Europe in the Belgian elections
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Thursday 7 June 2007
The 10th June is an important date for the French political landscape. A month after Nicolas Sarkozys election to preside over the French Republic, the French citizens are to be asked whether they want to impart a rightist majority in Parliament or, inversely, to counterbalance Sarkozys liberal stance by electing a leftist majority. However French political parties are not the only ones to campaign for the legislative elections as another country at the heart of Europe, namely Belgium, is calling its citizens to the ballot boxes on the very same day.
The federal elections will see a renewal of both parliamentary chambers for the next four years. On this occasion, it is interesting to have an overview of the parties programs on the EU. The Belgian Senate adopted the EU Constitution on 29th April 2005 and the Parliament ratified the text on 19th May 2005. Although the idea of having a national referendum on the Constitution was discussed and promoted by the liberal parties Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (VLD) and Mouvement Rformateur (MR) and the far-right Vlaams Belang (VB), the proposal was finally rejected and the parliament voted with an overwhelming majority (118 to 18) in favour of the new treaty.
In Europe, Belgium stands with the most federalist countries, both for historical and cultural reasons. Historically, Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak was one of the craftsmen of the Treaty of Rome signed in 1957 by the six founding countries of the ECC. Belgiums geographical location and historical background played an important role in the choice of Brussels as the seat of the High Authority (later to become the European Commission). Moreover, Belgium is a multicultural country comprising three communities; the Flemish, the Walloons and the Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft (German-speaking community), and three official languages, on a 30.528 km2 land that has had various waves of immigration since the sixties and the installation of several international organisations such as the EU, NATO and Eurocontrol. Due to these particularities, Belgian citizens have welcomed European integration with enthusiasm and see the creation of a federal EU as a logical step after fifty years of construction.
However, the best way to truly know Belgium in Europe is to go directly through the propositions formulated by the nine main political formations: The Flemish VLD, SPA, Spirit, CD&V and Vlaams Belang and the French-speaking MR, PS, CDH and Ecolo.
By Geraud de Ville, EUD press officer
For more information, please contact: geraud@eudemocrats.org
+ 32 472 49 14 25
