KINGDOM OF BELGIUM Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Activity Report 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Mr Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs ............................................ 4 Foreword by Mr. Jean-Pascal Labille, Minister for Development Cooperation ........................5 1. Resources ....................................................................................................... 6 1. Internal organisation of the FPS ....................................................................................... 6 National Security Authority (ANS/NVO) ............................................................................ 6 Revamped mission websites ............................................................................................ 6 Modernisation of the Central Administration’s website .................................................... 6 2. Personnel ...........................................................................................................................7 New Staff Director ............................................................................................................7 Number of staff employed and trend at Central Administration and abroad ....................7 Number and type of embassies and consulates .............................................................. 8 3. Buildings ............................................................................................................................ 9 Buildings abroad .............................................................................................................. 9 Buildings in Belgium ......................................................................................................... 9 4. Budget and financial resources .........................................................................................10 2. Serving the public .......................................................................................... 12 1. Protocol ............................................................................................................................. 12 Preferential rights and immunities .................................................................................. 12 Visits by foreign dignitaries and security of diplomatic missions .................................... 12 Egmont Palace and Conference Centre ........................................................................... 13 Val Duchesse / Hertoginnedal Domain ............................................................................. 13 Nobility and honours ...................................................................................................... 13 2. Consular affairs ................................................................................................................14 US Visa Waiver Program ...................................................................................................14 Electronic identity cards (eID) for Belgians residing abroad ...........................................14 Biometric passports and visas ........................................................................................14 Belgian passport production ........................................................................................... 15 Law of persons ............................................................................................................... 15 Schengen House ............................................................................................................. 16 Asylum and migration ..................................................................................................... 16 3. Crisis management ........................................................................................................... 17 Travel advice ................................................................................................................... 17 Contingency planning ..........................................................................................................17 When nature calls … ........................................................................................................ 17 Hot spots .............................................................................................................................17 Sporting climax ................................................................................................................ 18 National mourning .......................................................................................................... 18 FACT ................................................................................................................................ 18 Interest groups ............................................................................................................... 18 B-FAST in action .............................................................................................................. 19 4. Peace-building ................................................................................................................. 20 Initiatives for a more peaceful world ............................................................................. 20 Two practical examples: follow-up of funded projects in North Uganda and Burundi .......................................... 20 2 Table of contents 3. Policy ..............................................................................................................22 1. Belgium in the world: bilateral activities ...........................................................................22 Western Europe, Central Europe and North America .......................................................22 BLEU-Benelux and cross-border cooperation ..................................................................23 Eastern and South Eastern Europe and Central Asia .......................................................24 Middle East and North Africa .......................................................................................... 26 Africa .............................................................................................................................. 28 Asia and Oceania ........................................................................................................... 30 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) ...........................................................................32 Central America ...............................................................................................................33 Diplomacy and economy .................................................................................................34 2. Belgium in the European Union ........................................................................................ 37 EU’s response to the financial and economic crisis ......................................................... 37 The Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 ......................................................... 38 The European Union’s Foreign Trade ...............................................................................39 Continued fall in transpositions and increase in the number of Belgian transposition acts ....................................................39 Number of Commission infringement proceedings against Belgium did not sufficiently reduce ............................................................................................. 40 Belgian representation before the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Court of Justice of the EFTA ...................................................................................... 40 3. Belgium in a multilateral context ......................................................................................42 Multilateral coordination .................................................................................................42 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) .....................................................................42 Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union (CSDP) ............................42 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) .........................................42 Cyber security .................................................................................................................43 Fight against terrorism ....................................................................................................43 Belgium and the United Nations budget .........................................................................43 Human rights ................................................................................................................. 44 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ................................45 Challenges in the area of nuclear non-proliferation .......................................................45 International Arms Trade Treaty and the fight against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons ...................... 46 Hissène Habré ................................................................................................................ 46 Exploitation of the seabed, a promising economic sector ..............................................47 4. Belgian Development Cooperation .................................................................................