the german-speaking community and its … german-speaking community ..... 7 key historical dates...
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THE GERMAN-SPEAKINGCOMMUNITY
AND ITS PARLIAMENT
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IMPRESSUM
Legally liable publisher: Stephan Thomas, Secretary general
Concept and text: Information Department of the Parliament ofthe German-speaking Community
Design: Freddy Betsch
Printing: Parliament of the German-speaking Community
© Parliament of the German-speaking Community, 2014
Platz des Parlaments 1B-4700 EUPENTel.: +32 (0)87/31 84 00Fax: +32 (0)87/31 84 [email protected]
www.pdg.be
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The Parliament of the German-speaking Community ........................................... 4
The German-speaking Community ......................................................................... 7
Key historical dates ................................................................................................ 10
Institutional development milestones ................................................................. 13
The German-speaking Community within the Belgian State structure .............. 19
The Parliament of the German-speaking Community -a legislative institution .......................................................................................... 25
How does a decree come into being?.................................................................... 29
Competences ......................................................................................................... 30
The Government: the executive power ................................................................ 36
The Community’s finances .................................................................................... 38
Cooperation and conflict settlement .................................................................... 41
Autonomy and the future outlook ........................................................................ 45
Selected further reading ........................................................................................ 46
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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THE PARLIAMENT OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKINGCOMMUNITY
The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community is the legislativepower of the German-speaking Com-munity in Belgium. The German-spea-king Community is officially recogni-zed by Article 2 of the Belgian Consti-tution. Its legal status is defined, interalia, by Articles 38, 115, 116, 121, 130,139 and 176 of the Constitution.
Constitutionally the German-speakingCommunity is a legislative institutionin matters specific to the Community(Article 130 of the Constitution), aswell as such regional matters thathave been transferred to the Commu-nity under Article 139 of the Constitu-tion. These are: • cultural matters,• people-related matters, i.e. family,
health and social affairs,• inter-community and international
cooperation
• education and training• monument and landscape protec-
tion and excavations• employment policy• supervision and financing of munici-
palities.
The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community exercises its legisla-tive powers by decree (“Dekret”).
Even if the German-speaking Commu-nity makes up only a small minority ofthe Belgian population (0.7%), the Parliament of the German-speakingCommunity is on an almost equal foo-ting with the Parliament of the French-speaking Community and the FlemishParliament. It can be compared withthe Länder parliaments in federalstates like Germany or Austria, even if these Länder have much widerpowers.
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The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community came officially intobeing on 30 January 1984, under itsformer name of the “Council of theGerman-speaking Community”. Thiswas the successor institution to theCouncil of the German Cultural Com-munity, an initial decision-makingforum in which the desire for auto-nomy of the German language areawas debated and the first decisions incultural matters were made.
The present small text is intended toprovide the reader with a basicknowledge of the autonomy of theGerman-speaking Community and itsParliament. Obviously we need first toive some details as to the size,structure and history of the Germanlanguage area. We will also attempt toexplain in an understandable way howthe German-speaking Community isincorporated into the structures of theBelgian federal state.
Plenary hall in the new building
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THE GERMAN-SPEAKINGCOMMUNITY
The German-speaking Community ofBelgium is located along the borderwith Germany between the Nether-lands and Luxembourg. The German-speaking Community has around77,000 inhabitants. Most are German-speaking Belgians, but this number in-cludes Walloon, Flemish and foreigncitizens.
The German-speaking Community isofficially recognized by Article 2 of theConstitution. Articles 115, 121 and 130of the Constitution give it approxima-tely the same legal status as theFrench and Flemish Communities; i.e.it has more or less the same degree ofautonomy and powers, and the insti-tutions for expressing its individualityare qualitatively equal.
The administrative, educational andjudicial language in the German-spea-king area is German. French-speakers
are, however, granted special rights.For this reason decisions concerningthe language used in administrativematters are made by the federal stateand may not be taken independentlyby the German-speaking Community.
The territory of the German-speakingCommunity is identical with the Ger-man language region recognized in article 4 of the Constitution. This areais 854 km2 and covers the municipali-ties of Amel, Büllingen, Burg-Reuland,Bütgenbach, Eupen, Kelmis, Lontzen,Raeren and St. Vith.
The German-speaking Communityconsists in fact of two differentlystructured sub-areas: the smaller, butmore densely populated area aroundEupen in the north, and the BelgianEifel in the south. These two areas areseparated by the High Fens (in Ger-man: Hohes Venn), a moorland area
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extending partly over the municipalityof Weismes (French language region).
Several industrial companies of super-regional importance are located in andaround Eupen.
The area lies close to major internatio-nal traffic routes. The city of Eupen(18,000 inhabitants), an old cloth-ma-king city with a long historical tradi-tion, is the seat of the Parliament ofthe German-speaking Community, itsGovernment and the BRF (“BelgianRadio and TV Centre of the German-speaking Community”).
The surrounding municipalities aremore rural, though zinc ore was minedindustrially for centuries in Kelmis,which was in the 19th century the lar-gest zinc mining area in Europe.
The Belgian Eifel consists of extensivewoodland and grazing. Agriculture is
no longer as an important source of income as in earlier years. In its placetourism is developing into a majoreconomic factor in this attractive, butstructurally weak region.
