Prime Minister of Belgium

Prime Minister of Belgium Eerste Minister van België Premier Ministre de Belgique Premierminister von Belgien Premier
Coat of arms
State Ensign
Incumbent Charles Michel since 11 October 2014
Executive branch of the Belgian Federal Government
Member of	Belgian Federal Cabinet European Council
Residence	Number 16, Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat
Appointer	Monarch of Belgium
Term length	No term limit
Inaugural holder	Étienne de Gerlache (as Chief of Government) Léon Delacroix (as Prime Minister)
Formation	26 February 1831
Website	premier.fgov.be

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The Prime Minister of Belgium (Dutch: Eerste minister van België; French: Premier ministre de Belgique; German: Premierminister von Belgien) or the Premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government in the Kingdom of Belgium.

Although Leaders of Government (French: Chefs de Cabinet) had been appointed since the independence of the country, until 1918 the King often presided over the Council of Ministers, so the modern era of the "Premiership" started after World War I with Léon Delacroix. The political importance of the King of the Belgians has decreased over time, whereas the position of Prime Minister has gradually become more important.

History

Since the independence of Belgium in 1830, governments have been designated with the name of the minister who formed the government as formateur, but that position did not have a specific status. Originally, from 1831 the King of the Belgians presided over the Council of Ministers, but when he was absent, the presidency was taken by the chef de cabinet (Head of Cabinet), usually the oldest or most influential minister. This position gradually became more prominent, and the minister with this title then soon acquired the competency to present the King with the proposed allocation of the various ministerial departments among the ministers.

The title of Prime Minister or Premier was used for the first time in 1918 in official documents and it is at this time that the position was assigned to its own cabinet. Only in 1970 the title was incorporated in the Belgian Constitution with the first state reform. Gradually, the Head of Cabinet replaced the King more often during the first half of the twentieth century, and as such gained importance within government. Nevertheless, given his newly acquired prominence, as a member of the cabinet the Head of Cabinet continued to lead a ministerial department.

With the expansion of voting rights after World War I, more political parties started to win seats in parliament—especially the Belgian Socialist Party—and this made it impossible to achieve an absolute majority in parliament. Since then, coalition governments have been necessary, which has made the task of forming a government by the appointed formateur more difficult. Consequently, the formateur increasingly gained greater respect, and much prestige. Thus the formateur became prominent as a position of leadership. As the ministers of the government now represented various political parties, there was a need for someone to coordinate the proceedings of the various ministers. The Prime Minister was now asserted as the actual head of government, and this is how the office of Prime Minister came into existence.

Function

Besides coordinating government policies, the Prime Minister is responsible for the proper execution of the coalition agreement. He also presides at meetings of the Council of Ministers and manages conflicts of competencies between the ministers. In addition, the Prime Minister represents the government coalition in public, both at home and abroad. It is the Prime Minister who maintains contact with the King and presents the government policy statement in the Parliament. He can also ask Parliament for a vote of confidence, which can even lead to the government's resignation in the case of a constructive vote of no confidence. Unless the Prime Minister resigns because of a personal matter, the whole government resigns when he resigns. The Prime Minister also represents Belgium in the various international organisations, alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Due to the state reform, the Prime Minister acquired a number of additional tasks, such as keeping in check the relations between the different regions and communities of the country, and presiding at the deliberative committee that consists of the governmental representatives of all the federal entities.

Appointment

The day after the federal elections, the incumbent Prime Minister offers the resignation of his government to the King. The King then asks the resigning government to continue as a caretaker government until a new government is formed. The King then consults a number of prominent politicians in order to ascertain the different possibilities of forming a government. He usually consults the presidents of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, the most important political parties, and other people of political and socio-economic importance. After the consultations, the King appoints an informateur who is in charge of collecting information from the different political parties about their demands for formation of a new government. After these consultations, the informateur reports to the King so that the King can find a suitable formateur, who is responsible for forming the government. Usually, it is the formateur of the federal government who then becomes Prime Minister.^[1]

The Prime Minister or Premier is appointed by the King, alongside the other ministers and secretaries of state of the federal government. As the head of government, he is the first to be appointed. As the King cannot perform any executive action without the consent and responsibility of a minister, the Act of Appointment of the new Prime Minister is signed by the resigning Prime Minister. Subsequently, the new Prime Minister signs the Act of Resignation of the resigning Prime Minister.

Official residence

The official residence and office of the Prime Minister is located at 16 Rue de la Loi (Wetstraat in Dutch, or "Law Street" in translation) among many notable Belgian government and European Union buildings in the centre of Brussels and around the Brussels Park. The residence includes the Belgian Federal Cabinet, the Chancellery and the Council of Ministers. It functions as the nerve center of Belgian politics.

The building was originally erected as the so-called "Refuge House" by the Saint Gertrude Abbey of Leuven. It was designed by the Belgian-Austrian architect Louis Joseph Montoyer.^[2] At the time of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830), the building was planned to be used as the location for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.^[3] In 1830 it was purchased by Prince Eugène of Ligne,^[4] and from 1944, the building became state property after which it was furnished to function as a meeting place for the prime minister and his cabinet.

