Ethnocracy in Belgium
The formerly unitarian state started to transform into an ethnofederal state in the 1930s, yet it was the constitution of 1993 which eventually conformed this change. Today, Belgium is made up of three regions: the bilingual region of Brussels, the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders and the French-speaking region of Wallonia; and three linguistic-cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community, the French-speaking Belgian French Community and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The Flemish Community has institutions and competences in Flanders and Brussels, the French-speaking Community of Belgium in Wallonia and Brussels, and the German-speaking Community in 7+2 communes comprising two cantons in Eastern Wallonia (Sankt Vith and Eupen).
Each region and community have their own parliament and government, except for Flanders and the Flemish community, which have merged into a single one. Thus, Belgium has 6 governments and legislatures: federal (Belgium), community (German-speaking Community, French Community and the merged Flemish) and regional (Brussels and Wallonia). At the federal level and in the Brussels regional government, an ethnic grand coalition, i.e. the participation of at least one Francophone and one Flemish party is mandatory, while in Flanders and Wallonia there is no such obligation. The 70,000 people-strong German-speaking Community has its own party structure, but Walloon parties can also stand in the German-speaking Community elections.
With the exception of Brussels, the Belgian model is based on the monolingualism of the regions corrected by municipalities with language facilities. There are 27 such municipalities, in Flanders there are 12 offering services to the population in French on a compulsory basis, in Wallonia four use Dutch and two German in a similar way, while the seven German-majority municipalities in the German-speaking Community use French parallelly. Brussels is French-Dutch bilingual, while Belgium’s federal institutions provide services in all three national languages: French, Dutch and German.
