the attainment of a threshold of 50%; whereas, over 30% the municipal authorities had to offer services in the minority language as well. A municipality could ask the government to change its linguistic status by a royal decree only after a census would have shown a passage over the 30% or 50% threshold.
The 1932 law was implemented only once. As the invasion of Belgium by Germany in 1940 prevented the organization of the decennial census, the next (and last) linguistic census took place in 1947. The results suggested that the progression of French language had kept intensifying. These results were disputed by Flemish politicians who questioned the survey methodology. The percentage of Dutch-speakers had fallen under the 30% threshold in 9 municipalities while 12 and 9 municipalities had respectively passed over the threshold of 50% and 30% French-speakers. Only one municipality (Rekkem) had fallen under the threshold of 30% French-speakers. In order to mitigate their impact, the results of the 1947 census were not made public until 1954, after that an ad hoc law modifying the 1932 law was voted. Around Brussels, the three municipalities where French-speakers had passed the 50% threshold were transferred to the bilingual area of Brussels (Evere, Ganshoren and Berchem-Sainte-Agathe/Sint-Agatha-Berchem), and language facilities were granted to French-speakers in four of the five municipalities where the percentage of French-speakers had passed the 30% threshold (Drogenbos, Kraainem, Wemmel and Linkebeek).
There are no official figures to support claims, on the French-speaking side, that many more families shifted from Dutch to French after 1947. On the Flemish side, as the decennial linguistic census and the dynamic system were seen as a serious threat to their cultural territory, politicians started opposing them and Flemish mayors boycotted the 1960 census.
Static system
In order to offset Flemish fears of uninterrupted progression of the French language into the Dutch-speaking area, a deal was struck in 1961–1962, during the LefèvreThéo Lefèvre
Théodore Joseph Albéric Marie "Théo" Lefèvre was a lawyer at the Ghent court of justice. In 1946 he became deputy of the Belgian parliament for the PSC-CVP. Between 25 April 1961 and 28 July 1965 he was the 39th Prime Minister of Belgium.-External links:*...
-Spaak
Paul-Henri Spaak
Paul Henri Charles Spaak was a Belgian Socialist politician and statesman.-Early life:Paul-Henri Spaak was born on 25 January 1899 in Schaerbeek, Belgium, to a distinguished Belgian family. His grandfather, Paul Janson was an important member of the Liberal Party...
government; that the language border would be officially fixed and would not be changed. The linguistic census and dynamic system would be abolished and replaced with a static system, i.e. the linguistic status of every municipality would be fixed once and for all.
However, the process of deciding on the geographical position of such a static linguistic border led to bitter resentment, by both communities, including within political parties which had transcended language cleavages until then. Instead of reflecting the usual left/right divide, the laws which fixed the position of the linguistic border were voted (in 1962 and 1963) by the majority formed by Flemish members in Parliament against the minority formed by their French-speaking counterparts.
Through these laws voted in 1962 and 1963:
a) Bilingual Brussels was limited to the 19 municipalities it already encompassed since 1954.
b) In the Flemish Halle and Vilvoorde, out of the 7 municipalities where French-speakers had reached between 27% and 48% at the census of 1947, 4 kept the extended linguistic and political facilities they had been granted in 1954 and 2 more were granted the same (Wezembeek-Oppem and Sint-Genesius-Rode/Rhode-Saint-Genèse). (Arguing that since 1947 many more people had shifted from Dutch to French, French-speaking Members of Parliament demanded that those six municipalities be detached from the Dutch-speaking area and added to bilingual Brussels, which was fiercely resisted by their Flemish counterparts.)
The same arrangement was made for a number of municipalities on new the border between the Dutch- and French-speaking areas, where local linguistic minorities could enjoy identical facilities: e.g. Flobecq and Enghien in the French-speaking area(where the Dutch-speaking minorities had reached respectively 7.2% and 12.1% in 1947 ); and Voeren/Fourons in the Dutch-speaking area (where the French-speaking population had reached 56.9% in 1947 ).
