Country profilesBelgium

Humanitarian profile

A former colonial power, Belgium still maintains close links to central Africa, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. Belgium has substantially increased its overseas development assistance budget and is gradually aligning its humanitarian assistance with international standards, according to the OECD.

Country snapshot

Belgium is part of the Benelux countries often described as Europe’s lowland. It is relatively densely populated with about 10.5 million people living in a country 320 times smaller than the United States. Its countryside rolls south from the sandy, wind-swept shoreline, through flat central farmland and into the forests of the gentle Ardennes hills. 

Belgium’s stature in world affairs is underpinned by its capital Brussels which is home to a host of inter-governmental bodies and agencies such as the European Union and NATO, the Western military alliance. This global cache draws an international crowd to Brussels which has always been one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities. However, outside Brussels life in Belgium is still deeply rooted in tradition. There are also stark divisions within Belgian society between the French speaking Wallonia in south and the Flemish speaking Flanders in the north. This division runs deep and analysts have said it is likely that the country will split in half.

Belgium has always been at the heart of European trade and after Brussels its two main cities are Bruges, a noted port, and Antwerp, famed for being at the centre of the world’s diamond trade.

Government

Belgium is a kingdom with a parliamentary democracy. King Albert II is the head of state and the Prime Minister is head of the government. The Belgian parliament has two houses – the House of Representatives, the lower and directly elected chamber, and the Senate, the upper chamber. Within the House of Representatives there are 11 electoral districts each allocated a certain number of seats according to the size of their population.

The constitution states that these are divided roughly along the same lines as the result of the election for the House of Representatives.  Two electoral colleges – one Flemish and one French – directly elect 40 senators, three community parliaments elect another 21 senators – 10 each by the Flemish and French community parliaments and one by the German speaking community parliament – and 10 are elected by the senators themselves.

Belgium’s politics are based mainly on linguistic and ethnic lines and are often fragile as a result. Governments are formed through complex coalitions rather than outright winners and often splinter and fail. In April 2010, a five party coalition government finally collapsed over continued linguistic arguments triggering a new election. In June 2010, the separatists New Flemish Alliance won a parliamentary election with 27 seats. The second biggest party was the Socialist party, a French speaking party. Coalition governments take months to form in Belgium and it had still not been able to form a working coalition by the time it took over the rotating presidency of the European Union during the second half of 2010. 

Economy

Belgium has the eight biggest economy in Europe, worth roughly $380 billion which is slightly larger than Greece. It is a member of the euro zone and therefore does not have its own currency. Belgians have enjoyed a relatively extensive welfare state system and the country’s debt to GDP ratio is the third highest in Europe behind Greece and Italy.

Belgium developed its industrial base in the second half of the 20^th century. Most of the heavy industry concentrated in the north of the country in Flanders. This imbalance feeds into Flemish resentment that they are subsidising poorer Wallonia.

In the wake of the global financial downturn of 2008/9, economists have warned Belgium that it needs to reduce its government spending. Belgium’s government debt grew during the global financial crisis and government spending reached nearly half of total GDP. Belgium is considered a high tax country with the highest rate of income tax at around 50 percent.

All three of Belgium’s publically listed financial institutions needed state aid to survive the 2008/9 global financial downturn. Unemployment has also jumped to around 7 percent.

History

From the Napoleonic Wars in the 19^th century to the First and Second World Wars in the 20^th century, Belgium has been a regular battlefield for European armies. It was a series of small states and principalities but it emerged after the Napoleonic Wars as a modern nation when a revolution in 1830 set up a neutral, unified kingdom.

In 1885, an international conference in Berlin notoriously ceded control of the Congo in central Africa to King Leopold II of Belgium personally. The Congo was a lucrative source of Ivory and rubber production. The king’s  administration of the country became renowned for its savagery and use of slaves. In 1908, the Belgium state took over the Congo and renamed it the Belgium Congo. Belgium lost control of the Congo and other African countries it had subsumed in the 1960s when Africa moved away from colonialism.

In 1914 Germany invaded Belgium and moved across it into France. Much of the fiercest fighting in World War I took place along the western edge of Belgium. Nazi Germany invaded Belgium again in 1940 and it once again became a major battle ground in World War II. After the war controversy surrounded the conduct of King Leopold III and a general strike in 1950 forced him to abdicate in favour of his 20-year-old son.

Belgium was a founding member of NATO in 1949 and also a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 which morphed into what is now the European Union.

Legal snapshot

A modified version of the Napoleonic Code is still in use. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. Judges are appointed for life. They are picked from candidacies submitted by the High Justice Council.