Broken Brussels

Civitas, 28 April 2010

On Monday, King Albert II accepted the Belgian Prime Minister’s resignation, sparking the collapse of yet another Belgian government, writes Natalie Hamill. With just over 2 months to go until Belgium takes over the rotating EU Presidency (on July 1st) the implications of the country’s latest constitutional crisis are likely to be felt across the European Union.

The EU Commission has, of course, been quick to announce publicly that the collapse will have no effect on Belgium’s EU Presidency. Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said, “We are confident that Belgium will be able to perform all the tasks related to its presidency.”

Privately, they may not be so confident. Memories of the disruptions during the Czech EU Presidency in 2009, caused by the collapse of the Czech government, are still sharp in the mind of many in the EU.

When a replacement Belgian government emerges, it may be relieved that the EU’s Lisbon Treaty has altered the fabric of the EU governing bodies. The significance of the rotating EU Presidency has, to some extent, been reduced since the introduction of a permanent EU President (currently the former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy) – who was ironically credited with having repaired the major rifts between the Flemish and Francophone Belgian government…

Although the current Spanish EU Presidency will have overseen the implementation of most of the Lisbon Treaty’s provisions, many changes will require continued work under the Belgian EU Presidency to ensure the smooth enactment of the Treaty. For example, the new EU diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service (EEAS), is still being developed and its “fleshing out” will overlap with the Belgian EU Presidency. What the Belgian EU Presidency achieves, or fails to achieve, could have dramatic implications for the EU.

Experts are predicting that “snap” elections will be held in Belgium in June, although there is no guarantee that the opposing parties will be able to agree a suitable compromise (former Prime Minister Yves Leterme will continue in a “caretaker capacity” until a new leader is in place.) The last Belgian government survived only five months, and this is the fourth time a coalition has collapsed since 2007 (when the country was left without a government for more than 170 days).

The government’s rupture centres on linguistic differences. Belgium is divided into three, largely autonomous, regions:  Flemish Flanders in the North, Francophone Wallonia in the South, and the bilingual Brussels in the centre. The language rivalry means that the frequent government constructions are largely a case of “painting over the cracks” rather than being able to mend the problem; which is deep-rooted in the history of Belgium.

For the EU, the symbolism of the collapse of the Belgian government immediately before she takes the reins of Europe, is discouraging. If Brussels, the bureaucratic heart of the Union, cannot move past historic and linguistic differences, how is a Union between 27 (and expanding) linguistically varied and culturally diverse countries, to be strengthened and developed under its leadership?