State structure of Belgium. Belgium government system encyclopedic reference book

According to the form of state-territorial structure, Belgium is a federal state consisting of communities and regions. Communities are built according to cultural-linguistic principles, and regions - according to linguistic-territorial ones. Belgium includes 3 communities: French, Flemish and German-speaking and 3 regions: Walloon, Flemish and Brussels (bilingual). The transition from a unitary to a federal structure in Belgium occurred on January 1, 1989, due to many years of conflict between the two main nationalities - the Flemings and the French-speaking Walloons.

Relevant representative and executive bodies have been created in communities and regions. At the same time, the regions of Belgium are administratively and territorially divided into 10 provinces (5 each in Flanders and Wallonia).

The Constitution of 1831 is in force.

According to the form of government, Belgium is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy. The Constitution enshrines the principle of separation of powers: legislative power is exercised by the King and Parliament, executive power by the King and the Government, and judicial power by the courts. The political regime is democratic.

The king is the head of state. In accordance with the Constitution, it exercises legislative and executive powers. The King shares legislative powers with the Parliament, in relation to which he has significant rights: he approves and promulgates laws adopted by the Parliament, can dissolve it, convene it for an emergency session, postpone sessions of the chambers (but not more than 1 month), has the right to leave the Government in power , which does not enjoy the confidence of Parliament, and call new elections. The King's relations with the executive branch are structured as follows. The king appoints and approves ministers, but not a single act of his is valid without the countersignature (signature) of the corresponding minister, who is responsible for it. The person of the King is inviolable (Article 88 of the Constitution). He has powers in the field of international relations: he concludes treaties with foreign states, declares war and makes peace, and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The Belgian Parliament is a bicameral representative body. By the beginning of 2000, the House of Representatives had 150 deputies elected for 4 years through direct elections using a system of proportional representation. The Senate consists of 71 people, of which 1 is the heir to the crown, 40 are elected by direct elections (25 in Flanders and 15 in Wallonia), 10 people each from the Flemish Council and the Council of the French Community, 1 from the Council of the German-speaking Community and, accordingly, 6 and 4 new members are co-opted by Flemish and Francophone senators. The term of office of the Senate is also 4 years. In accordance with the 1921 reform, the right to be elected to the Senate was limited by a number of conditions (including property qualifications) that are not required for elections to the House of Representatives. Thus, the special role of the Senate was emphasized. However, both chambers are equal, their specific rights are insignificant. An amendment passed in 1970 provided for the creation of a French and a Flemish linguistic group in each House to prevent violations of the rights of persons belonging to different linguistic communities.

Each year, both chambers meet in sessions that last at least 40 days a year. Meetings of the chambers are held separately, but in some cases (for example, taking the oath of the King) they meet for joint sessions. Committees are created in the chambers, which play an important role in the legislative activities of Parliament. In particular, all bills pass through them. All members of Parliament and the Government have the right of legislative initiative. However, the procedure for adopting laws indicates the priority of government bills. While a government bill is put before the chambers immediately after its introduction, a bill introduced by a parliamentarian can be rejected by the chairman of the house before being considered by the deputies if he decides that the bill does not deserve attention. In 1980, it was established that laws relating to national and linguistic issues could only be put to a vote if there was a "special majority" (the presence of a majority of members in each linguistic group). A bill is considered adopted if at least 2/3 of the “special majority” votes for it.

In addition to the main function of passing laws, Parliament has a number of other powers: it approves the budget, trade treaties or agreements that impose certain obligations on the state, annually decides on the size of the armed forces, grants naturalization, and appoints members of the Supreme Court. Without the consent of Parliament, the King cannot appoint a successor for himself in the absence of male offspring, and cannot become the head of another state. As for the control functions of Parliament, they are essentially limited to interpellations (requests) and questions.

The Constitution does not define the Government, although a special section is devoted to ministers. Acting under the leadership of the Prime Minister, they form the Council of Ministers - the Government of Belgium. Article 96 of the Constitution establishes that its members are appointed and dismissed by the King, but the King must form a Government that enjoys the confidence of Parliament. In accordance with Article 99, when forming a government, the national principle is taken into account: the number of ministers representing Walloons and Flemings must be equal. Immediately after the formation of the Government, a government program (declaration) is submitted to the highest legislative body for consideration. If the program is not approved by at least one chamber, and the Government does not receive a vote of confidence, it is forced to resign.

