Common Community Commission - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Common Community Commission is responsible for community matters that are common to both the French Community

French Community of Belgium

The French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...

and the Flemish Community

Flemish Community

The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:...

and for institutions that fall within the competencies of the Communities but do not belong exclusively to either Community in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium

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...

. Examples of this include the bilingual hospitals in the Brussels Region.

The primary responsibilities of the Common Community Commission are health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc...).

The Common Community Commission is composed of a council, the United Assembly, and an executive, the United College. The United Assembly consists of the members of both the Council of the Flemish Community Commission

Flemish Community Commission

The Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie is the local representative of the Flemish authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium...

and the Assembly of the French Community Commission

French Community Commission

The Commission communautaire française is the local representative of the French-speaking authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium....

or, in other words, all members of the Brussels Parliament

Brussels Parliament

The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region , is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium...

. The United College comprises all members of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, except the Secretaries of State

Secretary of State

Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

. The United College is presided over by the Minister-President of the Brussels Region

Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region

The Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region is the person leading the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region. The post is appointed for 5 years along with 4 ministers and 3 "state" secretaries...

, who only has an advisory vote. As a result, there are two French-speaking and two Flemish members with the right to vote.

The United Assembly can legislate by ordinance

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

. In order to adopt an ordinance, a majority of its members must be present and an absolute majority of the votes cast must be in favour. However, there must be also be a majority in each of the two language groups.

See also