EU/BRUSSELS SERIES: Belgium Blues- What happens to Brussels?

When Belgium’s Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigned in July after just four months on the job, the country didn’t reach a stand still. To a visitor of the region, it didn’t seem like much was off at all. Businesses were open, people were working, trains ran on time, and daily activities continued as usual.

This life-continues mentality isn’t much of a surprise since Belgium has weathered times without government before. In June 2007, the country went 6 months without a government.

What’s concerning is why Leterme reigned: he failed to find a way to give more autonomy to French-speaking Wallonia in the south and Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, a problem that has given way to talks of splitting the country in two.

Leterme said in a statement that he could not reach a resolution because the divide between the two was just too deep.

The King of Belgium has rejected the resignation of Leterme. What this means for the country is unclear.

What is also unclear is what would happen to Brussels, the administrative city of the European Union.

According to Andrew E. Hillman, policy advisor to a member of the European Parliament, “Belgium united is a national issue… the EU will never prevent the country from splitting, but we are against it. …The EU does fund unity parades, but legally we can’t prevent Belgium from splitting.”

About 40 percent of people living in Brussels are not Belgians because of the population of EU personnel, so if a split was to occur Flanders would not want to include Brussels in their country, Hillman said.

Flanders would have to reapply to join the EU, borders would need to be put up, and they would have no EU rights, he said.

If it did happen, Hillman said, “the idea would be to make Brussels an independent area- like Washington D.C.”

RELATED LINKS:

A Belgian Divorce?
Belgium’s No Government Blues
Mission Impossible: Leading Belgium