The powers of the Government are regulated by law in the most general terms. The Prime Minister has fairly broad rights, although the Constitution does not say anything about him. Its powers are enshrined in a number of regulations (in particular, the Royal Decree of 1939 establishing the General Administration Service and the Regency Decree of 1946). The Head of Government determines the main directions of activity of the Council of Ministers, organizes the work of its meetings (he himself determines the agenda, expresses opinions that form the basis for decisions made). He is the link between the King and the executive bodies, regularly informs the King about the main problems facing the state, speaks on behalf of the Government in Parliament, sets out the government program and is responsible for it, interpellations are sent to him.

Government decisions take the form of royal decrees or ministerial decrees. In addition, in certain cases, the Government exercises legislative functions delegated to it by Parliament.

The State Council is a legal body that decides on the conformity of bills submitted to Parliament for consideration with the Constitution. The members of the Council are appointed by the King for life from persons who have the title of Doctor of Law and who have performed judicial functions or taught law at a university for at least 10 years. The State Council consists of 2 sections - legislative and administrative. The legislative section, at the request of Parliament and the Government, gives opinions on the legality of draft regulations, the administrative section - on the invalidation of acts of various administrative bodies and examines administrative disputes, acting as a cassation authority.

The province is headed by governors appointed by the King, who govern together with elected provincial councils and permanent deputations (the executive body).

Legal system

general characteristics

Since the formation of the independent Belgian state (1830), its legislation has been based on five French codes: Civil (Napoleon Code), Commercial, Criminal, Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure, which were published in 1804-1910. (cm. chapter"France"), when the territory of Belgium was under the rule of Napoleon. All of them had a decisive influence on the development of Belgian law, and the Civil Code is still in force today. True, when saving general structure Entire sections were replaced, new provisions were included, and the wording of most articles was changed. In particular, as a result of the reforms of 1958 and especially 1976, the provisions relating to the rights and mutual responsibilities of spouses underwent significant revisions (the property independence of women has noticeably expanded, although legal inequality between the sexes remains). At the same time, the articles regulating the right of ownership and the law of obligations have not undergone fundamental changes.

The Belgian Commercial Code, adopted in 1872, incorporated several sections of the previously existing French Commercial Code of 1807. It was subject to repeated reforms, the most important of which were carried out in 1935, 1956 and 1975. Thus, in 1935, the Law on Companies was included in it as an independent section (subsequently also subject to changes more than once - for example, in 1986 the Law on Individual Limited Liability Partnerships of a single participant was issued).

Labor relations in Belgium are largely determined by the Pact of Social Solidarity, negotiated underground by representatives of trade unions and employers in 1944 during the Nazi occupation. In accordance with it, personnel delegations take part in production management at enterprises; at the industry level, parity commissions have been created from representatives of trade unions and entrepreneurs; The National Labor Council, the Central Economic Council and other bodies operate at the national level. There is a developed system of labor legislation, including acts that regulate General terms Labor (Labor Act 1971) and concrete questions hiring and firing, safety, etc. In particular, the Contracts of Employment Act 1978 introduced the concept of “fair dismissal” applicable to the individual employee. Under the Collective Bargaining and Bargaining Commissions Act 1968, most issues labor relations regulated in collective agreements (when they are concluded, workers’ representatives often undertake not to resort to strikes if the entrepreneurs do not violate the terms of the agreement). Collective agreements (most often sectoral) determine the levels wages, retirement age, sanitary standards etc. The rights of civil servants to form trade unions and conclude collective agreements have been recognized in Belgium since 1974.

The country has a developed social security system. Legislation in this area is mainly the implementation of European Union (EU) regulations and provides for the conditions and procedure for the granting of old age and disability pensions, unemployment insurance, sickness insurance, etc. (for example, the 1971 Act and the 1987 Royal Regulation on Benefits in case of accidents at work).

Legislation on environmental protection includes acts of a general nature and very specific ones. One of the general acts is the Nature Conservation Law of 1971, which provides for the protection of flora, fauna, forests, and the creation of national parks. In the 1960s laws were issued to protect the sea from pollution by fuel waste (1962), to combat pollution atmospheric air(1964), Royal Decree on the requirements for drinking water(1965), etc. In 1975, the Animal Protection Law was issued, which established criminal sanctions for cruelty to animals. In 1988 - royal decrees on measures against air pollution from automobile exhaust and on measures to preserve fish stocks.

