Chapter 6: the Effects of the European Semester on Belgian

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Chapter 6: the Effects of the European Semester on Belgian UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The political economy of the social dimension of economic and monetary union The effects of the European Semester on social and employment policies in Belgium Louvaris Fasois, C. Publication date 2018 Document Version Other version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Louvaris Fasois, C. (2018). The political economy of the social dimension of economic and monetary union: The effects of the European Semester on social and employment policies in Belgium. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:28 Sep 2021 Chapter 6. The effects of the European Semester on Belgian pension policies14 6.1 Framing the Semester effects within the wider ageing policies: the last 30 years Pensions have been always seen as one of the ‘immovable’ objects towards any reform effort and at the same time as a difficult field to analyse when looking at the EU’s influence (Vanhercke, 2009; Natali and de la Porte, 2009). On the one hand, pensions are at the core of social policies, thus belonging to the competence of member states. On the other hand, they are inextricably linked with the sustainability of budgets and public finances. As a result, their double character has been raising multiple disagreements not only between the EU and member states but also among the various actors of the political spectrum. In order to understand better the impact of the European Semester on a field so closely embedded in national traditions -and thus path-dependent- it is helpful first to review briefly Belgium’s pension policies over the past few decades. The issue of pensions has been traditionally included in the general debate of reforming the Bismarckian social security system as a whole - including health care expenses, unemployment benefits and family allocations15. For that reason, ageing strategies in Belgium have been presented since of the late 1990s as something broader than the legal (or statutory) retirement age, aiming to raise the employment rate of older workers in the labour market. The term ‘prépension’ or ‘brug- pension’ refers to a scheme applied to dismissed employees over a certain age which aims to support the individuals materially -along with the unemployment benefits- and make their transition to retirement smoother.. Likewise, the effective retirement age is the actual age at which employees exit the employment market while the legal retirement age refers to the age at which someone gains the legal right to a pension. Along general lines, we can divide the evolution of the Belgian pension debate into four broad phases. Roughly speaking, the period from 1980 to 2000 saw fiscal discipline as a way to contain pension expenditures. During the two Verhofstadt governments (1999-2007), the sustainability of pensions was closely linked with the increased participation of older people in the labour market. As mentioned in chapter 4 and further elaborated in the following chapter, in the aftermath of the institutional crisis the Di Rupo government increased the effective retirement rate and tightened the criteria for access to pre-retirement schemes. Most recently, the Michel government dealt with the statutory retirement age and accelerated the measures of the previous government. Although not so prominent, the national debate on reforming the Belgian pension system already began thirty years before the launching of the European Semester. From the beginning of the 1980s, Belgium confronted major problems of competitiveness, a topic which was understood by the politicians as vital for the country’s open and export-oriented economy. As a policy response, an 14 Specific passages in this chapter have previously appeared in Louvaris Fasois (2018). 15 For a comprehensive view on the welfare reforms in many EU member states since the 1970s see Palier (2010). 78 ambitious program of austerity and devaluation strategies was put in place which more or less lasted for 20 years -the period from 1981 to 2001. Already from the mid-1980s, the Belgian government was active in the negotiations over the single market act (Natali, 2008). With the signing of the Maastricht treaty and its criteria for entering the Eurozone, the political elite unanimously found a new opportunity to promote fiscal consolidation. As Deschouwer and Van Assche (2005) mention, evidence of such unanimous political support come from the fact that not only there was hardly any blame-shifting debate on the need to consolidate public finances, but instead the only criticism of the liberal opposition towards the center-left governments of the 1990s was that the latter were either “being too slow” or that they presented “figures that made the situation look better than it was”. According to Natali (2008) the politicians used the EMU and the SGP of 1997 as ‘leverage’ to advance their austerity policy reforms. Thus the enhanced efforts for fiscal consolidation during the period 1994-2003 (the so-called “glorious consolidation decade”) were closely linked with the political consensus to reach the Maastricht criteria, as well as with the enhanced Stability and Growth Pact later on (IMF, 2011 Report). The projections at the time showed that within the next 10 years Belgium’s high debt would finally reach an equilibrium. The Maastricht criteria were also seen as a positive factor for the institutional stability of the country. At the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Belgium experienced political tensions due to its ever-evolving and centrifugal federal structure, since the wealthier Flemish Region was asking for more fiscal autonomy and reduced transfers to the rest of the country. Traditionally, the Christian Democrats of Flanders as well as the successive alliances of Flemish nationalists were in favour of decreasing their financial contributions towards Wallonia. Although the debate on the decentralization of pensions was not so prominent compared with that on social health and family allocations, pressures over the last decades to regionalize the system have been notable. Fiscal consolidation was presented as a tangible solution that could reassure the anti-solidarity voices. In the domestic debate, the Maastricht criteria were commonly seen as a motivating pretext towards this goal, as confirmed