In 1964, the Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF), a party advocating the extension of Brussels, was founded. By 1970 all Belgian political parties had split into Dutch-speaking and French-speaking parties. The position of the linguistic border was endorsed in the 1970 State Reform (requiring 2/3 majority) and, in return for contributing to this endorsement, the French-speaking minority was granted new measures which included the requirement of a special majority (2/3 majority in total and at least 50% in each linguistic group) to pass such laws as those of 1962 and 1963 in future; and (article 54) the possibility for any linguistic group to block a Bill and open negotiations when it considers that such Bill seriously jeopardizes its interests.
According to the French-speaking parties the compromise also included an agreement that in the future the existing voting and judicial opportunities for the large French-speaking minority around Brussels would be maintained and that the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral and judicial arrondissement would remain unimpaired. The Flemish parties deny this, saying that this was never the intention. Importantly, these opportunities are not enshrined in the Constitution, but in law, and can be amended by a simple majority.
Consequently, Bills intended at splitting the BHV arrondissement have been put forward several times and countered as many times by the French-speaking minority on grounds of the article 54 of the Belgian Constitution.
1970s–1990s
The 1970 State reform also created the Dutch, French and German Cultural Communities and laid the foundations for the establishment of three Regions.Later on, in 1980, the Cultural Communities became known as Communities. Also two regions were established: the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region. Although the creation of a Brussels Region was provided for in 1970, the Brussels-Capital Region was not established until a later reform.
Province of Brabant
Brabant was a province of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815 until 1830 and a province of Belgium from 1830 until 1995, when it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.-United Kingdom of the...
had been one of the nine provinces of Belgium. But due to the arrangement of the linguistic border, which passes through this province, the province was abolished after several reforms:
In 1989 Brussels-Capital Region was created, but the region was still part of the province of Brabant.
With the reform in 1993 making Belgium into a federal state, Brabant became part of all three regions: the Brussels, Flemish and Walloon Region.
Until 1995, the province of Brabant contained the following electoral arrondissements:
- the Dutch-speaking electoral arrondissement of Leuven (coinciding with the administrative arrondissement of Leuven)
- the French-speaking electoral arrondissement of Nivelles (coinciding with the administrative arrondissement of NivellesArrondissement of NivellesThe Arrondissement of Nivelles is the only administrative arrondissement in the Belgian Province of Walloon Brabant, and thus comprises the whole province.It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement...
) - the electoral arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (coinciding with both the administrative arrondissement Brussels-CapitalArrondissement of Brussels-CapitalThe Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium. Because it is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Region, its territory coincides with that of the latter....
and Halle-Vilvoorde).
In 1995, this province was split into:
- the province of Flemish BrabantFlemish BrabantFlemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...
- the province of Walloon BrabantWalloon BrabantWalloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
(which coincides to the arrondissement of Nivelles) - Brussels-Capital Region, an own bilingual region (the other two regions being the unilingual Flanders and Wallonia)
However, the arrondissements stayed the same.
New electoral districts
For the elections in 2003, new electoral districts were created based on the provinces instead of arrondissements, because the electoral areas were too small. With regards to Brussels and the arrondissements of the province of Flemish Brabant the old arrondissements (Leuven and BHV) were retained (Walloon Brabant has only one arrondissement, so this is in fact also retained), since the French-speakers are against splitting BHV.BHV is declared unconstitutional
In 2003, one week after the election, the Arbitration Court — now the Constitutional Court — declared the new election law unconstitutionalConstitution of Belgium
The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica. The Constitution established Belgium as a centralised unitary state...
. It judged that, among other things, the definition of the electoral arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde for national and European elections
Elections in the European Union
Elections to the Parliament of the European Union take place every five years by universal adult suffrage. 736 MEPs are elected to the European Parliament which has been directly elected since 1979. No other body is directly elected although the Council of the European Union and European Council is...
is a violation of the non-discrimination principle between Belgians, taken in combination with articles 1 through 5 of the Constitution (especially article 4, defining the language areas).
However, it left open the precise nature of any solution, and thus did not demand the splitting of the electoral district, but neither did it allow it to be kept as it is now.
