DOCSLIB.ORG

Drivingtobe Europe's Heartlandof Innovation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Drivingtobe Europe's Heartlandof Innovation FT SPECIAL REPORT Doing Business in Wallonia Tuesday November 13 2012 www.ft.com/reports | twitter.com/ftreports 2011, and unemployment levels of around 20 per cent, continues to be substantially behind Flanders, the Inside » Dutch-speaking region that comprises the northern half of Belgium. Driving to be However, although the Flemish region is considered to be better run, Liège with an economy 30 per cent larger than that of Wallonia, the gap is Continental rail and shrinking, especially when it comes to road connections attracting business and foreign direct Europe’s investment. are reviving the “The gap is still there and the [Wal- city’s fortunes loon] government has not always been great,” says Marcel Claes, head Page 2 of the American Chamber of Com- merce (AmCham) in Belgium, which represents 9,000 US companies. “Hav- Economy heartland of ing said that, one has to recognise that they have been increasingly The clusters that lie proactive in trying to attract new at the heart of the business.” Mr Claes says that despite Wallonia region’s grand being governed by the Socialist party recovery plan ever since greater autonomy was innovation Page 3 ‘We have given companies Taxation concrete aid that has Belgium has high The region’s assets are being deployed to create helped them cut their taxes but also many an international hub and efforts are starting to capital expenditure costs’ loopholes for those Jean-Claude Marcourt, prepared to look pay off, says James Fontanella-Khan Wallonian minister of economy and trade Page 3 allonia, once the heart of bear scars from the 1970s and 1980s, the industrial revolution such as certain battered neighbour- given to the Belgian regions in the Politics in continental Europe, is hoods of Charleroi – which suffered 1970s, in recent years they have desperate to be relevant the most when hundreds of busi- actively promoted more pro-business The spectre of a in the 21st century. The nesses shut as they became obsolete – measures than their centre-right federal break-up WFrench-speaking southern half of the others are clearly flourishing. counterparts in Flanders. country, the poorest region in Bel- Liège, with an impressive new train “A good support environment from is undermining gium, has been working hard to boost station, a revamped opera house and the regional government, the creation investor confidence productivity after 30 years of ups and several new museums, is testament to of several innovation-focused clusters, downs following the collapse of its such rejuvenation. Like many subsec- strong ties between business and local Page 4 steelmaking industry. Its efforts are tions of Wallonia it has invested heav- universities, and financial incentives beginning to pay off. ily in creating high-value sectors, have all helped make Wallonia an The so-called “Marshall Plan” – with emphasis on education, network interesting destination to do busi- Brewing which has provided investments of creation and innovation. ness,” says Mr Claes. more than €4.5bn since its introduc- This transformation has turned the Tax exemptions for companies in The world’s tion in 2006 by the socialist-led city into a frontrunner to host the innovative sectors such as green tech- growing taste for regional government – as well as a World Expo in 2017, placing it in the nology, pharmaceuticals, biotechnol- new era of more market-oriented local same league as emerging cities such ogy and logistics have led several Trappist ales is leftwing political leaders, have helped as Astana, its Kazakh rival for the research-focused multinationals to set creating jobs revive the flagging economy for the event, and China’s Shanghai, which up shop in Wallonia. first time in a generation. hosted the expo in 2010. Google, the internet search group, Page 4 Although parts of Wallonia still Wallonia, with a GDP of €73bn in Modern outlook: Liège station is one of many urban renewal projects Alamy Continued on Page 2 2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13 2012 Doing Business in Wallonia Continental Network of connections talent fosters prompt revival research challenging global environ- Life sciences ment, says Pascal Lizin, ‘Marshall Plan’ is head of public affairs at in city fortunes GSK Vaccines. producing results, In addition, the consensus is the Marshall Plan is a big writes Nicholas Hirst attraction for the biochemi- cal and biotech sectors. Launched by the Walloon Of the six sectors selected government in 2006, the by the second Marshall plan focused resources of Plan, life sciences is one €4.7bn on innovation and where Wallonia has long growth in sectors, includ- excelled and whose good ing life sciences. health has not diminished These sectors are organ- Liège A prime location and a financially savvy with age, accounting for ised into “clusters” through some 15 per cent of the which funding is chan- mayor have been crucial, writes Nicholas Hirst region’s economy. nelled for R&D, education GlaxoSmithKline and and new businesses. Baxter have long had signif- BioWin, the cluster dedi- ith a breathtaking new ing how this well-connected mayor icant R&D presences in cated to biotechnologies, railway station, a with limited powers is most effective Wallonia, surrounded by counts among its 500 mem- revamped opera house operating as a “facilitator” within Bel- homegrown forces such as bers some 100 companies, 50 and several new muse- gium’s myriad federal structures. UCB, a biopharma company research centres and 11,000 ums, green shoots are “You need to battle at all levels,” that focuses on diseases researchers. It brings uni- Wsprouting in this bustling city on the says Mr Demeyer. “This allowed us