‘The vulnerable institutional complexity’: the 2004 regional elections in Brussels

Abstract:

This election report focuses on the vulnerable complexity of the Brussels institutional system. It presents the institutions of the bilingual Brussels Capital Region in which the decision-making processes rely on negotiations, common agreements and mutual vetoes. The vulnerability of this consensus model became clear when the right-wing extremist Vlaams Blok grew and aimed at winning the majority within the Dutch language group in the Brussels regional Parliament. Given the fact that nobody wants to govern with the Vlaams Blok, that would mean the end of the Brussels consensus model and endanger the Belgian consensus model. In 2004 the Vlaams Blok did not succeed in gaining the majority, but the problem remains on the agenda for the next regional elections of 2009.