The current Criminal Code of 1867 was drawn up under the influence of the French Criminal Code of 1810, but differs significantly from it, including in the interpretation of a number of institutions of the General Part (attempt, complicity, etc.), in the desire for greater individualization of punishment in the spirit of bourgeois-liberal criminal legal ideas. Since 1976, after the creation of the corresponding commission, work has been underway to prepare a new criminal code. The death penalty, although provided for by the Criminal Code of 1867, was actually abolished for ordinary crimes in 1863. After the execution of Nazi criminals and collaborators in 1944-1950. no death sentences were carried out. In 1996, the Belgian Parliament abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

The Criminal Procedure Code of 1878, from the moment of its adoption to the present day, includes entire sections from the French Code of Criminal Procedure of 1808. In 1967, the Judicial Code was adopted, which regulates “the organization of courts and tribunals, their competence and operating procedures” (Art. 1). By this adoption, the previously existing Civil Procedure Code was abolished, and Section IV of the Judicial Code (“On Civil Procedure”) is now devoted to the issues previously regulated by it.

Along with these main codes, there are a number of consolidated acts, which are often (officially or in private publications) also called codes: Electoral, Forestry, Agricultural, Tax, etc.

Since the 1960s. In Belgium, a commission is working to prepare for publication in Dutch (it is spoken by about 55% of the population) of the texts of the Constitution, codes and other important laws. As a result, the Dutch texts of the Constitution, Civil and Criminal Codes and other acts were officially published, using the same force as the French original.

Scientific research in the field of law are concentrated at the law faculties of the Free University of Brussels, the Catholic University of Louvain, as well as the universities of Ghent and Liege.

Political structure
The Kingdom of Belgium is a constitutional parliamentary republic. The head of the country is the king. The country has a Constitution dated February 7, 1831, with the latest amendments dated July 14, 1993, when a package of laws on the creation of a federal state was approved and today there are three levels of government in Belgium - federal, regional and linguistic-communal with a clear delineation of powers and responsibilities.

The highest legislative body is the bicameral parliament: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (elections to these bodies occur simultaneously every 4 years). The Senate consists of 71 members (40 elected by direct popular vote, 31 by indirect popular vote). Elections to the Chamber of Deputies (150 seats) take place on the basis of proportional representation through direct voting.

The head of state is the king. The head of government is the prime minister. Members of the cabinet, as well as the prime minister, are appointed by the king and approved by parliament. According to the Constitution, language parity is observed in the government: half of the ministers must be representatives of the Dutch-speaking community, half - representatives of the French-speaking community.

The main thesis of domestic policy- the state federal structure of Belgium can only be effective if a balance is maintained between solidarity and financial autonomy of its three main regions.
Main foreign policy priorities countries in the near future: promoting the expansion and transformation of the European Union into a more centralized organization. It is primarily about creating a new government structure, especially in the sphere of formation of a common foreign policy of Europe and combat-ready Armed Forces in order to take its rightful place in modern world politics. At the same time, Belgium does not forget to emphasize the traditional priority of its participation in NATO and the WEU.

Belgian Judiciary relies on case law. Judges are appointed by the king for life, but are selected by the government of the country.

Administrative divisions of Belgium
In Belgium there is a parallel dual system administrative division. First division: Belgium is divided into three regions: Flemish, Walloon, Brussels-Capital Region. The Flemish and Walloon regions are in turn divided into provinces: in the Flemish region there are five provinces (Antwerp, Limburg, East Flanders, West Flanders, Flemish Brabant), in the Walloon region there are also five (Hainaut, Liege, Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant)

Second division: into three linguistic communities: the Flemish Community (Flemish Region and Brussels-Capital Region), the French Community (Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region), and the German-Speaking Community (part of the province of Liege).

The provinces are governed by a governor, appointed by the king on the proposal of the government and reporting to the Minister of the Interior. He controls the activities of all administrative bodies in the province, including the provincial council, elected simultaneously with parliament, and city burgomasters.

The main parties of modern Belgium :
The Citizens' Party (FLD) - the Flemish Liberals and Democrats - was formed as a result of the split of the Belgian Freedom and Progress Party in 1972. Since 1999, the FLD has been the strongest party in Belgium: its leader Guy Verhofstadt heads the country's government. The party stands for the independence of Flanders within federal Belgium and federal Europe, for pluralism, political and economic freedom of citizens and the development of democracy. FLD calls for limiting the influence of the state through deregulation and privatization while preserving social guarantees for those who need them. The party also advocates for the granting of civil rights to immigrants and their integration into Belgian society while preserving their cultural identity.