to affecting the nervous and versities and companies river Meuse that was at the heart of put the city’s finances in order and at immune systems and gener- together for applied Wallonia’s industrial rise and fall. the same time re-equip it.” ated revenues in 2011 of research projects supported After the near-complete collapse of Indeed, in addition to the sleek San- €3.2bn across 40 countries. by funding from the govern- steel production in Wallonia, public tiago Calatrava-designed station, Morgan Stanley rated its ment, says Mr Lizin. authorities at all levels have striven which hooks Liège into the European shares as one of 20 to hold “This is the first time that to reorient Liège’s economy. This high-speed rail network, several new for 2015, while Goldman industry people are respon- effort appears to be paying off as mul- retail centres have sprung up and the Sachs described a UCB pipe- sible for orientating new tinationals arrive to take advantage of city’s cultural sights have been line drug as a top 10 most research,” he says. The aim the city’s natural strength in logistics. revamped. Tourism has increased and likely to transform the is to ensure research is Small and medium-sized businesses a tram line through the city centre is pharmaceutical industry. market-driven. are carving a niche in fields such as planned for 2017. Fast track: Technical expertise in the area, This includes making decent commer- Smaller companies The cluster is also respon- space technology and broadcasting. As Liège’s major steelworks closed, a new station including research emanating from cial real estate available to them. include Eurogentec, a sup- sible for recruiting talent to The province of Liège’s gross leaving unemployment at close to 20 has linked the the University of Liège, has been a “There is enormous demand for plier of reagents and diag- the industry and scouting domestic product is €24bn with more per cent, some jobs migrated to the city to the powerful incubator for small compa- commercial property in and around nostic kits, and Mithra out international markets than 23,000 companies and rising, growing logistics sector. Liège’s river high-speed nies, including several specialist pro- Liège,” says Christophe Nihon, Phamaceuticals, focused on for its members. according to official estimates. port is Europe’s third largest, han- network Alamy viders in the space sector. founder of ImmoQuest, a commercial female healthcare. Both are In a typical example of a Some credit for this revival must go dling 21m tonnes of cargo a year and Spacebel, for example, designed soft- property agency. Multinationals are spin-offs from Liège Univer- BioWin investment, Mithra to Willy Demeyer, the socialist mayor catering for 25,000 jobs. It has direct ware for the Pléiades project, an earth taking advantage of the location, while sity and export to more lead an early project devel- re-elected in October for another term connections to the sea ports of Ant- observation satellite programme led small businesses have been moving than 40 countries. oping a treatment for cervix after 13 years in charge of Wallonia’s werp and Rotterdam. by France. out of the historic centre, he explains. The biochemical sector cancer resulting from HPV, economic capital. Its attractiveness will increase In parallel, Liège’s expansion into More business parks are on their has solid foundations in done in collaboration with Foremost among his achievements when work is finished in 2015 on the the audio-visual sector has been led way, as Liège pushes to host the 2017 Belgium, says Pierre another SME and the uni- has been the shedding of Liège’s Trilogiport, a multi-modal port facility by EVS Broadcast Equipment, which International Exposition. Liège hosted Hauser, head of external versities of Brussels and colossal debt, which stood at €5bn in that will better integrate the city’s has become the world’s leading pro- the 1939 Expo, although this was scup- research at GSK Vaccines. Liège. The project received the late 1980s and was finally paid off road, rail and waterway networks.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Diapositive 1
    Médiamètre politique RTBF-Auxipress Février 2013 Ministres, secrétaires d’Etat et Présidents de parti Médiamètre politique RTBF-Auxipress Février 2013 Commentaires Bart De Wever revient petit à petit mais sûrement aux devants des médias. Au mois de janvier, il était 2ème loin derrière Di Rupo, le médiamètre du mois de février révèle-t-il plus? Le taux d’occupation des médias d’Elio Di Rupo chute de façon spectaculaire puisqu’en janvier, il dépassait en effet les 12% et qu’au mois de février, il atteint 7,9%. Bart De Wever se maintient en 2ème place, perd beaucoup moins en visibilité que Di Rupo aussi mais dépasse le Premier Ministre dans la presse écrite. Didier Reynders monte sur la 3ème place du podium alors que Kris Peeters est relégué en 8ème place, ce que l’on peut considérer comme un très mauvais score si on analyse sa présence médiatique sur les 3 dernières années. Quelles sont les surprises de ce mois de février? Paul Magnette est toujours dans le top 10 malgré sa sortie du gouvernement fédéral. Il faut dire qu’il a repris la Présidence du PS et que, dans ce registre, il est sans aucun doute plus présent médiatiquement que son prédécesseur Thierry Giet. Il faut également souligné son implication médiatique dans l’annonce des licenciements chez Caterpillar. Hendrik Bogaert, secrétaire d’Etat à la fonction publique, pointe en 9ème place en raison de la fronde des syndicats fâchés de sa politique qui prône la réduction des effectifs et des moyens dans les services publics. Jean-Marc Nollet, Vice-Président et Ministre du développement durable du gouvernement wallon, pointe en 14ème place, secoué par la cacophonie en matière de politique énergétique wallonne.