The main school and shopping centreof the southern municipalities isSt.Vith, a small city totally destroyed at the end of the Second World Warand later rebuilt.
With its lake and Worriken tourist cen-tre, Bütgenbach has developed in re-cent years into a major vacation andwater sports centre for visitors fromnear and far.
The German-speaking Community hasan extraordinary rich cultural life andboasts a high level of artistic creativity.
Born
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Burg Reuland
St.Vith
Amel
Büllingen
Bütgenbach
Eupen
RaerenLontzen
Kelmis
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HISTORICAL MILESTONES
◀ Until 1794 the northern area (Eupenregion) belonged mainly to the Duchyof Limburg, governed in personalunion with Brabant since the battle ofWorringen (1288). The southern part(Belgian Eifel) belonged mostly to theDuchy of Luxembourg, except for Man-derfeld-Schönberg, which was part ofthe Electorate of Trier. German dia-lects spoken in both the northern andsouthern parts: Lower Franconian, Rhi-nish Franconian and Mosel Franco-nian.
◀ 1794-1795: The French revolutio-naries conquered the Austrian LowCountries (including Limburg and Luxembourg), the Prince-Bishopric ofLiège and the Abbey of Stavelot-Mal-medy. The Eupen area and the Eifelwere placed in the département ofOurthe, with the exception of Mander-feld-Schönberg, which now belonged tothe Saar département.
Monument preservation ensign
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◀ 1815: With the defeat of Napoleonthe map of Europe was redrawn at theCongress of Vienna. The Eupen area,the Eifel and part of the former abbeyof Stavelot-Malmedy were included inthe Rhineland, now Prussian (from1830 Prussian province of the Rhine),as the districts of Eupen and Malmedy.
Neutral-Moresnet (Kelmis) remained acurious exception, being placed underdual Prussian-Dutch (after 1830 Prus-sian-Belgian) government, owning toits rich zinc deposits.
◀ 1914-1918: In the First World Warthe inhabitants of Eupen and Malmedyfought on the side of the GermanReich. 766 persons were recorded asdead and missing in the district ofEupen and 1082 persons in the districtof Malmedy.
◀ 1919-1920: Under the Treaty of Ver-sailles, Neutral-Moresnet and - after adisputed referendum - the districts ofEupen and Malmedy were transferredto Belgium.
◀ Between 1920-1925 the former German districts were subject to theauthoritarian transitional regime ofLieutenant-General Baltia and dividedinto the three judicial cantons ofEupen, Malmedy and St. Vith. A strongrevisionistic movement disputed thevalidity the Versailles treaty, which wasfelt to have been forcibly imposed.
◀ October 1925: In the Locarno Trea-ties Germany renounces any forcefulchange of its western border. Attemptsto revise the border by negotiationwere not excluded.
◀ 1. January 1926: The Constitutionand the Belgian laws come into forcein the “new Belgian” territories.
◀ 1925-1926 Secret negotiations bet-ween Belgium and Germany for a re-turn of Eupen-Malmedy to Germany inreturn for payment of 200 million goldmarks. Negotiations fail because of theenergetic objection of France.
◀ 1927 Founding of the “Grenz-Echo”newspaper as a “pro-Belgian” counter-part to the local “pro-German” press.The Grenz-Echo is today Belgium’sonly German-language daily.
◀ 1933: The National Socialists underAdolf Hitler come to power in Ger-many. The socialists around Marc So-
„Büchel“-tower St.Vith
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merhausen abandon their demandsfor revision from 1933 onwards. Therevisionistic movement in Eupen-Mal-medy is drawn into the wake of theNazi propaganda machine, and is or-ganized from 1936 in the effectivelyNazi-controlled “Heimattreue Front”.Democratic powers warn against theNazi ideology. Deep rifts appear bet-ween the pro-Belgian and pro-Germanparts of the population.
◀ 10. May 1940: German troops in-vade neutral Belgium.
◀ 18. May 1940: By decree of the Füh-rer, Eupen-Malmedy and other old Bel-gian border areas are incorporatedinto the German Reich. Large parts ofthe population adapt to the Nazi re-gime, others join the resistance; themajority of the young men are cons-cripted, others go into hiding. 3,200out of the 8,700 men conscripted intothe Wehrmacht die at the front, gomissing or die in prison camps.
◀ End 1944: St. Vith and numerousEifel villages are destroyed during theBattle of the Bulge.
◀ 8. May 1945: Armistice. The ensuingdenazification is considered as exagge-
ratedly hard and unjustified by the po-pulation, as Belgium had not reactedappropriately to Germany’s unilateralannexation of the area.
Questions of war reparations and inparticular the “involuntary soldierquestion” dominate post-war local po-litics for decades. The latter questionwas resolved only in 1989.
◀ 1956: In the Belgian-German “Sep-tember Treaties”, the Federal Republicof Germany stresses the invalidity ininternational law of the 1940 annexa-tion of Eupen-Malmedy. A border cor-rection, a Belgian-German culturalagreement and compensation pay-ments are agreed. (The cultural agree-ment was signed in 1958). This marksthe start of a period of Belgian-Ger-man reconciliation and cooperation.
