Beyond any shame (The BHV saga, part 1)

Flemish politicians showed their true faces these last weeks, as another one of their major election promises went down and everybody was holding on to their positions, car drivers, and expense notes. Especially federal PM Guy Verhofstadt and his VLD seem to screw up time after time and they don't want to take their responsability. Four majors promises the VLD made in the 2004 regional elections: the creation of 200,000 new jobs, lowering taxes, keeping the DHL European HQ at Brussels National Airport and the scission of the unconstitutional electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV). One year later, there are 85,000 more unemployed, the tax pressure is higher than ever before, DHL announced to leave for Leipzig, and the scission of BHV has become undiscussable.

But also all other Flemish government parties, Spirit, SP.A (both in the federal and regional governments), CD&V and N-VA (both only in the Flemish government) are to blame. They promised the immediate scission of BHV as the first item in the coalition agreement of 2004. The electoral district of BHV is unconstitutional and an anachronism in the Belgian federal context.

What is this about? You'll probably find this boring, but the Belgian situation is very complex and you cannot understand the troubles without knowing this. Belgium is divided in three regions and three linguistic communities, according to a principle of territoriality. The three regions are Flanders (North), Wallonia (South), and the Brussels Capital Region, which is an enclave in Flanders. The regions have competences on territorial issues: economy, transport, environment, housing, supervision of provinces and municipalities, energy, town and country planning, and public works. The three linguistic communities are the Flemish Community (Flanders and Dutch-speaking people in Brussels), the French Community (French speakers in Brussels and Wallonia, but without nine German-speaking municipalities in the East), and the German-speaking Community (nine municipalities in the province of Liège). The linguistic communities have competences on person-related issues: education, research, healthcare, and social services. Both regions and communities have the right of concluding treaties with foreign countries and regions and have to ratify all treaties concluded by the federal government (so e.g. also the European Constitution). The only exception on the territoriality principle is the Brussels region: people can choose to use the facilities of the Flemish or the French Community. Population numbers: Flanders 6.0 million, Brussels 1.0 million (of which about 70% French speakers, 15% Dutch speakers and the rest foreigners), Wallonia 3.3 million, the German-speaking Community 71,000.

There are two kinds of parities, in order to protect the major minorities. There is a parity in the federal government, while all constitutional changes need a majority in both the French and Flemish parts of the Chamber of People's Representatives (the Lower House). Both linguistic groups can also veto laws by using the so-called alarm-bell procedure, which refers the law to the federal government. In that case, the government has to reach an agreement or new elections will be called. The same veto rights exist for the Flemish minority in Brussels.

Some other facts you have to know:
1) Brussels was historically a Dutch-speaking city (less than 5% French-speakers in 1795, less than 20% in 1830, about 50% in 1945). The fact that the national administration was based there, drawed tens of thousand of immigrants from Wallonia to Brussels. Since the French was the only official language in the 19th century (see next point), a lot of Flemish people in Brussels Frenchified.
2) Belgium was created by the French-speaking upper class of both Flanders and Wallonia. They ignored the 60% Dutch-speaking majority in the country. During the 19th century, French was the only official language. The Flemish fought for their rights peacefully and only in the 1930s, Dutch was the second official language on all levels. However, the Flemish kept on behaving like the minority, while the Francophones felt they lost power in the country, behaved like a majority, but felt like a minority.
3) The German-speaking Community is part of what Belgium gained in the Versailles treaty of 1919. Ancient German-speaking areas in the provinces of Luxembourg (around Arlon) and Liège have been heavily Frenchified and there are no linguistic rights for German speakers.
4) Actually, the French-speakers were the ones that choose the territoriality principle over the personality principle (in the 1930s). They were afraid all of them had to learn the good-for-nothing Dutch to get higher administration jobs. In that case, all of Belgium would have been officially bilingual.
5) There are no national political parties in Belgium. The Socialists, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens and even the Communists have all their own parties for Dutch and French Speakers. (The German-speaking equivalents are part of the French-speaking ones.) Flanders has some nationalist parties, from left-wing (Spirit) to right-wing (N-VA and Vlaams Belang). There is also one far-right Francophone party (Front National) and a regional party for German speakers (PJU-PDB). Most lobby organisations are also regional (although a federal umbrella organisation might exist).
6) Almost every issue in Belgium, also and sometimes especially the socio-economic ones, divides the Flemish and the Francophones. In the North and the South of the country, there are is a totally different socio-economic situation and different view about how to deal with it. Flanders is one of the richest regions in Europe, while Wallonia is in the lower half of the EU's regions. Flanders and Wallonia have different views on state interference, dealing with unemployment, crime and youth crime, privitization, traffic regulations, money raising for social security, expenses in healthcare, etc...

Back to BHV. What is the problem here?

Belgium used to have constituencies with sice of one or two districts (arrondissements). The old Brussels arrondissement was split in 1963 between Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde, but remained one electoral district: Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV). Halle-Vilvoorde is the Western part of the province of Flemish Brabant and thus part of the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community. The Brussels arrondissement coincides with the Brussels Capital Region and is an enclave in Flemish Brabant. The Flemish have been asking for splitting the electoral district for more than 40 years, since it paves the way for further Frenchification of Halle-Vilvoorde. The French-speakers oppose it, since it would cut off the French-speaking political heaviweights in Brussels from their electors in the Flemish hinterland of Brussels. It is so not true that a scission of BHV would take away the opportunity of voting for French-speaking parties in Halle-Vilvoorde. French-speakers have their own seats in the Flemish Parliament (1) and the Flemish Brabant Provincial Council (5). They could have their separate lists for federal and European elections. But it would mean the Brussels MR couldn't try to improve its position using votes of rabid Francophones in the Brussels périphérie anymore. Btw, Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde also still form one bilingual judicial district (that both the Flemish and the Francophones want to split, but they don't agree on the conditions).

In his first term, PM Verhofstadt wanted to redraw the electoral districts. The arrondissements were deemed too small and an advantage for the CD&V (so a disadvantage to his VLD). So, the federal and the Flemish governments decided to have provincial constituencies for the federal and Flemish elections. Except for Brabant. For the Walloon (and thus the French Community) elections, the old constituencies are still used. The old province of Brabant, was split in Flemish Brabant (1.0 million people), Walloon Brabant (0.35 million people) and Brussels (1.0 million people) in 1995. Before, it was a bilingual province with parts of three regions and two communities on its territory. It consisted of three constituencies: Nivelles (Walloon Brabant), Louvain (Flemish Brabant) and BHV, with list connections between the three of them. Verhofdstadt's electoral reform though kept the old constituencies in Brabant. In 2004, the Constitutional Court (then the Court d'Arbitrage) decided that this regulation was unconstitutional, because it was not fair to the people in Flemish Brabant they could not vote for provincial lists while the rest of the country could and that this situation should be solved before 2007, the year normally the next federal elections are held.

Actually the Constitutional Court did not say BHV has to be split, although that's the way the Flemish political parties and public opinion have interpreted it. One solution could be going back to the old constituencies (one/two arrondissements). Another solution would be taking all of the old province of Brabant and making it one constituency. Both solutions go against the logic of a federal state though and could be challenged again before the Constitutional Court.

To be continued...