    [Show full text]
  • Sample Chapter
    Copyright material – 9781137029607 © Kris Deschouwer 2009, 2012 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition 2009 This edition published 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN: 978-1-137-03024-5 hardback ISBN: 978-1-137-02960-7 paperback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
    [Show full text]
  • Plenumvergadering Séance Plénière
    PLENUMVERGADERING SÉANCE PLÉNIÈRE van du DONDERDAG 26 JUNI 2008 JEUDI 26 JUIN 2008 Avond Soir ______ ______ De vergadering wordt geopend om 18.22 uur. In de regeringsbanken hebben plaatsgenomen de heren Yves Leterme, eerste minister, Didier Reynders, vice-eerste minister en minister van Financiën en Institutionele Hervormingen, Patrick Dewael, vice-eerste minister en minister van Binnenlandse Zaken, Joëlle Milquet, vice-eerste minister en minister van Werk en Gelijke Kansen, Karel De Gucht, minister van Buitenlanse Zaken, Marie Arena, minister van Maatschappelijke Integratie, Pensioenen en Grote Steden, Pieter De Crem, minister van Landsverdediging, Vincent Van Quickenborne, minister van Ondernemen en Vereenvoudigen en Melchior Wathelet, staatssecretaris voor Begroting, toegevoegd aan de eerste minister, en staatssecretaris voor Gezinsbeleid, toegevoegd aan de minister van Werk, en wat de aspecten inzake personen- en familierecht betreft, toegevoegd aan minister van Justitie. La séance est ouverte à 18.22 heures. Ont pris place au banc du gouvernement MM. Yves Leterme, premier ministre, Didier Reynders, vice-premier ministre et ministre des Finances et des Réformes institutionnelles, Patrick Dewael, vice-premier ministre et ministre de l'Intérieur, Joëlle Milquet, vice- première ministre et ministre de l'Emploi et de l'Égalité des chances, Karel De Gucht, ministre des Affaires étrangères, Marie Arena, ministre de l'Intégration sociale, des Pensions et des Grandes villes, Pieter De Crem, ministre de la Défense, Vincent Van Quickenborne, ministre pour l'Entreprise et la Simplification et Melchior Wathelet, secrétaire d'État au Budget, adjoint au premier ministre, et secrétaire d'État à la Politique des familles, adjoint à la ministre de l'Emploi, et en ce qui concerne les aspects du droit des personnes et de la famille, adjoint au ministre de la Justice.
    [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]
  • 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]
  • Eurozone Crisis Forces Belgium to Finally Form a Government | World
    Eurozone crisis forces Belgium to finally form a government | World ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/01/eurozone-crisis-forces-b... Eurozone crisis forces Belgium to finally form a government Eurozone crisis forces Belgian politicians to act and form a coalition with French-speaking Elio Di Rupo at the helm Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 December 2011 19.56 GMT Belgium's chief negotiator in charge of forming a cabinet, Elio Di Rupo, (2nd R) and party leaders meet in Brussels, Photograph: Thierry Roge/REUTERS Students tried stripping to their underwear and handing out free chips; giant lions and roosters snogged in the street; the country's leading actor ordered all men to go on shaving strike; and a woman senator said politicians' wives should deny them sex. But in the end, it took a looming financial meltdown in the eurozone to force Belgium's absurdly divided and squabbling political class to form a government. After breaking the modern-day world record for failing to form a government – making war-torn Iraq look like amateurs – Belgium has surmounted the linguistic and cultural stand-off that threatened to wipe it from the map, and agreed to form a coalition in the name of sorting out its finances. After 535 days without a proper leader – the country has been led by a transitional caretaker government – Belgian officials said there was now likely to be a coalition cabinet in place next week. But the crisis has left divisions more deeply entrenched than ever between the rich, Dutch-speaking north and poorer, French-speaking south, with melting pot Brussels marooned in the middle.