also in the reports of the National Bank of Belgium (IMF, 2011 Report). The politicians were aware of the growing costs of ageing for public finances, but the debate became more prominent in the late 1980s (Marier, 2002), having as its epicenter demographic developments and their fiscal effects on the pension system. Since there was a wide consensus that fiscal consolidation was a priority, the pensions problem could be tackled within this wider framework: if the public debt could be lowered, then it would be possible to save money and finance the increasing costs of pensions. In May 1990, the Federal Planning Bureau presented its report on the future of the Belgian social security system including pensions. This would be used as an empirical basis for the political debate to raise the retirement age. The projections showed that under a no policy change scenario by 2040 the cost of pensions as part of the whole social security system would rise from 36% to 50%. The first government coalition of Christian Democrats and Socialists led by Jean-Luc Dehaene passed a major reform of the state’s federalist structure and took several measures on pensions, however cautiously and eventually with little impact - as Marier (2002) notes, the government did “minor adjustments” in the pension system. At the time, the European Directive CCE 79/7 called for equality of treatment between men and women (Council of the EU, 1978). As a result of its transposition into national law, in 1990 the Belgian government voted “a system of flexible retirement age” according to which men could retire at the same statutory age as women (60 years old, instead of 65 which until then was the case) “without any additional penalty other than the calculation of the pension was still based on 45 years” (Marier, 2002). Despite this 79 provision, in July 1993 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the measure remained discriminatory and needed to change, since apart from the harmonization of the retirement age pensions should be calculated in the same way for men and women. As part of Belgium’s efforts to put public finances on track and meet the Maastricht convergence criteria, the Dehaene government tried to launch a “Global Plan” during the autumn of 1993. This aimed at lowering the social security costs by changing certain parameters. Specifically with regard to pensions, it aspired to limit the costs of the public sector pensions, by establishing a cap on their automatic indexation and eliminating the ‘tantième préférenciel’, an element in the relevant formula16. But eventually, due to the combined opposition of social actors –most prominently the FGTB and the CSC- the adoption of the plan was abandoned. In an effort to unlink pensions from social security contributions (SSC), part of the financing has been transferred to other bases over the years, such as taxes on consumption and specific products.
Recommended publications
  • Adresses Et Composition Des Cellules Strategiques Du Gouvernement Fédéral
    ADRESSES ET COMPOSITION DES CELLULES STRATEGIQUES DU GOUVERNEMENT FÉDÉRAL Introduction Cette publication contient les adresses et composition des cellules stratégiques des membres du gouvernement fédéral. La publication a été actualisée le 13 septembre 2018. Pour faire modifier ou corriger le contenu, une adresse : [email protected] Cliquez sur un nom dans le sommaire pour vous retrouver directement à la page concernée. http://www.belgium.be/ - 14/09/2018 - [email protected] 1 / 48 Sommaire Monsieur Charles Michel ........................................................................................... 4 Premier ministre .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Monsieur Kris Peeters ................................................................................................. 7 Vice-Premier Ministre et Ministre de l'Emploi, de l'Economie et des Consommateurs, chargé du Commerce extérieur. ................................................................................................................................... 7 Monsieur Jan Jambon ............................................................................................... 11 Vice-Premier Ministre et Ministre de la Sécurité et de l'Intérieur, chargé de la Régie des bâtiments. ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Monsieur Alexander
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 3 Opposites Attract? Decentralisation Tendencies in the Most Organised Collective Bargaining System in Europe Belgium in the Period 2012–2016
    Chapter 3 Opposites attract? Decentralisation tendencies in the most organised collective bargaining system in Europe Belgium in the period 2012–2016 Guy Van Gyes, Dries Van Herreweghe, Ine Smits and Sem Vandekerckhove 1. Introduction In this chapter we present an overview of recent decentralisation tendencies in the Belgian collective bargaining system. In Belgium, organised social dialogue is a core element of consociationalism as governance system, a form of democracy in which harmony in segmented societies is maintained through the distinctive role of elites and the autonomy of organised interests (Deschouwer 2012). A dense network of social dialogue bodies and concertation structures is created at the national level to maintain social peace and cohesion, and to stimulate economic growth. The characteristics of this industrial relations system include: full union participation, recognition and integration; a legal framework; centralised and strong organisations on both the employers’ and the employees’ side; socio-economic policy concertation; a mix of self-governance (paritarism), subsidiarity and state action with regard to social security; mechanisms of information and consultation (but not codetermination) in the workplace; and ideological pluralism among the actors (especially on the trade union side) linked to historical ‘pillarisation’ (Van Gyes et al. 2009). Collective bargaining in Belgium, and especially wage bargaining, is known for its high levels of coordination, organisation and coverage. A traditional three-level structure is framed by two-year intersectoral bargaining, automatic wage indexation, a central wage norm and a statutory minimum wage (Vandekerckhove and Van Gyes 2012; Dumka 2015). Despite politically polarised positions and regular failure to achieve consensus, the institutional apparatus remains intact and there is in general social peace holds sway.