“Socialist Party – Otherwise” is a party of Flemish socialists that arose in 1978 as a result of a split in the all-Belgian Socialist Party. Relies on the trade union movement, has influence in mutual aid funds and the cooperative movement.

Belgian Armed Forces consist of a land army, Air Force, Navy and the federal police. The country's territory is divided into three military districts (Brussels, Antwerp, Liege). The annual number of conscripts (men) is 63.2 thousand people. The conscription age is 19 years old. Defense expenditures reached almost $3 billion (2002), their share in GDP is 1.4%.

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Ministry economic development RF

State educational institution

Higher professional education

All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade

Far Eastern branch

Faculty of Law

Department of Public Law

Coursework in the discipline Constitutional Law of Foreign Countries

Topic: Belgian Federation and its features

Scientific adviser:

Dean of the Department of Public Law

Nasonova O.O

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Introduction………………………………………………………………3

Chapter 1. Concept and characteristics of federal states……………..…..5

Chapter 2. Belgian Federation……………………………………………………………..8

2.1 History of the creation of the Belgian Federation…………………………….8

2.2 The main reasons for the federalization of Belgium……………………… …..11

3.1 Public administration system…………………………..……13

3.1.1 Federal government…………… ……………………….…….14

3.1.2 “Brussels Capital Region”……………………………..……17

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….21

List of references………………………………………………………..23

Introduction

The theme of the federal structure of the state could not be more relevant in the modern world. Currently there are about 200 sovereign states, and only 26 of them are federations. However, despite such a small number, their importance for modern society invaluable. Of these twenty-two states, 1 is a world banking center (Switzerland), 4 are included in the " big eight"(USA, Canada, Russia, Germany), 6 have a high level of economic development (Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Malaysia, UAE). Federal states exist on all continents and, as a rule, occupy leading positions there. A federal state is the youngest form of state-territorial structure, most of them arose in the 20th century (except for Switzerland (1291) and the USA (1787) But in their less than century-long existence, they have already managed to make a lot of noise in the world and intercept the palm branch of progress). .

Belgium is one of the classic examples of a "nation state". After the end of the Second World War, the processes of nationalization in states acquired a new meaning in connection with the official recognition of the principle of self-determination of peoples as one of the fundamental principles of modern international law. And already from the middle of the twentieth century. Quebec in Canada, Northern Ireland in Great Britain, the Basque Country in Spain, Padania in Italy, Corsica in France, and Flanders in Belgium began to declare their desire for independence with renewed vigor. Belgium has relied on a peaceful path of gradual federalization.

The subject of this coursework is the Belgian Federation.

The purpose of this course work is to reveal the features of the Belgian Federation.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were solved:

1. establishing the essence of the concept of federation
2. History of the creation of the Belgian Federation
3. highlighting the features of the federal structure of Belgium

Chapter 1. Concept and characteristics of federal states

Federation (Latin foederatio - association, union) is a form of government in which parts of a federal state are state entities with legally defined political independence.

Seven of the eight largest countries in the world have a federal structure. Their total territory covers half of the entire Earth's area, and their population exceeds 1.5 billion people. In total, there are 26 federal states in the world, occupying 51.8% of the Earth's surface, whose inhabitants make up 39% of the world's population. Among them are two large North American states - the USA and Canada, European ones - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, a number of states in the Afro-Asian region (India, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, Papua New Guinea, etc.).

Federation as a form of government has a number of specific features:

1. The federation consists of state entities (states in the USA, Mexico, India, Australia, states in Germany and Austria, provinces in Canada, cantons in Switzerland), which have the status of subjects of the federation with their own administrative-territorial structure and their own organization of government. These entities have their own competence.

2. Unlike a unitary state, the territory of a federal state does not represent a single whole. It consists, as a rule, of the territories of the constituent entities of the federation.

3. The subjects of the federation are not states in the proper sense of the word; they do not have sovereignty, although it is formally proclaimed in some federations. Subjects of the federation, as a rule, are either completely deprived of the right to participate in international relations(Austria), or their foreign policy competence is very limited and is carried out under the control of the federation (USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland). As a rule, it concerns issues within the competence of the subjects of the federation and does not affect the sphere of political relations.

4. In most foreign federations, along with the general federal constitution and general federal laws, there are constitutions and laws of the constituent entities of the federation (USA, Germany, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, etc.). At the same time, the supremacy of the federal constitution and federal laws is ensured.

5. In most foreign federations, along with federal citizenship, there is also citizenship of the constituent entities of the federation. It should be borne in mind, however, that we're talking about not about dual citizenship, but about two levels of citizenship of one state. A prerequisite for obtaining citizenship of a subject of the federation is the presence of general federal citizenship.

