Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0035/00358.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 40KB | 614 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00358}
$Pretitle{370}
$Title{Belgium
Chapter 4B.   The Communities, Regions, Provinces, and Communes}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Rinn-Sup Shinn}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{government
community
council
regional
brussels
councils
social
flemish
members
commune}
$Date{1984}
$Log{}
Country:     Belgium
Book:        Belgium, A Country Study
Author:      Rinn-Sup Shinn
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1984

Chapter 4B.   The Communities, Regions, Provinces, and Communes

     At the end of 1984 the administrative structure below the national level
was undergoing a trial and error process of evolution known as the reform of
the state. Set in motion under a constitutional amendment in 1980, the reform
was by far the most extensive since the country's independence in 1830. When
fully implemented, it will have transformed the unitary character of the
state into a semifederal one. The reform was designed to decentralize certain
legislative and administrative powers and to transfer them to communities and
regions, sidestepping for the moment the complicated question of the status
of Brussels (see Major Political Developments, 1980-84, this ch.). Unaffected
by the 1980 reform was the power of the central government to deal with
national defense, foreign affairs, justice, national finance, macroeconomic
policy, and educational matters affecting both linguistic communities.

The Communities and Regions

     In the reform of the state, the term community refers to a linguistic
and cultural unit embracing all speakers of a given language in linguistically
divided Belgium (see Language, ch. 2). Thus the Flemish community comprises
all Dutch-speaking people in the tour traditionally Flemish provinces of
Antwerpen, Limburg, Oost-Vlaanderen, and West-Vlaanderen and Leuven and
Halle-Vilvoorde arrondissements (see Glossary) in the province of Brabant.
The French community embraces French speakers in the provinces of Hainaut,
Liege, Luxembourg, Namur and the arrondissement of Nivelles in Brabant.
Brussels is bilingual.

     The term region is a geographical or territorial concept applicable to
Flanders and Wallonia but not Brussels. The enabling laws passed in August
1980 do not formally recognize Brussels as a third region on par with
either Flanders or Wallonia. These laws grant legislative competence only to
the community and regional bodies of Flanders and Wallonia.

     The concept of regionalization was not new in 1980. It had been a major
focus of bitter parliamentary struggles throughout the 1970s. The politics of
regionalization, as staged by the two major linguistic communities, was
resolved temporarily by the constitutional amendment of July 1971, which
introduced the concepts of cultural communities and regions. Specifically, the
Constitution laid a framework for the establishment of three language-based
cultural communities-Dutch, French, and German-each community having a
separate cultural council. Legislative competence was granted, however, only
to the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking councils, which were to be composed
of members of their respective linguistic groups in parliament. These councils
were to be empowered to legislate over cultural matters, education,
cooperation between the cultural communities, international cultural
cooperation, the use of languages for administrative and educational purposes,
and labor relations. The composition and power of the council for the
German-speaking community were to be determined by separate legislation.

     The 1971 revision also paved the way for the creation of three regional
legislatures composed of elected representatives in Flanders, Wallonia, and
Brussels. These bodies were to have the power to legislate on such matters as
the law shall determine, i.e., on social and economic matters. Unlike the
cultural councils that had functioned on a limited scope after the early
1970s, the regional legislatures were slow to evolve because of continuing
partisan discord over the details of regionalization. A compromise plan was
finally worked out in 1974 for the creation of three regional legislatures or
councils, but the affirmative vote fell short of a two-thirds majority
needed for an effective government action on politically touchy linguistic and
regional issues. The problem of regionalization remained in limbo, causing
difficulties or "immobilism" for the successive coalition governments.

     A comprehensive package on regionalization was devised in 1977 by a
four-party coalition cabinet led by Leo Tindemans. The Community Pact (or
Egmont Pact, as the package was also known) called for, among other things,
the establishment of elective regional councils given additional powers to
deal with so-called personalized matters-health care, social assistance,
family and youth policy, education, and vocational training. The Egmont Pact
failed to get off the ground, however. The Council of State ruled that certain
aspects of the provisions relating to Brussels infringed on the Constitution.
Moreover, the powers over the personalized matters were judged to have
exceeded the scope of the 1971 amendment. This led to a declaration by
parliament in 1978 of the need to revise the Constitution with special
reference to the authority of the cultural councils over personalized matters.
The result was a new round of debates and negotiations on the reform of the
state. In July 1980 the Constitution was amended, and in August two enabling
bills were enacted-the Special Law on Institutional Reforms and the Ordinary
Law on Institutional Reforms.

     Under the reform of the state the cultural councils were renamed
"community" councils, and their administrative arms came to be called
"executives." The legislative-executive setup also was to be duplicated for
Flanders and Wallonia. The functions of the councils and executives were
identical, but these bodies were set up differently. The Flemings opted for
one, rather than two, separate institutions for the community and the region.
Hence the Flemish Council and the Flemish Executive were to exercise the
powers vested in the regional council and the regional executive in Flanders.
On the other hand, the French speakers chose to have two separate sets of
institutions-the French Community Council and the French Community Executive
and the Walloon Regional Council and the Walloon Regional Executive. The
Special Law on Institutional Reforms states that the French-speaking community
institutions and the Walloon regional bodies may merge as their Flemish
counterparts did, by a two-thirds majority decision reached in both the
community and regional councils.

     In 1984 the community councils were composed of the directly elected
members of both houses of parliament, including those elected in Brussels. The
Brussels-based members could sit on either the Dutch-speaking or the
French-speaking council but were not allowed to vote on any regional matters.
Under the special law the community councils are to be composed of only
senators as soon as the upper chamber is reconstituted as an all-elective
assembly of 212 members. Such a change requires a constitutional amendment,
but as of late 1984 there was no movement in that direction.

     The community councils are empowered to deal with cultural and
personalized matters as originally called for by the Egmont Pact of 1977. They
share legislative initiative with the executives, whose members they elect
from among their numbers and who, like the cabinet at the national level, are
collectively accountable to the councils. One of the executive members must be
from Brussels but, again, the member representing the capital may not be
involved with any regional question.

     The executives are headed by chairmen, who are elected by and from the
executive members in proportion to the partisan composition of the regional
councils. Election is by consensus, if not by secret ballot. The duties of the
executives are to draft bills, prepare the budge