The German-speaking population alsobenefits from the relaxation of tensionbetween the former wartime enemies.The process of European unificationalso contributes to a normalization ofrelations between the two states. Bel-gian objections to recognition of linguistic and cultural rights and insti-tutional independence for the Ger-man-speaking Community die down.
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INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES
◀ 1962-1963: The laws on languageuse in administrative matters, coordi-nated by Royal Decree of 18 July 1966,divide Belgium into four linguisticareas. The introduction of the territo-rial principle becomes a cornerstonefor the subsequent federalization ofthe state. Article 5 of the law lists the25 municipalities (since 1976 ninelarge municipalities) making up theGerman language area.
1968-1971: First major reform of state• The division of Belgium into four
language areas is anchored in theConstitution.
• Three cultural communities (Ger-man, French and Dutch) are created.
• Three cultural councils are set up,though the Council of the German
Cultural Community receives only limited powers in cultural matters.
• Three regions are created: the Wal-loon, Flemish and Brussels regions.
◀ 23. October 1973: The first sessionof the Council of the German CulturalCommunity takes place.
◀ 10. March 1974: The first directelections to the Council of the GermanCultural Community are held.
1980-1983: Second major reform ofstate• The Constitution is amended: The
German-speaking Community, theFlemish Community and the FrenchCommunity replace the German Cul-tural Community, the Dutch CulturalCommunity and the French CulturalCommunity.
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• The new article in the Constitutionon the German-speaking Commu-nity (then Article 59ter) gives theCommunity powers of decree in cul-tural and people-related mattersand in inter-community and interna-tional relations.
• Alongside the Council there is nowalso an Executive (government) ofthe German-speaking Community,elected by the Council.
◀ 31. December 1983: The law on Institutional Reforms for the German-speaking Community is signed by theKing.
◀ 30. January 1984: The newly crea-ted Council of the German-speakingCommunity is instituted and the firstcommunity government is elected.
1988-1990: Third major reform ofstateCompetence for education is transfer-red to the Communities. The article ofthe Constitution concerning the Ger-man-speaking Community is amen-ded on 20 June 1989. With the passingof the corresponding implementing
Johann Weynand and Willy Schyns, founding fathers of the autonomy
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law on 18 July 1990 the financial allo-cations from the Federal State to theCommunity treble.
◀ 23. October 1991: The text of theConstitution in the German languagebecomes official and legally bindingalongside the French and Dutch texts.
1993-1994: Fourth major reform ofstateIn article 1 of the Constitution, Bel-gium is defined as a “Federal State,consisting of the Communities and theRegions”. The Belgian parliamentarysystem with two equal chambers is re-placed by a differentiated system, inwhich the Chamber of Deputies (lowerhouse) concentrates on the usual par-liamentary tasks (passing of legisla-tion and the budget, control of thefederal government), with the senatefunctioning primarily as a think tankand a place of meeting for the differentconstituent parts of the Belgian state.
The Walloons and Flemings decide indirect elections the composition oftheir respective parliaments, the Wal-loon Regional Council and the FlemishCouncil, a right that Brussels inhabi-tants already had for their RegionalCouncil since 1989, and the country’sGerman-speakers for the Council ofthe German Cultural Community/Council of the German-speaking Com-munity since 1974.
In addition the community and regio-nal councils, with the exception of the
Brussels Regional Council and theCouncil of the German-speaking Com-munity, receive a certain degree ofself-determination or “constitutive au-tonomy”. The province of Brabant issplit into a Flemish and a Walloon part,so that Belgium now consists of tenprovinces.The Law of 16 July 1993 extends thepowers of the German-speaking Com-munity to basic legislation concerningthe public social welfare centres. Thefinancing system of the German-spea-king Community is also adapted.The German language area forms itsown electoral district for the Euro-pean elections and since 1994 hassent its own representative to the European Parliament. Since the 1995 elections, the Parlia-ment of the German-speaking Com-munity has sent one member to thereformed 71 member Belgian Senate.
◀ 1. January 1994: Exercise of regio-nal powers for protection of monu-ments and landscapes (excludingexcavations) is transferred from theWalloon Region to the German-spea-king Community.
◀ 20. May 1997: Article 130 of theConstitution is extended with a 5thitem, which states that the Council ofthe German-speaking Community willsettle language use in education bydecree. In other words this power istransferred from the federal state tothe German-speaking Community.
◀ 1. January 2000: Exercise of regio-nal powers in employment policy and
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excavations is transferred from theWalloon Region to the German-spea-king Community.
2001: Fifth major reform of stateWith this reform of state the municipa-lities receive greater financial resour-ces from the Federal State (so-called“refinancing”). The regions are gran-ted greater tax autonomy, enablingthem to independently lower or raisecertain taxes. Agriculture, high sea fishing and fo-reign trade are transferred, with partialexceptions, from the federal state tothe regions. In addition the regions be-come responsible for the organizationof municipalities and provinces. Forexample they can now decide inde-pendently whether or not mayorsshould be directly elected.
One intention of the reform is to trans-fer development cooperation from 1 January 2004 to the regions andcommunities in the matters they arecompetent for (until now except theGerman-speaking Community).
Like the other communities the Ger-man-speaking Community can nowalso develop its own rules for control-ling election expenditures, govern-ment communication and comple-mentary party financing.
