Flemish ParliamentThe Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or Vlaamse Raad) constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural community of Belgium (unlike the French Community and Wallonia, which each have separate legislatures: the Parliament of the French Community and the Parliament of Wallonia).
Constitution of BelgiumThe Constitution of Belgium (Belgische Grondwet, Constitution belge, Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica. The most recent major change to the constitution was the introduction of the Court of Arbitration, whose competencies were expanded by a special law of 2003, to include Title II (Articles 8 to 32), and the Articles 170, 172 and 191 of the Constitution.
Chamber of Representatives (Belgium)The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , Chambre des représentants, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Article 62 of the Belgian Constitution fixes the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives at 150. There are 11 electoral districts, which correspond with the ten Provinces (five Dutch- and five French-speaking) and the Brussels-Capital Region.
Groen (political party)Groen (Groen, ɣruːn), founded as Agalev (see Name below), is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other. Many of the founders of political party Agalev came from or were inspired by the social movement Agalev. This movement was founded by the Jesuit Luc Versteylen, who had founded the environmental movement Agalev in the 1970s. Core values of this social movement were quiet, solidarity and soberness.
Constitutional Court (Belgium)The Constitutional Court (Dutch: , Cour constitutionelle, Verfassungsgerichtshof) plays a central role within the federal Belgian state. This is a judicial court founded in 1980. Its jurisdiction was augmented in 1988 and 2003. Founded as the Court of Arbitration, the court owes its existence to the development of the Belgian unitary state into a federal state. The original name that had been given to the Court already says a lot about its mission, which is to supervise the observance of the constitutional division of powers between the federal state, the communities and the regions.
Federal Government of BelgiumThe Federal Government of Belgium (Federale regering, Gouvernement fédéral, Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. The federal government is led by the prime minister of Belgium, and ministers lead ministries of the government.
Open Flemish Liberals and DemocratsThe Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, ˈoːpə(ɱ) ˈvlaːmsə libəˈraːlə(n) ɛn deːmoːˈkraːtə(n) Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts; Open Vld) is a Flemish conservative liberal political party in Belgium. A smaller fraction within the party has social liberal views. The party was created in 1992 from the former bilingual Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV) and politicians from other parties after Belgium was reconstituted as a federal state based on language, with the French-speaking faction forming the Reformist Movement (MR) in Wallonia.
Flemish RegionThe Flemish Region (Vlaams Gewest, ˌvlaːms xəˈʋɛst), usually simply referred to as Flanders (Vlaanderen ˈvlaːndərə(n)), is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Covering the northern portion of the country, the Flemish Region is primarily Dutch-speaking. With an area of , it accounts for only 45% of Belgium's territory, but 57% of its population. It is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe with around .
Dutch languageDutch (Nederlands ˈneːdərlɑnts), also known as Netherlandic or Netherlandish, is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. Afrikaans is a separate but somewhat mutually intelligible daughter language spoken, to some degree, by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia, evolving from the Cape Dutch dialects of Southern Africa.
BrusselsBrussels (Bruxelles bʁysɛl or bʁyksɛl; Brussel ˈbrʏsəl), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region (within which it forms an enclave) and the Walloon Region.
