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. Prior to the sixth Belgian state reform, the province of Flemish Brabant was divided into two electoral districts: one for Leuven and the other, named Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV), which encompassed both the 19 bilingual municipalities from the Brussels-Capital Region and the 35 Dutch-speaking municipalities of Halle-Vilvoorde in Flemish Brabant, including seven municipalities with linguistic facilities for French-speaking inhabitants. The seats are divided among the political parties using the D'Hondt method of proportional representation, which slightly favours large parties and coalitions. There is an electoral threshold of 5%. The Representatives are divided into two so-called "language groups". Of the total of 150 representatives, 88 are part of the Dutch-language group, which consists of representatives from the Dutch-language area, and 62 are part of the French-language group, which consists of representatives from the French-language area and the German-language area. For the representatives from the Brussels region, the language in which they take their oath as a representative determines which language group they belong to. Following the 2007 federal election, the Chamber has a German-speaking member (Kattrin Jadin) for the first time since 1999. Nevertheless, because of the Belgian constitution, both linguistic communities are granted equal powers in the parliament. Although in general bills can be passed without a majority in both linguistic groups, bills relating to specific issues (so-called 'community laws') cannot and need the consent of both language groups.

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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.

Politics of Belgium

The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state, and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government, in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The federation is made up of (language-based) communities and (territorial) regions.

Constitution of Belgium

The 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.

Développement d'un habitat groupé basé sur (MCIC) en périphérie émergente de Prague (République Tchèque)

Thomas Austerveil

C'est après avoir analysé spécifiquement la région de Prague en République Tchèque, zone limite des climats continentaux et tempérés qu'a été développée une série de "Méthodes et Conditions Idéales de Construction" (M.C.I.C) pour le cas d'édifices résidentiels. Ces stratégies nous permettent le développement d'un bâtiment à la consommation d'énergie fortement réduite pour les conditions particulières du site de Srby situé à l'Ouest de Prague, à proximité d'une infrastructure ferroviaire connectant la région. Idéalement orienté, notre bâtiment type, à travers le captage direct passif de l'énergie solaire, la ventilation naturelle grâce à sa position vis-à-vis des vents dominants, par le biais du mode et des détails de construction, et cetera, réduit sa consommation énergétique au maximum dans cette région difficile où la couverture nuageuse est forte en période d'hiver. Ce bâtiment résidentiel de quatre niveaux et représentant au total plus de 800 m2 sera ensuite dupliqué, afin de densifier la zone disponible pour le développement, tout en faisant attention à ne pas réduire ses avantages bioclimatiques. C'est en appliquant cette logique qu'apparaissent sur les bords du Lac de Turynsky une série d'édicules ou de 'pods' aérodynamiques profitant avec assurance des bienfaits du soleil, des vents mais aussi du paysage environnant tout en affichant, grâce à une série de calculs précis de simulations (SunEye, Relux, COMSOL, Flovent, TRNSYS), des résultats de consommation énergétique surprenants.

2009