6. A distinctive feature of a federal government system is the bicameral structure of parliament. In the past, there have been unicameral parliaments under federal government systems (for example, in Pakistan under the 1962 Constitution).

Currently, bicameralism (a bicameral internal parliamentary structure) has been adopted in almost all federal states (the exception is the Federal Republic of Comoros, where there is a unicameral parliament). At the same time, the lower house is everywhere a body of national representation and is formed through elections in territorial electoral districts. The upper house, on the contrary, can be elected or non-elected; it provides representation of the subjects of the federation. At the same time, in some countries (USA, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland, etc.) equal representation of the federal subjects in the upper house is established, in others (Germany, Canada, India, Austria) the representation of the federal subjects in the upper house is determined depending on the number population in a particular subject of the state.

7. In a federal state, along with the federal system of legislative, executive and judicial power, there are systems of legislative, executive and judicial power of the constituent entities of the federation. The order of their organization and competence are determined, as a rule, by the constitutions of the subjects of the federation.

At the same time, a subject of the federation does not have the right to secede from the federation (secession) and, as a rule, cannot be a subject of international relations. Subjects of the federation may have different names, which, as a rule, are determined by historical or legal factors: states, provinces, republics, states or federal states (as in Germany and Austria) and others 1.

Chapter 2. Belgian Federation

2.1 History of the creation of the Belgian Federation

The unitary state of Belgium emerged from revolutionary actions in September 1830, which culminated in the overthrow of King William I of the Netherlands. In December of the same year, it was recognized internationally by the five Great Powers.

Belgium's first and only constitution was adopted in 1831. Taking into account numerous amendments and a global revision of its structure in 1994, it is still in effect today, and is the second longest-lived in the world after the US Constitution of 1778.

According to the constitution of 1831, the newly formed state of Belgium was a parliamentary legal state based on the principle of a flexible separation of powers in the form of a constitutional monarchy.

The head of state was the monarch, vested with powers in the spheres of the executive, legislative and judicial powers. The bearers of legislative power were jointly the King, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Executive power was exercised by the King and his ministers, who had the right to countersign all acts of the King and were responsible to Parliament. Judicial power was exercised by the courts.

In structure, Belgium was a simple unitary state, consisting of nine provinces, divided into administrative districts and communes. Apart from these administrative-territorial units, it did not include any autonomous entities.

The organization of central and local government and the nature of their relationships allows us to characterize Belgium as a relatively decentralized unitary state. Central authorities had the power to intervene in the process of carrying out local politics. In the provinces and communes, along with elected bodies (councils), there were officials appointed by the King or subordinate directly to the central government. This structure of a unitary state remained unchanged in its main features until the 70s of the 20th century.

Unitarism, which presupposed the presence of a strong central government, was the most acceptable form of government for the young Belgian state, freed from Dutch rule in 1830, since it met the goals of maintaining and strengthening its independence and uniting the Belgian nation.

Although the country had a predominant population speaking Dutch and its dialects (57%), political elite The state was composed of representatives of the French-speaking population (42%), who retained power through an electoral system based on property qualifications. The only official language in the country was French, the population of the Flemish provinces was greatly disadvantaged by this situation.

Already in the first half of the 19th century, the Flemings (residents of the north) began to fight to defend their cultural and linguistic identity. The existence of such a movement revealed the presence of a real national consciousness among the Flemings living in unitary Belgium.

During the political struggle in the second half of the 19th century, the Flemings achieved the right to use their language in the Flemish territories in certain areas (school education, criminal proceedings, administrative sphere). Thanks to the introduction of universal suffrage in 1893, the political weight of the Flemings increased, and in the newly elected Parliament they achieved the adoption of a law recognizing Dutch as an official language along with French (the so-called Law on Equality of Languages ​​of 1898).

The activity of the Walloons was aimed at containing the “Flemish onslaught” and defending their cultural, economic and political hegemony.

Several stages of linguistic reform followed, during which in 1963 the conditional boundaries four linguistic regions (three monolingual regions: French, Dutch and German, and one bilingual region: Brussels metropolitan area) 2.

The settlement of interethnic problems turned out to be impossible under the conditions of unitarism, and a global transformation of the structure of the state became inevitable. The way to resolve conflicts between communities was to recognize their cultural autonomy.

