The structure of the Belgian State

1 Federal State - 3 Communities - 3 Regions - 4 Language Areas

One country, three languages

Belgians speak Flemish in the North, French in the South, German in the East – and have a bilingual capital. In order to better meet these diverse cultural and regional needs, the Belgian Federal State is composed of Communities and Regions.

Language and culture – the Communities

Differences in language and culture led to the creation of the Communities.

Their administrative competences: cultural and individual matters, education, international and inter-communitarian relations.

Jurisdiction: the German-speaking Community comprises the whole germanophone area. The Flemish Community comprises the Dutch-speaking area as well as those living in Brussels whose everyday language is Dutch.Similarly, the French Community comprises both the Francophone part of the country as well as those citizens of Brussels whose everyday language is French.

Linguistic minorities: In certain districts, special statutes (known as “facilities”) protect language minorities. Such, for example, is the case for French-speaking citizens of the 9 districts of the DG, who are thereby entitled to demand official documents in their mother tongue.

Economic and Territorial issues – the Regions

The responsibilities of the Regions are directly linked with the physical territory in which their citizens live.

Competences: Zoning, environmental policy, restoration of rural areas and nature conservancy, housing, water policy, various aspects of economic and energy policy, monitoring of dependent administrative authorities, employment policy, public works and highways.

Jurisdiction: the Flemish Region is in this respect identical to the Flemish Community. However, this is not the case for the other two Regions. The largely francophone Walloon Region also includes the German-speaking areas, while the Brussels Region includes the bilingual area around the city.

Organisation

Each institutional part of the federation has its own Legislative and Executive. Thus the authority to enact laws for the DG lies with its own parliament, while executive authority resides in the Government.