    [Show full text]
  • Verslag Op Het Eind Van De Legislatuur Over Het Beleid Dat Werd Gevoerd
    Verslag op het eind van de legislatuur over het beleid dat werd gevoerd overeenkomstig de doelstellingen van de vierde Wereldvrouwenconferentie die in september 1995 in Peking heeft plaatsgehad Oktober 2014 – december 2018 INHOUDSTAFEL I. ALGEMENE INLEIDING ................................................................................................................................... 5 II. VERSLAG VAN DE REGERING ........................................................................................................................ 6 Inleiding ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 Deel I. Ondersteuning voor de uitvoering van de Wet Gender mainstreaming van 12 januari 2007 .............. 7 1. Gender mainstreaming in het Regeerakkoord van 9 oktober 2014 ............................................................... 7 2. Het federaal plan gender mainstreaming ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Het opstellen van thematische fiches door het Instituut ........................................................................ 8 2.2. De raadpleging van het middenveld........................................................................................................ 8 2.3. De goedkeuring van het federaal plan gender mainstreaming door de Ministerraad ............................ 8 2.4. Het tussentijds verslag aan het Parlement en de halfjaarlijkse
    [Show full text]
  • 2015 Belgium Country Report | SGI Sustainable Governance Indicators
    Sustainable Governance Indicators SGI 2015 Belgium Report Micael Castanheira, Benoît Rihoux, Nils C. Bandelow (Coordinator) SGI 2015 | 2 Belgium Report Executive Summary Belgium, located in the heart of Europe, is a small country with 11.1 million inhabitants. In 2013, its gross domestic product (GDP) was €395 billion at market prices (i.e. 14.5% above the 2007 pre-crisis level of €345 billion; data from the Belgian National Bank). Belgium has shown itself to be one of the good performers in the euro area in recent years. According to Eurostat data, Belgium’s purchasing power per capita is about 10.2% above the euro area average, and 19% above the EU28 average. Belgium also boasts an extremely open economy, with the sum of imports and exports amounting to 170% of GDP; the country’s trade balance is slightly positive. The unemployment rate was 8.5% in September 2014, which is below the euro area average (11.5%). Belgium is thus economically rather healthy, although not among the best performing economies of the EU. It boasts a highly educated population, attracts substantial foreign direct investment, maintains high-quality hospitals, has a healthy housing market (i.e. it did not crash during the financial crisis, but recent estimates still suggest some overvaluation of the market) and overall manages a well-performing economy. With its comprehensive road, rail, water and information technology networks, in addition to its world-class harbors, Belgium provides direct access to and from the rest of the world into Europe. Its openness in terms of trade and high reliance on exports implies that Belgian companies must remain competitive or face losing their market position.
