The New Belgian Senate. A (Dis)Continued Evolution of Federalism in Belgium?

Abstract

The 2012–14 reform of the Belgian state has deeeply transformed its Senate. Not only does the reform reduce the legislative powers of the Belgian upper chamber, but it also alters its composition. The former appointment of Senators based on a system of direct and community-based election is replaced by a system of indirect and mixed regional and community-based designation. This article presents this important reform. On the basis of a comprehensive dataset of federal and regional political careers, it also comparatively analyses the profile of the Senators, before and after the reform. Overall, although rules regarding seats allocation have been thoroughly remodelled, we conclude that the reform had neither dramatically affected the subtle balances upon which the Belgian federal state relies nor altered the patterns of Senators’ profiles.

Notes

1 There also existed a fourth type of Senators: the king's children (or by default the heir to the throne) may chose to seat as ex officio Senators at the age of 18.

2 Moniteur Belge—Belgisch Staatsblad, 31 January 2014.

3 Modifications to the article 44 (12 July 2012) and articles 74–82 (6 January 2014) of the Constitution.

4 These two types of Senators will also differ financially speaking. Senators from the sub-state entities will financially depend on the sub-state entity level that also holds the power to determine the amount of their treatment. Co-opted Senators will be paid by the Senate's allowance. This could lead to different incomes depending on the type of Senator.

5 The Flemish parliament gathers both the competences of the Flemish regional parliament and the Flemish community parliament.

6 These ten Senators must include three French-speaking members of the parliament of the Brussels region among which one that does not sit in the parliament of the French-speaking community.

7 With the exception of the German-speaking Senator, who is elected by his/her parliament at the absolute majority of expressed votes.

8 Electoral code, art. 220 §7.

9 This contrasts with previous constitutional customs where the German-speaking Senator was sometimes included in the quorum, depending on the arithmetical context to pass the laws.

10 Electoral code, art. 210 decies § 2.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Régis Dandoy

Régis Dandoy is Post-doctoral researcher at the Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE) of the Université catholique de Louvain. E-mail: [email protected]

Jérémy Dodeigne

Jérémy Dodeigne is Post-doctoral researcher at the Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE) of the Université catholique de Louvain and Part-time Lecturer at the Université de Liège. E-mail: [email protected]

Min Reuchamps

Min Reuchamps is Professor of Political Science at the Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE) of the Université catholique de Louvain. E-mail: [email protected]

Audrey Vandeleene

Audrey Vandeleene is Research fellow at the Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE) of the Université catholique de Louvain. E-mail: [email protected]