The government of the German-spea-king Community can from now on con-sist of three to five members, with atleast one woman or one man.
◀ Following an amendment to theConstitution on 9. July 2004, the for-mer regional and community councilsare now officially referred to as “par-liaments”.
Government building in Eupen
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◀ Since 1. January 2005 the German-speaking Community has exercised afurther key regional power: the super-vision and financing of municipalities.
2014:Sixth major reform of stateThe sixth reform of the Belgian Statehas been recently voted in the federalparliament. The institutional agree-ment on the sixth State reform, entit-led ‘A more efficient federal State andmore autonomous entities’, providesfor substantial State reform that willtake place over several stages.
The agreement has in fact an impor-tant duality. On the one hand, itstrengthens the regions, but on theother hand the federal state shouldstay strong enough to pay its debtsand finance social security. Some re-
sponsibilities were entirely transferredto the regions, while others are morefragmented. The transfer of family al-lowances, elderly care and work aremost remarkable.
EU in Brussels
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THE GERMAN-SPEAKINGCOMMUNITY WITHIN THE BELGIAN STATESTRUCTURE
To enable readers to understand theposition of the German-speaking Com-munity within the Belgian state sys-tem, some explanations are firstneeded of the most commonly-usedconcepts of Belgian constitutional law:language areas, communities and re-gions. Understanding of the structuresis rendered more difficult by the factthat the communities, regions andlanguage areas are not geographicallyidentical.
Federal State and subordinated authoritiesMany key powers previously exercisedby the central state have been trans-ferred to the communities and regionssince the federalization of Belgium inthe early 1970s. A series of powers
have also been transferred to the European Union in the process of European unification.
The Federal State continues to retainresponsibility for justice, financial po-licy, internal security, foreign policy,defence and social security. The legis-lative power of the Federal State isexercised by Parliament (Chamber ofDeputies and Senate) and the King,executive power by the King and hisministers.
Since the fourth reform of state the Federal State has been divided into 10provinces and 589 municipalities. TheBrussels-Capital administrative areahas a special status. Here the provin-cial powers are not exercised by theusual provincial bodies, but have beentransferred to several bodies (BrusselsRegional Parliament, CommunityCommissions etc.).
The language areas and the CommunitiesThe territory of the German-speaking Community corresponds with the German languagearea;
the French Community is competend for the French language area and the French-speakinginstitutions in Brussels;
the Flemish Community is competent for the Dutch language area and the Flemish instituti-ons in Brussels.
French language area
German language area
Dutch language area
Bilingual area Brussels-Capital
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The provinces and municipalities havewithout exception powers coveringeverything of provincial or municipa-lity interest. However, unlike the Com-munities and Regions, they aresubordinated authorities, under thesupervision of superordinated bodies.
The German language region in Belgium:• consists of nine (aggregated) muni-
cipalities;
• has its own autonomous legal entity– the German-speaking Community– for exercising community powers
• for regional matters is part of theWalloon Region. The bodies of theGerman-speaking Community none-theless exercise certain regionalpowers by way of application of Arti-cle 139 of the Constitution;
• is part of the Province of Liège forprovincial matters.
Language areasArticle 4 of the Constitution dividesBelgium into four language areas:
• the German language area (the ninemunicipalities of Amel, Büllingen,Burg-Reuland, Bütgenbach, Eupen,Kelmis, Lontzen, Raeren and St.Vith).
• the French language area (Wallonia),
• the Dutch-speaking language area(Flanders) and
• the bilingual Brussels-Capital area.
The language of each language areaapplies in principle in the administra-tion, schooling and the courts. In Brus-sels French and Dutch are administra-tively equal. In municipalities with pro-tected language minorities, specialrights (“facilities”) are introduced forthese minorities; in the nine municipa-lities of the German language areaspecial rights exist for French-spea-kers.
Representation office, Rue J. Jordaens 34, Brussels
The Regions:
The Walloon region
The Flemish region
The Region of Brussels-Capital
The German-speaking municipalities are part of the Walloon region.
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CommunitiesArticle 2 of the Constitution states thatBelgium consists of three communi-ties:
• the German-speaking Community,
• the Flemish Community and
• the French Community
The powers of Belgium’s three Com-munities are more or less identical(cultural matters, people-related mat-ters, education, inter-community andinternational cooperation).
The powers of the German-speakingCommunity are exercised by the Par-liament and by the Government of theGerman-speaking Community, thoseof the French Community by the Par-liament and by the Government of theFrench-speaking Community. For fi-nancial reasons, however, the FrenchCommunity has transferred the exer-cise of part of its powers to the Wal-loon Region.
The powers of the Flemish Communityare exercised by the Flemish Parlia-ment and the Flemish Government,which also exercise the powers of theFlemish Region. Whilst the FlemishParliament and the Parliament of theGerman-speaking Community are di-rectly elected, the Parliament of theFrench Community consists of theelected representatives of the WalloonRegional Parliament and a portion ofthe French-speaking members of theBrussels Regional Parliament.
Particularly complex is the exercise ofcommunity powers in the bilingualBrussels Region, where a French Com-munity Commission, a Flemish Com-munity Commission and a JointCommunity Commission each exercisetheir respective powers.