Nevertheless, the Court declared the results of the then-complete 2003 elections (held under the law declared unconstitutional) to be valid, to avoid having to redo the elections.
The court however did not rule on all aspects of constitutionality. Among other things, it did not rule on the fact that some French-speakers now enjoy de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
rights that Flemish do not. This applies mainly to the fact that a French-speaker from Brussels who moves into a commune in the Flemish Region can still continue to vote for his French-speaking Brussels candidates, whereas a Fleming
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
who moves into the (equally) monolingual Walloon Region
Walloon Region
The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three federal Regions of Belgium, and its capital is Namur. It comprises, as defined by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium, the provinces of Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur...
cannot vote any longer for his Flemish candidates of choice from the two regions where Dutch is an official language (Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
and Brussels Region).
A discrimination is that French-speaking candidates from Brussels can compete for votes in a part of Flanders without being subject to the entire valid legislation (only to the Belgian laws, but not to the Flemish laws applicable in Flemish region), whereas Flemish candidates in the Walloon Region always have to obey both Belgian and regional/community legislation.
Following the ruling of the Constitutional Court, after having remained unsolved after decades, the BHV issue was suddenly a hot topic.
With the elections for the Flemish Parliament in 2004
Belgian regional elections, 2004
On June 13, 2004, regional elections were held in Belgium, to choose representatives in the regional councils of the Flemish Parliament, the Walloon Parliament, the Brussels Parliament and the German-speaking Community of Belgium...
, all Flemish parties added to their programs the demand to split BHV. In the Flemish coalition agreement of 2004, the issue was included as "to be realised immediately", signed by the three large Flemish parties Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) and Different Socialist Party (SP.A), in addition to the Flemish-nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (the at that time CD&V cartel partner) and the left-liberal Spirit
Spirit (Belgium)
' was a Belgian Flemish political party formed after dissolution of the moderate nationalist People's Union party. Prior to 19 April 2008 it was known as Spirit, and intermediately as Flemish Progressives...
(the at that time SP.A cartel partner). Although the Flemish government or the Flemish parliament have no legal power concerning the case, the issue was seen as a commitment of the then governing parties at a federal level, VLD and SP.A, to settle the case in the federal government.
Electoral arrondissement
Elections of the SenateBelgian Senate
The Belgian Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament.-History and future:...
and of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
- Electors can choose between the lists competing for seats in the Dutch-speaking electoral collegeDutch-speaking electoral collegeThe Dutch-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It currently elects 14 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
and for those running for seats in the French-speaking electoral collegeFrench-speaking electoral collegeThe French-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It currently elects 9 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
, whereas in other electoral arrondissements, electors can vote only on the list of the language area in which they live.
Elections of the Chamber
- Because the former arrondissements still exist in Brabant (see the previous section(s) for more information) there is a special arrangement for the provinces of Flemish and Walloon Brabant: for the allocation of seats between the party lists on the level of the former province of Brabant, lists can be combined between Leuven and Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (Dutch-speaking parties do this) or between Nivelles and Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (French-speaking parties do this). This practice is known in French as apparentement and in Dutch as apparentering.
Voters can choose between candidates from both Flemish and Walloon parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Flemish or Walloon parties), although the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde (belonging to the Flemish Community
Flemish Community
The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:...
) and bilingual Brussels (belonging to both communities), and consequently French-speakers living in monolingual Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde can vote for French-language parties, whereas Dutch-speakers living in monolingual French-speaking Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
(equal to the former electoral arrondissement of Nivelles) cannot vote for Dutch-language parties.
This is discrimination according to the Flemish. The Flemish want to split BHV, while French-speakers are opposed to such a split unless parts of the compromise reached in 1970 on the static system (see above) are revised at the same time. From the francophone point of view, the maintenance of the BHV district was a part of the 1970 compromise. Flemish demands for the area to be split are met with demands by the Francophone community for the six special-facility communes
Municipalities with linguistic facilities
The municipalities with language facilities, occasionally called municipalities with linguistic facilities or shortly municipalities with facilities , are municipalities in Belgium with legal provisions to protect rights of their linguistic minorities...
to be officially added to Brussels proper. This Francophone demand would create a previously non-existent "corridor" between the French-speaking region of Wallonia and majority French-speaking Brussels, much to the dismay of Flemish politicians.