    [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]
  • Le Classement Complet De Septembre 2013
    Médiamètre politique RTBF-Auxipress Septembre 2013 Ministres, secrétaires d’Etat et Présidents de parti Médiamètre politique RTBF-Auxipress Septembre 2013 Commentaires D’un point de vue médiatique, la rentrée de septembre semble remettre un peu d’ordre dans les rangs du monde politique. Après deux mois sans briller, Bart De Wever retrouve sa seconde place au sein du médiamètre politique. Septembre aura été pour lui le mois où, dès la rentrée, il aura dû remettre un peu d’ordre dans les déclarations de ses collaborateurs à propos du programme de la NV-A. Mais c’est aussi le mois où le Roi Phillippe et la reine Mathilde auront fait leur joyeuse entrée à Anvers, un événement très commenté. Le Premier ministre Elio Di Rupo garde en revanche tout le monde politique à belle distance et dépasse largement les 10% de taux d’occupation des médias. Didier Reynders recule sur la 3ème marche du podium après un mois d’août loin devant tout le monde, Kris Peeters réintègre le top 5 et Joëlle Milquet ferme la marche… …Juste devant l’homme du mois Jean-Pascal Labille. Le Ministre des entreprises publiques intègre en effet le top 10 de chaque media. Jean-Pascal Labille est un peu un cas particulier. Il a remplacé Paul Magnette début 2013 et continue d’affirmer qu’il ne sera pas candidat aux prochaines élections. En attendant, il est sollicité par l’actualité de son mandat et existe médiatiquement. Deux dossiers l’ont accaparé au mois de septembre: Le dossier des nominations à la SNCB mais surtout Belgacom empêtré dans des dossiers d’espionnage et de bonne ou mauvaise gouvernance selon l’angle sous lequel on observe la situation.
    [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]
  • Gouvernement Jean-Luc Dehaene II (23.06.1995 – 14.06.1999)
    Gouvernement Jean-Luc Dehaene II (23.06.1995 – 14.06.1999) Quadripartite : CVP / PS / SP / PSC 15 ministres et 2 secrétaires d’Etat Jean-Luc Dehaene , CVP : Premier ministre. Elio Di Rupo , PS : vice-Premier ministre, Reginald Moreels , CVP : secrétaire d’État à la ministre de l’Économie et des Coopération au développement, adjoint au Télécommunications Premier ministre Johan Van De Lanotte , SP : vice-Premier Jan Peeters , SP : secrétaire d’État à la ministre, ministre de l’Intérieur Sécurité et l’Environnement Melchior Wathelet , PSC : vice-Premier ministre, ministre de la Défense nationale Philippe Maystadt , PSC : ministre des Finances et du Commerce extérieur Herman Van Rompuy , CVP : vice-Premier ministre, ministre du Budget Yvan Ylieff , PS : ministre de la Politique scientifique Marcel Colla , SP : ministre de la Santé publique et des Pensions Erik Derycke , SP : ministre des Affaires étrangères Miet Smet , CVP : ministre de l’Emploi et du Travail, chargée de la Politique d’égalité des chances entre hommes et femmes Magda De Galan, PS : ministre des Affaires sociales Karel Pinxten , CVP : ministre de l’Agriculture et des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises Michel Daerden , PS : ministre des Transports Stefaan De Clerck , CVP : ministre de la Justice André Flahaut , PS : ministre de la Fonction publique Remaniements et modifications de compétences : 3 septembre 1995 Melchior Wathelet démissionne. Philippe Maystadt devient vice-Premier ministre. Jean-Pol Poncelet , PSC, devient ministre de la Défense nationale. 24 avril 1998 Johan Vande Lanotte et Stefaan De Clerck démissionnent. Louis Tobback , SP, devient vice-Premier ministre, ministre de l’Intérieur. Tony Van Parys , CVP, devient ministre de la Justice.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Signs Are That Belgium Is Heading for More Political Deadlock Over Who Should Form the Next Government
    The early signs are that Belgium is heading for more political deadlock over who should form the next government blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2014/06/24/the-early-signs-are-that-belgium-is-heading-toward-more-political- deadlock-over-who-should-form-the-next-government/ 24/06/2014 Belgium held federal elections in May, with negotiations currently on-going over the makeup of the next government. As Peter Van Aelst writes, a key concern is that the country could experience political deadlock of the kind which occurred after the 2010 elections, where it took 541 days of negotiations before a government could be formed. He notes that while there appears to be more urgency than there was in 2010, the linguistic cleavage between French and Dutch-speaking parties will still be exceptionally difficult to overcome. Belgium has built a reputation when it comes to chocolate, beer and cycling. More recently, we are also making a name for ourselves when it comes to government formation – or, more precisely, the inability to make a government within a reasonable amount of time. After the 2007 election it took 194 days to form a government, while the 2010 election led to a world record breaking process of 541 days. So it comes as no surprise that today, one month after the federal elections on 25 May, not a single Belgian expected to have a new government. Why is the government formation process in Belgium so complicated? Forming a government in Belgium has never been easy. Belgium is a federal country mainly based on a linguistic cleavage between Francophones and Dutch-speaking inhabitants.
    [Show full text]