    [Show full text]
  • Speakers' Biographies
    SPEAKERS’ BIOGRAPHIES Table of contents 1. ACCETTI, Carlo 3 2. ALBUQUERQUE, João 3 3. ALDUMAN, Elif 3 4. ANTONESCU, Alexandra 3 5. BÁRÁNY, Balázs 4 6. BEKE, Károly 4 7. BENIFEI, Brando 4 8. BERIEVSKI, Nikolay 4 9. BOROS, Tamás 5 10. BUYSE, Jutta 5 11. CARRER, Sara 5 12. COPPI, David 5 13. CROMBEZ, John 6 14. D’ALEMA, Massimo 6 15. DE DEKEN, Alien 6 16. DEZELAN, Tomaž 6 17. DI RUPO, Elio 7 18. EDOBOR, Martin 7 19. EIGHTEEN, Dennis 8 20. ELOOT, Karen 8 21. FELON, Maxime 8 22. GAMBARDELLA, Elisa 8 23. GEROSA, Andrea 9 24. GOODFELLOW, Maya 9 25. GÖKCEN, Gökçe 9 26. GURMAI, Zita 9 27. HENAFF, Quentin 10 28. HERR, Julia 10 29. HILL, Caroline 11 30. HUUMONEN, Hanna 11 31. INCIR, Evin 11 32. INGUL, Marte 11 33. JABLONOWSKI, Kuba 11 34. JOSEFSON, Marilyn 12 35. JUTILA ROON, Merja 12 36. KASKI, Ragnhild 12 37. KNAUS, Verena 12 38. KUMAR, Sanjeev 12 39. MAGNETTE, Paul 13 40. MOKOELE, Duduetsang 13 1 41. MURPHY, Emma 13 42. NEGRESCU , Victor 14 43. LAFFEBER, Marije 14 44. LAMY, Pascal 14 45. LAURISTIN, Marju 15 46. LAZA, Matthew 15 47. LEWIS, David 15 48. LOMBARDOZZI, Lorena 16 49. LÓPEZ, Javi 16 50. LYUBENVOVA, Lora 16 51. PASHA, Maryam 16 52. PEEL, Kevin 17 53. PENGAS, Spiros 17 54. PILKINGTON, Hilary 17 55. PINTELEI, Petra 18 56. PODLASEK-ZIEGLER, Maria 18 57. OOMS, Aaron 18 58. REUTER, Conny 18 59. RODRIGUEZ SUANZES, Pablo 19 60. ROTTA, Alessia 19 61. SANÉ, Pierre 19 62. SENTE, Christophe 19 63.
    [Show full text]
  • Benoît Rihoux1, Audrey Vandeleene1, Lieven De Winter1, Pierre
    Belgium (2014 – published 2015) Benoît Rihoux1, Audrey Vandeleene1, Lieven De Winter1, Pierre Baudewyns1, Serge Deruette2 1 Centre de Science Politique et de Politique Comparée (CESPOL), Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium; 2Université de Mons, Belgium INTRODUCTION The year 2014 was particularly dense, with simultaneous regional, parliamentary and European Parliament elections on 25 May. This was followed by a relatively short government formation process towards an unprecedented ‘Swedish’ federal cabinet. The electoral cycle took place in the context of a still quite difficult socioeconomic situation and ethnolinguistic tensions at the elite level. ELECTION REPORT Regional Elections: 25 May 2014 Most parties did not present a separate regional and federal manifesto (De Winter and Van Wynsberghe forthcoming), therefore blurring regional and federal issues. Remarkably, following the electoral results at the regional level (Blaise et al. 2014b), the regional government formations brought regionalist parties in power in three of the five regional/community governments. In Flanders, the N-VA became the predominant party in the Flemish region, replacing the CD&V, and thus legitimately claimed the leadership of the formation of the Flemish executive, which resulted in the formation of the Bourgeois I government with the N-VA, the CD&V and the Open VLD. At the Walloon elections, of the three incumbent coalition parties (PS, CdH and Ecolo) only the latter lost heavily, with the fourth traditional party (MR) regaining some ground, as well as the newcomers PTB and PP. The new Walloon government was formed as a left-centre coalition of the PS and CdH, under the leadership of P. Magnette (PS), while the executive of the Francophone community government was headed by the incumbent R.
