Territorial and non-territorial federalism in Belgium: Reform of the Brussels Capital Region, 2001

Article abstract:

Belgium has a peculiar system of federalism, combining both territorial (regions) and non-territorial (communities) substate levels. In the summer of 2001 yet another phase in the process of devolution took place, further adjusting the already quite complex federal model. One of the most important modifications was constituted by the transfer of jurisdiction over interior affairs and electoral law (for the local and provincial level) to the sub-state regions. In addition, new procedures for guaranteed representation of the Flemish minority in the bilingual Brussels Capital Region were introduced. At the same time a number of specific institutional changes were introduced in order to keep the extreme-right wing party Vlaams Blok from power. This contribution aims to describe these changes.