RegionsAlongside the Communities there isanother layer of independent legal en-tities which exercise major powers.These are the regions(Article 3 of theConstitution):
• the Walloon Region
• the Flemish Region and
• the Brussels Region
The powers of the regions are funda-mentally different from those of thecommunities, covering
• urban and rural planning
• environment and water policy,
• restructuring of rural areas and na-ture preservation,
• housing,
• agricultural policy,
• parts of economic policy and foreigntrade,
• parts of energy policy,
• organization and supervision of sub-ordinated authorities (municipalitiesand provinces),
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• employment policy,
• public works and traffic and
• powers of taxation.
The powers of the Walloon Region andthe Brussels-Capital Region are each
exercised by a regional parliament anda regional government. The powers ofthe Flemish Region are exercised, to-gether with those of the Flemish Com-munity, by the Flemish Parliament andthe Flemish Government.
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THE PARLIAMENT OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKINGCOMMUNITY – A LEGISLATIVE BODY
Functions of ParliamentThe Parliament of the German-spea-king Community exercises all the tra-ditional functions of a parliament:
• formation of a government:The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community elects the govern-ment of the German-speaking Com-munity.
• election of a senator:The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community sends one of itsmembers to the Belgian Senate.
• designation of representatives:The Parliament designates represen-tatives into inner Belgian (controlcommission for the use of language,Culture pact committee) and interna-tional organisations (Benelux, Grea-ter Region).
• control of government and administration:The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community exercises its controlfunction mainly by means of oralquestions and interpellations (ques-tions to the government) from itsmembers in plenary sessions. Mem-bers of parliament may also posewritten questions, which are then pu-blished in an official document alongwith the replies of the competent mi-nisters.
• issuing decrees and budget:Decrees of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community haveforce of law in the German languagearea. The annual community budgetand annual accounts are also appro-ved by decree.
• discussion of all politically relevantquestions:
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All matters of topical or fundamentalimportance for the German-speakingCommunity may be brought up inthe Parliament of the German-spea-king Community, even if Parliamentlacks direct decision-making powers.
• expression of public opinions andinterests:Differences of opinion are the basis ofevery democratic discussion and de-cision-making process. The differentpolitical trends in the German-spea-king Community are expressed bythe different parties represented inParliament. In addition all citizensare entitled to express themselves in
the form of a petition to the Parlia-ment of the German-speaking Com-munity.
• controlling elections results and government communications andestablishing rules for complemen-tary party financing.
Composition of Parliament The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community consists of 25 di-rectly-elected members, elected everyfive years at the same time as the
Plenary session in the Parliament
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European elections. Eligible to voteand eligible to be elected are all Bel-gian citizens aged 18 and over residentin the German language area and infull possession of their political rights.
Members of the European Parliament,directly elected federal deputies,members of the Walloon Regional Par-liament and provincial councillors,who have sworn their oath to the Con-stitution in the German language, attend the sessions of the Parliamentof the German-speaking Communityex officio on an advisory basis, i.e. wit-hout any right of initiative and votingrights.
Organization of ParliamentThe Parliament of the German-spea-king Community adopts its decrees,positions and opinions in plenary ses-sion. These decisions are prepared inthe parliamentary committees, towhich each party sends its representa-tives.
Parliamentary work is planned and or-ganized in the bureau, which is chairedby the President of Parliament. ThePresident also chairs the plenary ses-sions and represents the Parliament tothe outside world. Parliamentary work
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is undertaken according to the internalrules of procedure which the Parlia-ment of the German-speaking Com-munity has adopted for itself.
In order to better exercise their duties,members may join together in politicalgroups. To be recognized as such a po-litical group must have at least threeelected members of Parliament. TheParliament of the German-speakingCommunity provides all politicalgroups with an office infrastructureand staff funding.
The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community has a staff of around30 persons, who carry out a widerange of tasks under the leadership ofthe Secretary-General: preparationand post-working of plenary, bureauand committee sessions, recording,printing and sending out of parliamen-tary documents and minutes of ple-
nary sessions (detailed reports), archi-ving of law and decree texts, takingcare of visitors, public relations work,etc.
Parliament library
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HOW DOES A DECREE COME ABOUT?The Parliament of the German-speaking Community is the legislative power of theGerman-speaking Community. It exercises its power by decree. Decrees are the-refore laws which are valid solely within the area of the German-speaking Com-munity.
DECREE PROPOSAL DRAFT DECREE
One or more memberspresent the decree proposal
in Parliament.
The plenary meeting decides whether the document is taken into
consideration.
The appropriate committee examines the document: discussion, hearings,amendment proposals, votes, adoption of the committee report.
The plenary meeting of the Parliament examines the document:committee report; general discussion, voting of each article and the
amendment proposals, voting of the document (which has possibly beenamended) as a whole.
The Government approves the decree, promulgates it and publishes it in the State official Journal („Belgisches Staatsblatt“).
The decree comes into force ten days after its publication, unless the textof the decree gives another date.
The Government implements the decree.
The Government presentsthe draft decree together with
the opinion of the Council of State:
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COMPETENCES
The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community is authorized toestablish the community's areas ofcompetence by decree.
The German-speaking Community isresponsible essentially for communitymatters, which break down into cultu-
ral matters, people-related mattersand educational matters.