    [Show full text]
  • Responsive Public Management
    Responsive Public Management IGPDE /Research Office Public Management Monitoring News - No. 42 - February 2012 Belgium The Di Rupo Government: State and public management reforms A new government and a focus on budgetary consolidation On 6 December 2011, after a year and a half of negotiations, a new Belgian coalition government was sworn in. It consists of twelve ministers1 and six ministers of State, under the leadership of the French-speaking Socialist Elio Di Rupo. The ministerial posts are divided between six political parties, including social democrats, Christian democrats and liberals from both the French- and Dutch-speaking communities. The government does not include the major winner in the June 2010 elections, the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), because it withdrew from the talks. The civil service, which had previously been managed by a specific Federal Public Service (FPS)2, is now the responsibility of the Minister of State for the Civil Service and the Modernisation of Public Services (Hendrik Bogaert), attached to the Minister of Finance and Sustainable Development (Steven Vanackere). Administrative simplification is now the purview of Olivier Chastel, Minister for the Budget. Budgetary restraint is a pressing issue. In its proposed policy statement of 1 December 2011, the government made putting public finances back on a sound footing a top priority3. Even before the vote on the 2012 budget took place, an initial budget review was scheduled for the end of February4. This was triggered by a likely downward revision of growth forecasts and an ongoing Excessive Deficit Procedure initiated by the European Commission5, which requested that certain expenditures be suspended pending the corresponding budget adjustments.
    [Show full text]
  • (Con-)Federal Belgium
    THE SUSTAINABILITY OF (CON-)FEDERAL BELGIUM Prof. Dr. Lieven De Winter Université Catholique de Louvain – Hogeschool Universiteit Brussel INTRODUCTION Since the aftermath of the June 10 2007 general elections, Belgium seemed to be moving into a crucial, and maybe final, phase of its community conflict. In 2007 it took 193 days to form an (interim) government. In the following 12 months, three new governments were formed. At the June 13 2010 general elections, nearly half of the Flemish voted for independist parties and the N-VA became the largest party of the country, while all Francophone parties generally defended the federal status quo. Eventually it took 541 days to form a new federal government, breaking the Dutch European record (208 days in 1977) and Cambodja‟s world record (353 days in 2003). The reasons for these long formations are due to profound differences between Dutch and French speakers on the future shape of the Belgian state. Apart from the three independist Flemish parties, some mainstream Flemish parties also threatened to blow Belgium up if the Francophones would not abandon their defence of the status quo, and these threats were widely endorsed by the Flemish media. In the Francophone media and parties, strategies were discussed as to how the Francophones should react in such a regime crisis, and whether a “residual” Belgium (Wallonia and Brussels) would be viable. The 2011 Di Rupo government agreement envisages another great reform of the federal state, misleadingly called by some the arrival of confederalism. The success of this new mega compomis des Belges will not really depend on its inherent institutional logic and efficacy, but mainly on the size of the success of the main Flemish-Nationalist party, the independist Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, at 2012 September local elections, and more importantly, at the June 2014 federal and regional elections.
    [Show full text]
  • The Flemish Negative Case: Explaining the Prevalence of Regionalist Demands Without Request for an Independence Referendum
    The Flemish Negative Case: Explaining the Prevalence of Regionalist Demands without Request for an Independence Referendum Jérémy Dodeigne & Christoph Niessen Author version of the article: Dodeigne, J., & Niessen, C. (2019). The Flemish Negative Case: Explaining the Prevalence of Regionalist Demands without Request for an Independence Referendum. Fédéralisme Régionalisme, 19 (online). Available online: https://popups.uliege.be/1374-3864/index.php?id=1879. Abstract: Despite Flanders is often presented as a handbook example of strong regionalism, the organization of a referendum on Flemish independence has never been on the political agenda. This article explains the reasons for the absence of a self-determination referendum in Flanders and shows that, since the 2000s, the omnipresence of the self-rule issue at the top of the political agenda is not – per se – a direct response to regionalist demands of Flemish voters or the Flemish political class. Instead, it is the consociational features of the Belgian political system that enhance intra-community party competition and contribute to the escalade of inter-community conflicts. This mostly explains the deep constitutional crises of the late 2000s and early 2010s. In this context, we can better understand why Flanders independence is supported neither by a majority of the population (9.5 percent), nor its representatives (except those belonging to one of the two regionalist parties, N-VA and VB). Keywords: Regionalism, Flanders, autonomy, referendum, party politics Contents: Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 2 1. A very brief history of Belgian federalism .......................................................................................... 3 2. Voters’ preferences about regional autonomy in Flanders and Wallonia-Brussels ............................. 4 3. Parties’ preferences about regional autonomy in Flanders and Wallonia-Brussels............................