Belgians who live abroad may choose in which electoral arrondissement they are registered.
- The majority of the French-speakers abroad do so in BHV, according to N-VA. Whatever the case may be, for the elections of 2007 the governor of the province of Flemish Brabant (instructed by the Flemish Minister of Administrative Affairs) stroke out from the lists of registered voters in BHV, all expatriates who had filled their voter’s registration form in French, including those who had registered in Municipalities with language facilities (where communication with the local and federal administration is normally allowed in either language). Likewise, for the elections of 2010, Belgian expatriates who had filled their voter’s registration form in French were stricken out from the lists, including in the municipality with language facilities of Sint-Genesius-Rode / Rhode-Saint-Genèse.
Judicial arrondissement
Since this is one judicial arrondissement, a legal case can be handled by both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking judges. This causes a problem comparable with the electoral situation: Brussels is bilingual, and Halle-Vilvoorde is monolingual Dutch, so it is possible that a French judge is appointed a legal case from the Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde region, which is unfair from a Flemish point of view. The fact that Brussels has a more extensive court network, for example the Law Courts of BrusselsLaw Courts of Brussels
The Law Courts of Brussels or Brussels Palace of Justice is the most important Court building in Belgium, and is a notable landmark of Brussels. It was built between 1866 and 1883 in the eclectic style by architect Joseph Poelaert...
, adds to this issue.
Municipalities
The arrondissement consists of the following municipalities (in total accounting for around 1,595,000 inhabitants on 1 January 2006):Halle-Vilvoorde
Brussels (names are written in respectively French and Dutch)
Flemish point of view
Many legal experts in Flanders, such as prof. Paul Van Orshoven and Matthias StormeMatthias Storme
Matthias Edward Storme is a Belgian lawyer, academic and conservative philosopher.- Family life :Storme was born and raised in a Catholic family in the Belgian city of Ghent. His father Marcel Storme Matthias Edward Storme (born Ghent, 1959) is a Belgian lawyer, academic and conservative...
, argue that there is no way out, other than splitting BHV, that will respect the entire Belgian constitution.
On the political level, Flemings argue that French-speakers who choose to live in Flanders should respect the Flemish institutions, legislation and official language (Dutch) and should stop requesting an exceptional status (of not having to respect the Flemish institutions that are constitutionally established and internationally recognized). French-speakers are asked to respect the division of Belgium in four linguistic areas, a division that was democratically approved, with support of a majority of French-speaking members in the Belgian parliament.
Flemings say that they want the same level of respect for their institutions as is the case everywhere else in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Moreover, they say that splitting BHV is necessary in order to moderate the opposition and intolerance of those French-speakers towards the local and historic Flemish population and their political institutions.
Francophone point of view
Just as unanimously, at least among the political parties, most French-speaking politicians claim that those French-speakers who live in the Flemish Region should have the right to be treated as a linguistic minority that falls under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National MinoritiesFramework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed on February 1995 by 22 member States of the Council of Europe ....
.
This would then give them a kind of an 'extraterritorial' voting right.
This point of view differs sharply from many French-speaking businessman and academics. 'Beci', a Brussels based employers organisation with 90% membership of French-speaking businessmen, explicitly states it favours respect for all the existing institutions, including the boundaries between the language areas. Similarly, a growing number of French-speaking intellectuals and academics state that French-speakers living in the Flemish region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
should stop behaving as if they are not in Flanders, and thus vote for the Flemish electoral college.
Philippe Van Parijs
Philippe Van Parijs
Philippe Van Parijs is a Belgian philosopher and political economist, mainly known as a proponent and main defender of the basic income concept.-Education:...
