Flemish Government

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Flemish Government

Emblem of the Flemish government
Government overview
Jurisdiction Flanders (Community / Region)
Headquarters Martyrs' Square, Brussels, Belgium
Annual budget € 27 billion (2012)
Website www.flanders.be

The Flemish Government (Dutch:  Vlaamse regering (help·info)) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, and the public administration (civil service) divided into 13 policy areas, each with an executive department and multiple agencies.

The Flemish Government cabinet consists of up to a maximum of eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament. At least one minister must come from Brussels. The ministers are drawn from the political parties which, in practice, form the governing coalition. The Government is chaired by the Flemish Minister-President. Ministers head executive departments of the government administration. Ministers must defend their policies and performance in person before the Flemish Parliament. The Flemish Government must receive and keep the confidence of the Flemish Parliament.

Until 1993 the Flemish Government was called the Flemish Executive (Vlaamse Executieve).

Cabinet composition

Peeters II (current)

Government coalition 2009-present

Following the 7 June 2009 election,     CD&V (31 seats),     N-VA (16 seats) and     SP.A (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.

Flemish Government - Peeters II 2009-2014
Party Name Function
CD&V Kris Peeters Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Economy, Foreign Policy, Agriculture and Rural Policy
SP.A Ingrid Lieten Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Innovation, Public Investment, Media and Poverty Reduction
N-VA Geert Bourgeois Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Brussels Periphery
CD&V Jo Vandeurzen Flemish Minister for Welfare, Public Health and Family
CD&V Hilde Crevits Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works
SP.A Freya Van den Bossche Flemish Minister for Energy, Housing, Cities and Social Economy
N-VA Philippe Muyters Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget, Work, Town and Country Planning and Sport
CD&V Joke Schauvliege Flemish Minister for Environment, Nature and Culture
SP.A Pascal Smet Flemish Minister for Education, Youth, Equal Opportunities and Brussels Affairs

Leterme I/Peeters I (2004-2009)

Government coalition 2007-2009
Government coalition 2004-2007

Following the 2004 election,    CD&V (29 seats)/   N-VA (6 seats),    SP.A/   Sociaal-Liberale Partij (25 seats) and    Open VLD (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.

  • From 19 July 2004 to 26 June 2007, the Minister-President of Flanders was Yves Leterme (CD&V), leading a coalition of CD&V-N-VA, VLD-Vivant, and SP.A-Vl.Pro.
  • On 26 June 2007, in the aftermath of the 2007 Belgian general elections, Yves Leterme and Inge Vervotte resigned as minister-president and minister in the Flemish Government to take their seats in the Belgian Parliament. On June 28, Kris Peeters was sworn in as new minister-president, taking over the responsibilities of Leterme, and Vanackere and Crevits replaced Vervotte and Peeters as Flemish ministers.
  • On 10 October 2007 Fientje Moerman resigned due to the fallout of a hiring scandal; she was replaced as vice-minister-president by Dirk Van Mechelen and as minister by Patricia Ceysens.
  • On 22 September 2008 Geert Bourgeois (N-VA) was forced to resign due to pressure by the SP.A-Vl.Pro and Open VLD coalition partners because of his party's no confidence vote in the federal government of Leterme and their lack of trust in further negotiations by the Regions regarding the state reform. His portfolio's of Administrative Affairs, Foreign Policy, Media and Tourism were taken over by minister-president Peeters.
  • On December 30, 2008 Steven Vanackere resigned to become federal Minister of Civil Service and Public Enterprises. He was replaced in the Flemish Government by Veerle Heeren.