These competences are listed in Article130 of the Constitution and in the Lawof 31 December 1983 on institutionalreforms for the German-speakingCommunity. This law has been amen-
Sports- and recreation center St.Vith
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ded several times, most recently on 7January 2002. We list here only themost important competences.
Cultural matters “Cultural matters” should be unders-
tood as covering:
• protection and defense of the lan-guage: promotion of the correct useof the language, the disseminationof literary works at home and ab-road, the granting of grants, prizes,bursaries, etc.;
• promoting the training of resear-chers;
• fine arts (literature, music, theatre,ballet, film etc.);
• cultural heritage, museums andother scientific-cultural institutions.This covers primarily the setting up
of archives, the setting up and main-tenance of museums, the organiza-tion of lending services, etc.;
• media: book and CD libraries and similar facilities, radio and TV otherthan the broadcasting of communi-cations by the federal government,support for the written press;
• youth education, adult education,cultural activities;
• physical education, sport, and out-door life: this competence includesboth professional and amateursport, with the exception of rules onbetting, sports results, boxing mat-ches and aspects of the fight againstdrug use in sport;
• leisure and tourism: including non-professional artistic efforts (theatre,music, plastic arts, etc.), hobbies ofa technical, scientific or artistic na-ture, social tourism and tourism;
Media-center Eupen
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• pre-school and further education
• art education: including the musicacademy;
• professional retraining and conti-nuing education (e.g. initial and furt-her education the middle class, theunemployed outplacement, recyc-ling of unemployed persons, voca-tional training in the farming field).
People-related mattersThis covers family, social and healthmatters, caring for the elderly and theintegration of foreigners.
These matters are sub-divided intotwo areas:
1. health policy matters:- care policy inside and outside care
institutions (erection of hospitals,
granting permits and subsidies forbuilding, conversion and equip-ment and for heavy medical appa-ratus; inspection, recognition andclosure, internal organization andreception within specific limits).The federal government retains,however, responsibility for certainareas, such as sickness and disabi-lity insurance;
- health education and preventivemedicine, with the exception of fe-deral prophylactic measures.
2. The assistance to individuals:The main areas here are family policy, social assistance policy, thereception and integration of immi-grants, policy for the old and disab-led, youth protection and socialhelp to prisoners and former priso-ners.
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Here too part of the competencehas been left at federal level, inorder to ensure unity in certainareas at national level (e.g. in the legally established minimum in-come).
EducationUnder the fundamental principlesenshrined in Article 24 of the Constitu-tion, the German-speaking Commu-nity is responsible for education atevery level: kindergartens, primaryschools, secondary schools, specialschools, further and higher educationestablishments, universities. Thiscompetence is extensive and includesteachers’ salaries, study grants, schoolbuildings and boarding schools, les-son content, school transport, lengthof holidays, etc.
Since the amendment of Article 130 ofthe Constitution on 20 May 1997 theGerman-speaking Community hasalso been responsible for languageuse in education.
Article 24 of the Constitution statesthat everyone has a fundamental rightto education. Parents are also free tochoose whether to send their childrento community, municipal or indepen-dent schools. The Constitution requi-res the communities to organize aneutral educational system, i.e. onethat takes into account the philosophi-cal, ideological or religious views ofparents and pupils. It also states thatall pupils and students, parents, mem-bers of staff and education establish-ments are equal before the law ordecree.
Alongside these constitutional princi-ples the federal state power’s residual
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powers are limited to establishing thecompulsory education length, the mi-nimum conditions for awarding aschool diploma and teachers' pen-sions.
Inter-community and international cooperationThe Parliament of the German-spea-king Community governs by decreeinter-community and international co-operation in cultural, people-relatedand educational matters, includingthe approval of treaties and contracts.
The German-speaking Community isrepresented by its Minister-President
in the Council of the Regions, an advi-sory body of the EU.
Bilateral agreements (for examplewith the Republic of Hungary or withGerman federal Länder) are negotia-ted by the Government and approvedby Parliament.
In accordance with Belgium’s specificfederal organization the Parliament ofthe German-speaking Community ra-tifies general international agree-ments which affect the competence ofthe German-speaking Community (EUaccession of eastern European states,EU constitutional treaty, etc.).
Regional mattersThe nine municipalities of the Germanlanguage area are a part of the Wal-loon Region. The German-speakingCommunity therefore has no auto-nomy in regional matters. Even so Ar-ticle 139 of the Constitution makesprovision for the German-speakingCommunity to exercise all or part ofthe powers of the Walloon Region inthe German-speaking area, by mutualagreement between the German-speaking Community and the WalloonRegion. In 1994 this provision was firstapplied to the protection of monu-ments and landscapes. Since 2000 theCommunity has been responsible foremployment policy and excavations,and since 1 January 2005 also the supervision and financing of munici-palities.
Klösterchen, Eupen
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Opinions on the legislationof the Federal StateUnlike the Parliament of the FrenchCommunity and the Flemish Parlia-ment, the Parliament of the German-speaking Community may not adoptany decree concerning language use inadministrative matters and in socialrelations between employers and em-ployees. This legislation remains thereserve of the Federal State, becausethe special rights of the protectedFrench-speaking minority places themunicipalities in the German-speakingarea among those which enjoy specialstatus (“facilities municipalities”).Even so the federal legislator must ob-tain the opinion of the Parliament ofthe German-speaking Community forany changes.