, a leading French-speaking philosopher and economist from the UCL
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...
also defends strict 'territoriality' and for ending both the linguistic facilities, and the 'extraterritorial' voting rights for French-speakers living in the Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
. In an interview in De Standaard
De Standaard
De Standaard is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Corelio . Circulation was about 102.280 in 2007. It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Flemish daily De Morgen...
and Le Soir
Le Soir
Le Soir is a Berliner Format Belgian newspaper. Le Soir was founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel. It is the most popular Francophone newspaper in Belgium, and considered a newspaper of record.-Editorial stance:...
on 23 August 2007, he defended this.
Legal and political considerations
There is a lack of consensus amongst national legal authorities about this subject, as they too seem divided between French and Dutch speakers. The French-speaking Community and the Flemish Community have a different interpretation of the language facilities enjoyed by the French-speaking population in some municipalities.There are binding rulings (as early as from 1968) from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg — an institution with direct authority in all EU states — that confirm that the recognition of specific minority rights for the French-speakers is to be limited to a very few number of municipalities and to a limited set of public services.
Regular supra-national recommendations from the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
— a body without direct authority and therefore a lesser status in the legal order in Belgium — expressed concerns in 2002 that the minority of French speakers in Flanders should be recognized and protected as an official linguistic minority, as defined by advise of the Venice Commission
Venice Commission
The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin wall, at a time of urgent need for constitutional assistance in Central and Eastern Europe...
. However, other reports from this institution provide arguments to the contrary (e.g. the fact that the francophones in Flanders cannot be regarded as looking back on long-standing and peaceful relations with the Flemish authorities). Also, they cannot be regarded as being "sufficient in numbers" within the Council's definition so as to constitute a linguistic minority within Flanders.
Flemish authorities have stated that the recommendations from the Council of Europe are invalid, as they didn't take into account the Belgian constitution, nor the European jurisprudence that confirms a very limited definition of the 'language facilities'. As such, the Council of Europe and especially its 'rapporteurs', appear to be neglecting the special character of Belgium. It should also be noted that, the French language minority around Brussels is of quite recent origin (see Frenchification of Brussels
Frenchification of Brussels
The Frenchification of Brussels is the transformation of Brussels, Belgium, from a Dutch-speaking city to one that is bilingual or even multilingual, with French as both the majority language and lingua franca...
). There is no 'historic French-speaking minority' in these areas.
Government negotiations 2004–2005
In 2005, cabinet ministersCabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
and parties had been locked in debate over the future of this electoral district, and long overdue decisions had not been reached.
Compromise solutions have been proposed:
- The BHV electoral district could be joined to the neighbouring Flemish electoral district of Leuven, allowing greater numbers of Dutch speakers a vote in a combined Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde-Leuven district.
- In return for leaving BHV in its current state, one might accomplish Flemish demands for specific powers currently under federal jurisdiction to be conferred to the Regions.
A deadline of May 11, 2005, by which time a decision was to be reached, has expired with a compromise eluding the negotiators. A compromise worked out by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :...
was explicitly opposed by only one coalition partner, namely the Flemish party Spirit
Spirit (Belgium)
' was a Belgian Flemish political party formed after dissolution of the moderate nationalist People's Union party. Prior to 19 April 2008 it was known as Spirit, and intermediately as Flemish Progressives...
. It is believed that this compromise would have entitled the French Community with the right to exercise certain, limited powers over inhabitants of the Flemish Community, in return for the splitting of BHV.
After visiting King Albert II
Albert II of Belgium
Albert II is the current reigning King of the Belgians, a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the royal house "of Belgium"; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
to report the failure of the seven negotiation meetings to reach a successful conclusion, the Prime Minister requested a vote of confidence from the parliament. The Parliament supported the government on Friday 13th
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year...
May 2005 and the issue was put on hold until the next general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
in 2007.
Federal elections of 2007
With the federal elections of 10 June 2007Belgian general election, 2007
The 2007 Belgian general 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.Eligible voters were Belgian citizens 18 years and older...
looming, the problem of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde reemerged. Because the federal government failed to comply with a ruling of the Court of Arbitration that declared the provincial electoral districts compared to the two remaining arrondisemental ones in the former province of Brabant unconstitutional, several mayors in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde area have threatened to refuse to compile the lists of electors.