    [Show full text]
  • Belgium: Social Democratic Hegemony Disputed
    Belgium: social democratic hegemony disputed Twenty-five years of uninterrupted participation in government. With the possible exception of their Scandinavian counterparts, few European social democratic parties boast a record similar to that of Belgian social democracy. Almost three decades later, the tide might be changing. In Flanders, social democracy no longer commands 15% of the votes. In Wallonia, polls indicate the Parti socialiste is at risk of losing 12% of its support, falling back to a mere 20%. A concomitant surge in support for the radical Workers' Party of Belgium might change Belgium’s political landscape. Belgium’s neoliberal turn and social democracy Social democracy, including Belgian social democracy, played a central part in spreading and implementing neoliberal measures throughout Europe. In public debates, even social democratic members of Parliament readily admit this now. In Belgium, the neoliberal turn started towards the end of the seventies. Crisis was rampant in Belgium. Yearly inflation rates went up to 12%, and between the summer of 1974 and that of 1975, about 70.000 workers lost their job. The social democratic Minister of economic affairs, Willy Claes, made a vaguely Keynesian attempt at economic recovery. The state was made to pay for the restructuring of industries as coal, steel, ship construction, textile and glass. It bought parts of private enterprises, rationalising production or modernising factories, socializing losses, only to disengage from or reprivatize the companies afterwards. Public expenses increased rapidly. From 43.6% to 63.1% of GDP between 1974 and 1981. Government deficit jumps from 2.7 to 12.6%. By 1983, public debt comes close to 110% of GDP.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Parties in the Trenches Marc Hooghe Centre for Political Research, University of Leuven
    Political Parties in the Trenches Marc Hooghe Centre for Political Research, University of Leuven The local elections of 14 October 2012 did not lead to any great political swings. After almost a year of the Di Rupo government the positions of the parties remain unchanged and the latest polls do not sug- gest any major swings in the future. Despite the shaky start of the Di Rupo government, some sort of stability seems to have returned to Belgian politics. At the present moment, Belgian politics finds itself in a phase of trench warfare. Compared with 2010, all the parties have stuck to their positions. TRENCH WARFARE A huge amount of time and energy was spent on predicting the local elections of 14 October 2012. The archives of De Standaard show that as early as September 2011 articles were appearing about the election issues, the candidates and the potential political consequences. If the media in this country do anything well, it is the constant whipping up of election fever. Looking back on it now, we can see that much of the excitement was quite unnecessary. On the whole, as might be expected, the local elections followed national trends. The results of the municipal elections of October 2012 largely confirmed the federal elections of June 2010. The N-VA scores rather less than in 2010 while the CD&V traditionally does better in local elections. On the francophone side 27 there is very little change at all. It is a pattern that one often sees when comparing successive election results. Some elections do lead to spectacular shifts which pose a real challenge to the traditional balance of political power nationally.
    [Show full text]
  • Download/Print the Study in PDF Format
    PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN BELGIUM 25th May 2014 European Elections monitor The Belgians are being called to the “election of all elections” on 25th May Corinne Deloy Translated by Helen Levy 8 million Belgians are being called to ballot on 25th May in what is called “the election of all elec- tions.” Indeed they will be electing the MPs, the Senators, and the regional representatives. Natio- nal MPs will be elected for 5 years (instead of 4 previously). The electoral reform which modified the federal electoral procedure is supposed to bring greater stability to Belgium. Analysis 129,139 Belgians living abroad are registered on the electoral rolls. Only 42,489 voted in the last parliamentary elections on 13th June 2010. Moreover polling stations will remain open for an extra hour, a measure allowed in the event of multiple elections. The elections on 13th June 2010 caused an electoral offer made by the N-VA”. “Placing the Socialist Party earthquake in Belgium. The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) and the New Flemish Alliance, back to back is like led by Bart de Wever won 18.65% of the vote and took putting pyromaniacs and the fire brigade in the same 28 seats in the Chamber of Representatives (20.64% bag. Only the Socialist Party can stabilise the country,” of the vote and 9 seats in Senate), an unprecedented answered Prime Minister Elio di Rupo. result and the best score ever won by the secessionist party. The parties advocating the independence of A Belgian government without the Socialists seems Flanders (New Flemish Alliance, Vlaams Belang (VB) highly unlikely.
    [Show full text]