2.2 Main reasons for the federalization of Belgium

The main reason for the federalization of Belgium was linguistic diversity, which has deep historical roots that go back to the end of the period of Roman colonization and the migration of peoples as a result of the invasion of Germanic tribes. Since then, disagreements have deepened under the influence of various historical events, and the linguistic border between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians became increasingly clear.

2.1 History of the creation of the Belgian Federation…………………………….8
2.2 The main reasons for the federalization of Belgium…………………………..11
Chapter 3. The Belgian model of federalism. ………………………….……13
3.1 System government controlled…………………………..……13
3.1.1 Federal government…………………………………….…….14
3.1.2 “Brussels Capital Region”……………………………..……17
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….21
List of used literature…………

Belgium- a federal state, with a form of government - a constitutional parliamentary monarchy. The country has a constitution of 1831, which has been amended several times. The last amendments were made in 1993. The head of state is the monarch. He is officially called the "King of the Belgians." A constitutional amendment in 1991 gave women the right to occupy the throne. The monarch has limited powers but serves as an important symbol of political unity.

Executive power is exercised by the king and the government, which is responsible to the House of Representatives. The king appoints a prime minister as head of government, seven French-speaking and seven Dutch-speaking ministers, and a number of secretaries of state representing the political parties in the ruling coalition. Ministers are assigned specific functions or leadership of government departments and departments. Members of parliament who become members of the government lose their deputy status until the next election.

Legislative power is exercised by the king and parliament. Belgian Parliament bicameral, it is elected for a term of 4 years. There are 71 senators in the Senate. 40 are elected by direct universal suffrage - 25 from the Flemish population and 15 from the Walloon population. 21 senators (10 from the Flemish population, 10 from the Walloon population and 1 from the German-speaking population) are delegated by the community councils. These two groups co-opt another 10 members of the Senate (6 Dutch-speaking, 4 French-speaking). In addition to the above persons, according to the Constitution, children of the king who have reached the age of majority have the right to become members of the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 150 deputies elected by direct, universal secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation. One deputy is elected from approximately every 68 thousand people. Each party receives a number of seats proportional to the number of votes cast for it: its representatives are selected in the order recorded in the party lists. Participation in voting is mandatory, and those who evade it face a fine.

Government ministers manage their departments and recruit personal assistants. In addition, each ministry has a permanent staff of civil servants. Although their appointment and promotion are regulated by law, their political affiliation, proficiency in both French and Dutch, and, of course, qualifications are also taken into account.

Regional management

In response to the demands of the Flemings, four waves of constitutional revision took place after 1960, which made it possible to gradually decentralize the state, turning it into a federal one (formally from January 1, 1989). Features of the federal structure of Belgium lie in the parallel functioning of two types of federal subjects - regions and communities. Belgium is divided into three regions (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels) and three cultural communities (French, Flemish and German-speaking). The representative system includes the Council of the Flemish Community (124 members), the Council of the Walloon Community (75 members), the Brussels Regional Council (75 members), the Council of the Francophone Community (75 members from Wallonia, 19 from Brussels), the Council of the Flemish Community (which merged with the Flemish regional council), the Council of the German-speaking Community (25 members) and the commissions of the Flemish Community, the French Community and the Joint Commission of the Brussels Region. All boards and commissions are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms.

Boards and commissions have broad financial and legislative powers. Regional councils exercise control over economic policy, including foreign trade. Community councils and commissions control healthcare, security environment, local social welfare authorities, education and culture, including international cooperation in the field of culture.

Local government

The 596 local government communes (composed of 10 provinces) are almost autonomous and have great powers, although their activities are subject to the veto of provincial governors; they can appeal the latter's decisions to the Council of State. Communal councils are elected by universal suffrage based on proportional representation and consist of 50-90 members. This is the legislative body. The municipal councils appoint the head of the council board, working alongside the burgomaster, who manages city affairs. The burgomaster, usually a member of the council, is nominated by the commune and appointed by the central government; he may also be a member of parliament and is often a major political figure.

The executive bodies of the communes consist of six councilors and a governor, appointed, often for life, by the central government. The creation of regional and community assemblies has significantly reduced the scope of provincial powers, and they can duplicate them.

Judicial system

The judiciary is independent in its decision-making and is separate from other branches of government. It consists of courts and tribunals and five courts of appeal (in Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Liege, Mons) and Court of Cassation Belgium.