Professor and constitutional expert Paul Van Orshoven from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
declared that the elections, held on June 10, were unconstitutional. According to Van Orshoven there are two problems:
- As the previous election was held Sunday May 18, 2003, the final date to hold elections (four years from the previous) is Sunday, May 13, 2007
- The Court of Arbitration gave the government the time to fix the B-H-V problem until the next elections were scheduled; in the default case the election results were supposed to be declared void.
As in 2003, several mayors and groupings have called for a boycott of the elections. 24 communes have refused to cooperate in the organization of the elections. In May 2007, the commune Steenokkerzeel
Steenokkerzeel
Steenokkerzeel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Melsbroek, Perk and Steenokkerzeel proper. On December 31, 2010 Steenokkerzeel had a total population of 11,580. The total area is 23.46 km² which gives a population density...
launched a court case against the federal government for not complying with the ruling of the Court of Arbitration. The case should have started on May 25, 2007, but the case was mistakenly scheduled in a one-judge court room rather than a three-judge court room and is therefore delayed.
2007–2008 Government formation
The problem of BHV became an important issue in the 2007–2008 Belgian government formation2007–2008 Belgian government formation
The 2007–2008 Belgian government formation followed the general election of 10 June 2007, and consisted of a period of negotiation in which the Flemish parties Flemish Liberal Democratic , Christian Democratic and Flemish and New Flemish Alliance , and the French-speaking parties Reformist...
. On 7 November 2007, the Flemish-speaking parties voted at the Committee on the Interior of the Chamber of Representatives
Belgian Chamber Committee on the Interior
The Committee on the Interior, General Affairs and the Civil Service , more commonly referred to as the Committee on the Interior, is a standing committee of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives. It is responsible for all matters related to the internal affairs of Belgium...
for the disentanglement, while the French-speaking parties refused to vote and left the room. This situation has never previously occurred in Belgian history
History of Belgium
The history of Belgium, from pre-history to the present day, is intertwined with the histories of its European neighbours, in particular those of the Netherlands and Luxembourg...
. All representatives of the Flemish parties voted in favor of the split of the BHV electoral district, with the exception of Tinne van der Straeten, of Groen!, the Flemish green party, who abstained.
This situation shows that the Belgian debate goes far beyond legal quarrels about BHV; as the power of Walloon institutions decrease (and this since its industrial breakdown in the late 1960s), and as the Flemish government clearly consolidates its ideological orientation toward a situation of cultural domination - supported by demographic and financial matters. Every step in the Belgian debate can be interpreted symbolically as a fight between two cultures that will maybe never show mutual respect until they can be somehow protected from each other's domination.
On Sunday 23 December the interim Government officially came into office when it was acknowledged by the lower house of Parliament with 97 votes in favour. The transitional period came to an end on March 20, 2008, when Yves Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Leterme I Government
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 was sworn in as Prime Minister...
. Negotiations continued, but again no solution was reached and Leterme offered the King his resignation on 15 July 2008, but the King refused.
Federal elections of 2010
The newly appointed Flemish President of the Constitutional Court Marc BossuytMarc Bossuyt
Baron Marc Bossuyt obtained a Ph.D in Law at the University of Ghent in 1968 and a Certificate of international relations at Johns Hopkins University in Bologna in 1969...
has stated that future federal elections (i.e. after 2007) would be deemed "unconstitutional" if a legal arrangement for Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde hadn't been put in place by then.
According to Article 65 of the Belgian Constitution
Constitution of Belgium
The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica. The Constitution established Belgium as a centralised unitary state...
, the Federal Parliament
Belgian Federal Parliament
The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate . It sits in the Palace of the Nation .- Chamber of Representatives :...
ends its term after four years, automatically leading to new federal elections within 40 days. This means the next federal elections were scheduled for 2011.
In April 2010, the Flemish liberal VLD withdrew themselves from the government because no solution was found for the problem of BHV at the agreed upon date, therefore causing the collapse of the Leterme II Government
Leterme II Government
The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 24 November 2009 to 26 April 2010. it is still the caretaker government. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister. It followed the Van Rompuy I Government which ended...