The same applies to changes in the legislation on institutional reforms for
the German-speaking Community andon elections to the Parliament of theGerman-speaking Community.
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THE GOVERNMENT: EXECUTIVE POWER
The Parliament elects the Governmentof the German-speaking Community.This can consist of between three andfive members, who are not required tobe members of Parliament.
The Government has the traditionalpowers of an executive power. In par-ticular
- it implements the decrees of the Par-liament by issuing rulings,
- it takes initiatives by tabling draft de-crees in Parliament,
- it proposes uses for budget funds,
- it drafts and coordinates the Com-munity's policy.
The Government also has specificpowers:
- it can carry out expropriations in thepublic interest;
- it can conclude international trea-ties, which must be approved by Par-liament;
- it represents the Community in andout of court.
The Government and each of its mem-bers is responsible to Parliament. Allmembers swear their official oath infront of the President of Parliament onthe Constitution.
The Parliament can adopt at any timea motion of no-confidence against theGovernment or one or more of itsmembers. Such a motion is only permissible, however, if one or moresuccessors, as the case may be, areproposed.
The adopting of a motion of no-confi-dence by a majority in Parliamentleads to the resignation of the Govern-ment or individual members and the
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appointment of a new government orindividual members.
The Government can call for a vote ofconfidence at any time. Should it losesuch a vote, it is deemed of have resig-ned as of right.
For the execution of its tasks the Go-vernment has its own administration,the Ministry of the German-speakingCommunity. The Government sets themanning and pay in this ministry.
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THE COMMUNITY’S FINANCES
At the end of every year the Parliamentof the German-speaking Communityestablishes by decree the income andexpenditure budget for the followingyear. In so doing it empowers the go-vernment to incur expenditure underthe different headings or “allocations”.The Parliament of the German-spea-king Community may adapt its budgetduring the budget year.
The income budget The income budget represents the resources that are available to the German-speaking Community duringa budget year.
The income budget of the German-speaking Community can consist of:
1. allocations from the federal budget.This is a legally established lumpsum (“Dotation”) which the federal
state transfers annually to the Com-munity. It represents by far the lar-gest portion of income;
2. allocations from the Walloon Re-gion, in connection with the trans-fer of regional competences;
3. own non-tax income (interest on reserves, donations, inheritances,etc.);
4. loans;
5. own taxes: in principle Article 170 § 2 of the Constitution permits theGerman-speaking Community toraise taxes. In practice this right is limited to areas which are not taxedby another institution;
6. project-related subsidies: The Ger-man-speaking Community can re-ceive grants and subsidies fromother entities (e.g. the EuropeanCommunity, the Walloon Region)
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for certain projects, like employ-ment-promotion measures, cross-border tourism infrastructures, etc.
The expenditure budget
The expenditure budget representsthe expenditures that the Parliamentof the German-speaking Communitypermits the government to undertakein the individual areas of competence.
With the financial resources under theindividual expenditure budget hea-dings the German-speaking Commu-nity finances or promotes the variousinitiatives taken either by itself or byentities founded, recognized and/orcommissioned by itself. The expendi-ture budget can be viewed not only asan abstract set of figures but as re-flecting the political will of the parlia-mentary majority and the government
borne by it. This expression of will is visible in the main financial areas ofthe budget planning. This politicalfreedom is, however, circumscribed bythe obligatory expenditures that theCommunity is required to incur regard-less of the parliamentary majority, e.g.teachers’ and civil servants’ salaries,functional grants established by de-cree.
TreasurySince 1 January 1992 the German-speaking Community has had its ownTreasury, entrusted with the manage-ment of the community’s finances.
The State AuditThe State Audit controls all budget expenditure by the government. It is
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an auxiliary body for the legislativepowers. Its task is not to control thepolitical opportunity of this or that ex-penditure, but to establish whether
the Community’s decrees and the bud-get legislation are correctly appliedand to ensure that individual budgetlines are not exceeded.
The Belgian Court of Auditors; Brussels
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COOPERATION AND CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
The gradual transfer of powers to thecommunities and regions is intendedto strengthen the autonomy of Belgi-um’s constituent legal entities. Giventhat it is not always possible to clearlydemarcate the individual areas ofcompetence of the federal state, thecommunities and regions, the Consti-tution makes provision for certainforms of cooperation and of conflictsettlement.
Cooperation The concluding of cooperation agree-ments allows individual entities toexercise their powers in the most ap-propriate form and to avoid any con-flicts. For particularly sensitive areas(e.g. traffic and communications net-works) the legislator even makes suchagreements mandatory. It is generallythe governments that take the initia-
tive in negotiating and signing agree-ments, with the councils granting theirapproval where appropriate.
Conflict settlementConflicts arise when a particular entity(federal state, community, region) ex-ceeds the powers allotted to it in theConstitution and in the implementinglegislation (conflict of competences) oralternatively threatens the interests ofanother entity (conflict of interests).The legislator has provided severalmechanisms in order to prevent or re-solve such conflicts.