Justices of the peace and tribunal judges are appointed personally by the king. Members of the courts of appeal, presidents of the tribunals and their deputies are appointed by the king on the proposals of the relevant courts, provincial councils and the Brussels Region Council. Members of the Court of Cassation are appointed by the king on the proposals of this court and alternately the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Judges are appointed for life and retire only upon reaching the legal age. The country is divided into 27 judicial districts (each with a court of first instance) and 222 judicial cantons (each with a magistrate). Defendants can resort to a jury trial, which has jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases, and judgments are made based on the opinion of a majority of the 12 members of the court.

There are also special courts: for the settlement of labor conflicts, commercial, military tribunals, etc.

The highest authority of administrative justice is the State Council.

Foreign policy

As a small country heavily dependent on foreign trade, Belgium has always sought to enter into economic agreements with other countries and has strongly supported European integration. Already in 1921, an agreement was concluded between Belgium and Luxembourg economic union(BLES). After World War II, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg formed a customs union known as Benelux, which was later transformed into a comprehensive economic union in 1960. Benelux's headquarters are in Brussels.

Belgium was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European economic community(EEC), which was transformed into European Union(EU). Belgium is a member of the Council of Europe, the Western European Union (WEU) and NATO. The headquarters of all these organizations, as well as the EU, are in Brussels. Belgium is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UN.

Armed forces

According to the latest data, the country's armed forces numbered more than 75 thousand people. Defense spending is approx. 1.3% of GDP Internal troops ensure order in the country. Ground forces, consisting of offensive troops, combat and logistics support services, number 63 thousand personnel. The navy numbers 4.4 thousand people. The Belgian Navy carries out mine sweeping for NATO. The Air Force has 20,500 personnel in tactical air forces, training and logistics units.

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, Villeneuve Lube Belgium is a country of federal parliamentary democracy in the conditions constitutional monarchy

. The Constitution adopted on February 7, 1831 is in force. The last changes were made on July 14, 1993 (the parliament approved a constitutional package of laws on the creation of a federal state).

Administrative division: 3 regions (Flanders, Wallonia and the capital district) and 10 provinces (Antwerp, West Flanders, East Flanders, Vlaams-Brabant, Limburg, Brabant-Walloon, Hainaut, Liege, Namur,). The largest cities (2000): Brussels, Antwerp (932 thousand people), Liege (586 thousand people), Charleroi (421 thousand people). The principles of public administration are based on the separation of powers. The highest legislative body is the bicameral parliament, which includes the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (elections to these bodies occur simultaneously every 4 years). The Senate consists of 71 members (40 elected by direct popular vote, 31 by indirect popular vote). Elections to the Chamber of Deputies (150 seats) take place on the basis of proportional representation through direct voting. In the 1999 elections, the Senate included representatives of 10 political parties

The head of state is King Albert II (he ascended the throne on August 9, 1993), his heir is Prince Philip. The head of government (i.e., the executive branch) and members of his cabinet are appointed by the king (usually from representatives of the leading parties in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies). They are then approved by the legislature (i.e. parliament). As a result of constitutional changes (July 14, 1993), Belgium has become a federal state, within which there are three levels of government (federal, regional and linguistic-communal) with a clear delineation of powers and responsibilities.

The judiciary relies on case law. Judges are appointed by the king for life, but are selected by the government of the country.

The current government coalition, which is usually referred to in the Western press as the “rainbow six,” is headed by the representative of the Flemish Liberal Democratic Party (VLD), G. Verhofstadt. In the 1999 elections, she received 15.4% of the votes in the Senate and 14.3% in the Chamber of Deputies. This is followed by the Francophone Socialist Party (PS) - 9.7 and 10.2%, two Green Parties - "ECOL" (Wallonia) - 7.4 and 7.4% and "AGALEF" (Flanders) - 7.1 and 7.0%, etc.

The electoral system and socio-political structure of Belgium are characterized by a number of features. First of all, the country has a very characteristic European set of political parties (Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Liberal Democrats and Greens), but the problem is that there are a large number of non-traditional parties, many of which are not represented in the legislature, because they were unable to overcome the 5% barrier of the required number of votes received. Moreover, the traditional parties also turned out to be too small to provide significant representation.

This situation arose due to the fact that in recent decades there has been a process of serious federalization of socio-political life, which replaced the previous essentially unitary nature of the state structure with a predominance of the Francophone minority. During this period, almost all national Belgian parties in the country were divided along linguistic and communal lines (Flemish and Walloon). This led to the fact that the legislative bodies of the country began to include at least a dozen relatively small parties. To create a government coalition, they are forced to recruit at least half a dozen partners of various social orientations. Reaching agreement in such alliances therefore becomes a very difficult problem.