. Consequently, new elections had to be set up, resulting in the general elections of June 2010
Belgian general election, 2010
General elections were held in Belgium on 13 June 2010. After the fall of the previous government over the withdrawal of Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats from the government the King dissolved the legislature and called new elections...
.
For these elections, several mayors in Halle-Vilvoorde started a legal procedure because BHV was still not solved, and they refused to organise the elections in their municipalities, as with the previous two federal elections. The province of Flemish Brabant organised the elections instead.
After these general elections, the next government will have to find a solution for BHV. N-VA, the winner and now largest party of Flanders and Belgium, want to split BHV without concessions for French speakers. During the 2010 Belgian government formation
2010 Belgian government formation
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 have more than 20 percent of the seats...
, a solution for BHV has been part of a larger agreement. Mid-September 2011 a tentative agreement was reached to partially split the district.
Electoral district
If the BHV electoral district were split, the Halle-Vilvoorde electoral area would merge with the Leuven electoral area, forming a provincial constituency in Flemish-Brabant. Inhabitants living in Halle-Vilvoorde - whether they are French-speaking or Dutch speaking - would lose the possibility to vote for politicians from Brussels during the federal elections. In practice, this means:- that French-speaking parties of HV would need to form one francophone list to be able to gain a seat in the federal parliament and that French-speaking politicians from Brussels would lose votes that they would otherwise gain in the Flemish periphery of Brussels.
- that Dutch-speaking parties in Brussels would need to form one Flemish list, or to form an electoral list alliance to be able to gain the full two seats in the federal parliament and that Dutch-speaking politicians in HV would lose votes that they would otherwise gain in Brussels (the number of Dutch speakers roughly corresponds to 2 out of the 7 seats Brussels would be allocated proportionally by population).
Impact on seats per language group:
- A pure vertical split (with or without a special electoral status for the six municipalities with language facilities) would result into a loss of two Flemish seats and a gain of two French-speaking seats in the Belgian House of Representatives.
- A vertical split with apparentering between the districts would keep a status quo between the language groups in the House
Judicial district
For language use in judicial matters, the Halle-Vilvoorde part would align with the language use in the Flemish Region, meaning that all judicial matters would be handled in Dutch. The Brussels part of the district would not change as Brussels is a bilingual region; matters could still be handled in either French or Dutch.According to Glenn Audenaert, the head of the federal police, splitting BHV could have negative effects for the safety in the area, since criminals based in Brussels (a mostly French-speaking city) often act in the Dutch-speaking area around it, would have to be judged in Dutch-speaking courts.
See also
- 2007 Belgian government formation, 2010 Belgian government formation2010 Belgian government formationFollowing 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 have more than 20 percent of the seats...
- De GordelDe GordelDe Gordel is a partly political, partly family cycling and walking event around Brussels, Belgium. The event is organised by Bloso, each year since 1971 on the first Sunday of September. It is meant as a symbolic affirmation that the municipalities involved are part of Flanders...
- Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
- Municipalities with language facilities
- Politics of BelgiumPolitics of BelgiumPolitics of Belgium takes place in a framework of a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy, whereby 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...
- Language legislation in BelgiumLanguage legislation in Belgium-1830: freedom of languages and linguistic coercion:One of the causes of the Belgian Revolution of the 1830s was the growing ascendancy of the Dutch language in the administration of the Southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
- Partition of BelgiumPartition of BelgiumThe partition of Belgium, or the dissolution of the Belgian state through the separation of the Dutch-speaking people of the Flanders region and Brussels from the French-speaking people of the Walloon region and Brussels, granting them either independence or respective accession to the Netherlands...
- State reform in BelgiumState reform in BelgiumThe term State reform in the Belgian context indicates a process towards finding constitutional and legal solutions for the problems and tensions between the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly Dutch-speakers of Flanders and French-speakers of Wallonia...
- Frenchification of BrusselsFrenchification of BrusselsThe Frenchification of Brussels is the transformation of Brussels, Belgium, from a Dutch-speaking city to one that is bilingual or even multilingual, with French as both the majority language and lingua franca...
- IrredentismIrredentismIrredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...