Preventing of conflicts of competence: the Council of StateThe “legislation” department of theCouncil of State issues reasoned opi-
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nions on pre-drafts of laws and de-crees and drafts of Royal, Ministerial orGovernment rulings. When requestedit can also issue opinions on proposedlaws and decrees. Where the Councilof State is of the opinion that a pre-draft exceeds the competences of thestate, the community and the region,the text is put before a consultativecommittee consisting of members ofthe federal government and of the governments of the regions and thecommunities. Where this committeeshares the opinion that competenceshave been exceeded, it proposes tothe government in question that ittake measures to prevent such excee-ding of competences.
Resolution of conflicts of competence: the Constitutional CourtWhere an already passed law or decree contains an exceeding of com-petence, the Constitutional Court (pre-viously Court of Arbitration) can becalled in. This court can annul lawsand decrees in full or in part wherecompetences are found to have beenexceeded.
The Constitutional Court may also beinvoked by any legally designated aut-hority, by any directly concerned citi-zen and, for the purposes of obtaininga pre-decision, by any judicial body, inorder to test the conformity of laws ordecrees with Articles 10, 11 and 24 ofthe Constitution (equality of citizens,granting of rights and freedoms wit-
hout discrimination, freedom of edu-cation).
Prevention and resolutionof conflicts of interest between legislative assembliesConflicts of interest between the state,the communities and regions can arise
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even where these bodies remainstrictly within their competences. A le-gislative assembly (Chamber of Depu-ties, Senate, regional or communityParliament) can be of the opinion thatit is severely disadvantaged by a draftor proposed decree or law tabled inanother assembly. In this case it may,by three-quarters majority, apply forthe deliberations to be halted and forconsultation to take place. Where no
agreement can be reached, it is up tothe Senate or the Consultation Com-mittee to find a solution.
Prevention and resolutionof conflicts of interest between governmentsWhen a draft ruling is tabled by a go-vernment (or where a government fails
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to table an ruling), the government ofanother body may also consider itselfdisadvantaged.
The Minister-Presidents of the govern-ments are empowered to call in the
consultation committee set up to pre-vent and resolve conflicts. This com-mittee is made up of representativesof the governments. This must thencome up with a mutually acceptablesolution.
Lontzen
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AUTONOMY AND THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
Since 1970 Belgium has gone throughthe difficult process of converting itselfinto a federal state. The German-spea-king Community is an autonomouscomponent of the new Federal State ofBelgium. It is now in a position to au-tonomously take care of its linguisticand cultural interests and to take poli-tical decisions close to its citizens inmajor areas of life.
It has established its relations with theFlemish and the French Communitiesin a series of treaties, which serve as abasis for lively exchange at cultural,sport and administrative levels.
Cross-border and European coopera-tion is another key area of politicalwork that the German-speaking Com-munity undertakes autonomously. InJune 1992 it was included as an equalpartner in the Maas-Rhine Euregio re-gion and sends its representatives tothe Euregio Council. It also participa-
tes in the work of the Saar-Lor-Lux Euregio region.
The German-speaking Community isthe smallest self-governing autono-mous entity anywhere in the EuropeanUnion, and seeks to present itself ap-propriately to the outside world.
The sixth state reform includes wide-reaching changes, which will shiftmany powers from the federal govern-ment to the regions and communities– also to the German-speaking Com-munity. Major concerns of broad poli-tical circles in the German-speakingCommunity include the transfer to it ofadditional regional and provincialpowers as well as having guaranteedrepresentation in the federal Parlia-ment. These topics will feature large inparliamentary debates in the comingmonths and years.
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Selected further reading
PABST Klaus, Eupen - Malmedy in der belgischen Regierungs- und Parteienpolitik1914-1940, in: Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsvereines, Band 76, Jahrgang 1964
NELDE Peter, Deutsch als Muttersprache in Belgien, Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden 1979
CREMER F., HERMANNS L., KOHNEMANN M., KREUSCH M., MINKE A., PAUQUET F.,Grenzland seit Menschengedenken - Identität und Zukunft der DeutschsprachigenGemeinschaft Belgiens, (Bibliokassetten), Grenz-Echo-Verlag, Eupen 1990
LEJEUNE C., FICKERS A., CREMER F.: Spuren in die Zukunft. Anmerkungen zu einembewegten Jahrhundert, Lexis-Verlag, Büllingen 2001
JENNIGES Hubert: Hinter ostbelgischen Kulissen. Stationen auf dem Weg zur Auto-nomie des deutschen Sprachgebiets in Belgien (1968-1972), Grenz-Echo Verlag,Eupen 2001
BERGE Frank, GRASSE, Alexander, Belgien - Zerfall oder föderales Zukunftsmodell?,leske + budrich, Opladen, 2003
STANGHERLIN Katrin (ed.), La Communauté germanophone de Belgique - DieDeutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens, la Charte, Bruxelles 2005
ENGELS Hans (ed.), 60 Jahre Belgischer Rundfunk, GEV, Eupen 2006
LEJEUNE C., BRÜLL C. (Hg.): Grenzerfahrungen. Eine Geschichte der Deutschspra-chigen Gemeinschaft Belgiens. Bd. 5: Säuberung, Wiederaufbau, Autonomiediskus-sionen (1945-1973), Grenz-Echo-Verlag; Eupen, 2014