Another feature of the socio-political structure can be seen quite clearly in the growing gap in the results of popular elections at the federal, regional and local levels. For example, the right-wing Flemish party Vlaams Blok (VB) won only 5.6% of the votes in the federal elections (it was not included in the government coalition). But in elections in large Flemish cities its figures were several times higher (in Ghent - about 20%, and in Antwerp - 33%). This nationalist party opposes not only the influx of immigrants into the country, but also the financial subsidization of Wallonia at the expense of the growing economy of Flanders. It is clear that in such conditions the federal vertical of power cannot always function effectively enough.

A lot others public organizations and elements of civil society are also quite clearly divided along regional lines. But a definite exception can be seen in the business sphere. The country's trade unions are not united, but they are divided along religious lines. There are Christian and socialist trade union associations. There is a single influential Federation of Belgian Industrialists, as well as numerous industry associations (banking, etc.).

The domestic policy of the current coalition government is aimed primarily at carrying out large-scale reforms public life in the country. The need for them has become clear enough, since over the course of more than one decade the image of a country with a “sluggish social structure” has been established in the EU. A definite responsibility for the current situation lies with the Flemish and Walloon Christian Democrats, who for the first time in 40 years were forced into the opposition.

The main thesis in domestic policy- the state federal structure of the country can be effective only when it is based on the principle of finding the necessary balance between solidarity and financial autonomy of its three main regions. Permanent financial transfers from Flanders to Wallonia have always been considered controversial for the wealthier Flemings (their per capita GDP is 10% higher). The main regions of the country should receive greater fiscal independence, with the right to moderately maneuver tax rates.

The coalition government as a whole managed to significantly improve relations between the main regions. This was achieved through regular meetings of representatives of the federal, regional and linguistic-community governments. It was at this level that the problems of introducing greater regional autonomy in the implementation of tax policy, securing the right to independently resolve many local economic issues, problems of education and community culture were discussed. For the first time, political rather than linguistic and communal differences began to dominate within the coalition government.

As a result of such a large-scale administrative reform, which was aimed at eliminating tensions between the two main regions, the country entered a new stage in the formation of an effective federal structure. However, this problem still remains one of the most difficult. According to surveys, about 27% of Belgians believe that the presence of foreigners always causes concern. This is the highest figure in the EU. True, there is an opinion in the country that the current coalition government, which consists mainly of professional experts (the so-called forty-year-olds), is capable of solving these problems.

Belgium's foreign policy is largely determined by its special position in the European integration system. It is no coincidence that the main Belgian city is considered the “European capital”, and not only because it hosts many of the EU’s executive bodies. The term “Brussels officials” has long become synonymous with the EU’s leadership elite, which is not without reason. This one is small European country has become a kind of experimental laboratory for the EU, since the solutions to many of its problems become a standard for developing a common European strategy.

It is no coincidence that, according to the foreign policy concept of the current coalition government of Belgium, it seeks to come up with large-scale plans for the constant expansion of the EU with its simultaneous transformation into a more centralized organization. We are talking, first of all, about the creation of a new state structure, especially in the sphere of forming a unified European foreign policy and combat-ready Armed Forces, in order to take its rightful place in modern world politics.

The Belgians believe that in European construction the role of small countries acting together with a few leading powers can be unique. They are indispensable as intermediaries between large countries. It is small states in such unions that can put forward strategic initiatives regarding development prospects, since they are difficult to suspect of “imperial ambitions.”

Belgium's special role in European integration was based on the unique experience of combining two key European cultures in this country - Latin and Germanic (later Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian were added, and Slavic will soon appear). The country gradually turned into a “universal mediator”, without whose efforts it would be difficult to make any decisions. The Belgians hope to obtain for their country a status corresponding to the current position of Brussels, which has long been living on “universal time”.

The country strives to raise its “own voice” in world politics, relying on the principles of “humanity, democracy, protection of the weak, tolerance.” As part of European integration, Belgium, together with its Benelux partners, put forward the concept of “enhanced cooperation”, which justifies small countries the right to form small groups to “promote” certain projects within the framework of EU reform.

The country's armed forces consist of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Federal Police. The territory of Belgium is divided into three military districts (Brussels, Antwerp, Liege). The annual number of conscripts (men) is 63.2 thousand people. The conscription age is 19 years old. Defense expenditures reached almost $3 billion (2002), their share in GDP is 1.4%.

Belgium has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR in 1925).