The composition at the end of the legislature:

Peeters I Flemish Government (2007-2009)
Party Name Function
CD&V Kris Peeters Minister-President; Minister for Institutional Reform, Ports, Agriculture, Sea Fisheries and Rural Policy
SP.A Frank Vandenbroucke Vice-Minister-President; Minister for Work, Education and Training
VLD Dirk van Mechelen Vice-Minister-President; Minister for Finance and Budget and Town and Country Planning
SP.A Bert Anciaux Minister for Culture, Youth, Sport and Brussels Affairs
VLD Marino Keulen Minister for Home Affairs, Urban Policy, Housing and Civic Integration
SP.A Kathleen Van Brempt Minister for Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunities
CD&V Hilde Crevits Minister for Public Works, Energy, the Environment and Nature
VLD Patricia Ceysens Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade
CD&V Veerle Heeren Minister for Welfare, Public Health and Family

Dewael I (1999-2003)/Somers I (2003-2004)

Government coalition 1999-2003
Government coalition 2003-2004

After the regional elections of 1999, a coalition of VLD, SP, Agalev and the VU was formed with Patrick Dewael (VLD) as Minister-President.

After the federal elections of June 2003, Patrick Dewael resigned as Minister-President and went to the federal political level. He was succeeded by Bart Somers as Flemish Minister-President until the end of term in 2004. Due to changes in political parties, the coalition was different:

  • Volksunie (VU) fell apart. Instead, Spirit entered the coalition
  • the SP was renamed to SP.a
  • Agalev was renamed to Groen!


Van den Brande IV (1995-1999)

Government coalition 1995-1999

After the regional elections of 1995 (which were the first direct elections for the Flemish Parliament), a coalition of CVP and SP was formed.

Minister Name Party
Minister-President, Foreign Policy, European Affairs, Science and Technology Luc Van den Brande CVP
Vice-Minister-President, Education and Public Administration Luc Van den Bossche SP
Environment and Labour Theo Kelchtermans CVP
Finance, Budget and Health Policy Wivina Demeester CVP
Public Works, Transport and Spatial Planning Eddy Baldewijns SP
Economy, SME, Agriculture and Media Eric Van Rompuy CVP
Home Affairs, Urban Policy and Housing Leo Peeters SP
Culture, Family Policy and Welfare Luc Martens CVP
Brussels Affairs and Equal en Equal Opportunities Policy Anne Van Asbroeck SP


List of Flemish Minister-Presidents

Main article: Minister-President of Flanders
Name Period Party Comments
Rika De Backer (nl) 1974 – 1981 CVP Only of Flemish Community
Gaston Geens 22 December 1981 – 21 January 1992 CVP
Luc Van den Brande 21 February 1992 – 1999 CVP
Patrick Dewael 13 July 1999 – 5 June 2003 VLD
Bart Somers 11 June 2003 – 20 July 2004 VLD
Yves Leterme 20 July 2004 – 28 June 2007 CD&V
Kris Peeters 28 June 2007 – present CD&V

Administration

The Flemish Government cabinet offices are located at the Martyrs' Square in Brussels

The Flemish administration (Dutch: Vlaamse overheid) denotes the Flemish civil service. With the 2006 reform program Better Administrative Policy (Dutch: Beter Bestuurlijk Beleid), the Flemish civil service is designed to make the Flemish public administration more efficient and transparent.

The tasks of the Flemish public administration are now organised in 13 policy areas. Each policy area comprises a department and a number of (semi-) independent government agencies. Only those with their own article are mentioned below.

The 13 policy areas are:

  1. Services for the General Government Policy (DAR)
  2. Administrative Affairs (BZ)
  3. Foreign Affairs (iV)
  4. Finance and Budget (FB)
  5. Education and Training (OV)
  6. Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI)
  7. Culture, Youth, Sport and Media (CJSM)
  8. Welfare, Public Health and Family (WVG)
  9. Agriculture and Fisheries (LV)
  10. Work and Social Economy (WSE)
  11. Mobility and Public Works (MOW)
  12. Environment, Nature and Energy (LNE)
  13. Town and Country Planning, Housing Policy and Immovable Heritage (RWO)

Several other institutes, such as the Flemish Opera and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), were not incorporated into the above structure.

See also

External links

 Flanders topics
Territories
Modern Belgium
Neighbouring and
historical regions
Local regions
Provinces
(and cities)
See also
Politics
Symbols and
history
Other topics
Federal Belgium
Government
Brussels-Capital Region
Flemish Region and Community
(merged institutions)
Walloon Region
French Community
German-speaking Community
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