The office of the Belgian Prime Minister  The entrance  The building (centre of picture)  The doorbell

Kingdom of Belgium (1831–present)

Chiefs of Government

Political parties

  Independent
  Catholic Party
  Liberal Party

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party	Election	Cabinet		Monarch (Reign)
			Took Office	Left Office	Days			Name	Composition
		Etienne Constantin de Gerlache (1785–1871)	27 February 1831	10 March 1831	11	Independent (Confessional)	1830	De Gerlache	–	Erasme Louis Regent (1831)
		Joseph Lebeau (1794–1865)	10 March 1831	24 July 1831	136	Independent (Liberal)	–	Lebeau I	–
		Félix de Muelenaere (1793–1862)	24 July 1831	20 October 1832	454	Independent (Confessional)	1831	De Mûelenaere	–	Leopold I (1831–1865)
		Albert Joseph Goblet d'Alviella (1790–1873)	20 October 1832	4 August 1834	653	Independent (Liberal)	1833	Goblet d'Alviella— Rogier	–
		Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt (1794–1874)	4 August 1834	18 April 1840	2084	Independent (Confessional)	1835 1837 1839	De Theux de Meylandt I	–
		Joseph Lebeau (1794–1865)	18 April 1840	13 April 1841	360	Independent (Liberal)	–	Lebeau II	–
		Jean-Baptiste Nothomb (1805–1881)	13 April 1841	30 July 1845	1569	Independent (Liberal)	1841 1843	Nothomb	–
		Sylvain Van de Weyer (1802–1874)	30 July 1845	31 March 1846	244	Independent (Liberal)	1845	Van de Weyer	–
		Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt (1794–1874)	31 March 1846	12 August 1847	499	Independent (Confessional)	–	De Theux de Meylandt II	–
		Charles Rogier (1800–1885)	12 August 1847	31 October 1852	1907	Liberal Party	1847 1848 1850	Rogier I	Lib.
		Henri de Brouckère (1801–1891)	31 October 1852	30 March 1855	880	Liberal Party	1852 1854	De Brouckère	Lib.
		Pierre de Decker (1812–1891)	30 March 1855	9 November 1857	955	Independent (Confessional)	1855 1856	De Decker	Cath.–Lib.
		Charles Rogier (1800–1885)	9 November 1857	3 January 1868	3707	Liberal Party	1857 1859 1861 1863 1864 1866 1867	Rogier II	Lib.
		Walthère Frère-Orban (1812–1896)	3 January 1868	2 July 1870	911	Liberal Party	1868	Frère-Orban I	Lib.	Leopold II (1865–1909)
		Jules d'Anethan (1803–1888)	2 July 1870	7 December 1871	523	Catholic Party	Jun.1870 Aug.1870	D'Anethan	Cath.
		Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt (1794–1874)	7 December 1871	21 August 1874 (died in office)	988	Catholic Party	1872 1874	Malou I	Cath.
		Jules Malou (1810–1886)	21 August 1874	19 June 1878	1398	Catholic Party	1876
		Walthère Frère-Orban (1812–1891)	19 June 1878	16 June 1884	2189	Liberal Party	1878 1880 1882	Frère-Orban II	Lib.
		Jules Malou (1810–1886)	16 June 1884	26 October 1884	132	Catholic Party	1884	Malou II	Cath.
		Auguste Beernaert (1829–1912)	26 October 1884	26 March 1894	3438	Catholic Party	1886 1888 1890 1892	Beernaert	Cath.
		Jules de Burlet (1844–1897)	26 March 1894	25 February 1896	701	Catholic Party	1894	De Burlet	Cath.
		Paul de Smet de Naeyer (1843–1913)	25 February 1896	24 January 1899	1064	Catholic Party	1896 1898	De Smet de Naeyer I	Cath.
		Jules Vandenpeereboom (1843–1917)	24 January 1899	5 August 1899	193	Catholic Party	–	Vandenpeereboom	Cath.
		Paul de Smet de Naeyer (1843–1913)	5 August 1899	2 May 1907	2826	Catholic Party	1900 1902 1904 1906	De Smet de Naeyer II	Cath.
		Jules de Trooz (1857–1907)	2 May 1907	31 December 1907 (died in office)	243	Catholic Party	–	De Trooz	Cath.
		Frans Schollaert (1851–1917)	9 January 1908	17 June 1911	1255	Catholic Party	1908 1910	Schollaert	Cath.
										Albert I (1909–1934)
		Charles de Broqueville (1860–1940)	17 June 1911	18 January 1916	2541	Catholic Party	1912 1914	De Broqueville I (in exile, 1914–18)	Cath.
			18 January 1916	1 June 1918			–		Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB
		Gérard Cooreman (1852–1926)	1 June 1918	21 November 1918	173	Catholic Party	–	Cooreman	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB

Timeline from 1831 till 1919

Prime Ministers

Political parties

Christian Democrat

  Catholic Party
  Christian Social Party
  Christian Democratic and Flemish

Liberal

  Liberal Party
  Flemish Liberals and Democrats
  Reformist Movement

Socialist

  Socialist Party

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party	Election	Cabinet		Monarch (Reign)
			Took Office	Left Office	Days			Name	Composition
		Léon Delacroix (1867–1929)	21 November 1918	2 December 1919	730	Catholic Party	–	Delacroix I	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB	Albert I (1909–1934)
			2 December 1919	20 November 1920			1919	Delacroix II
		Henry Carton de Wiart (1869–1951)	20 November 1920	16 December 1921	391	Catholic Party	–	Carton de Wiart	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB
		Georges Theunis (1873–1966)	16 December 1921	13 May 1925	1244	Catholic Party	1921	Theunis I	Cath.–Lib.
		Aloys Van de Vyvere (1871–1961)	13 May 1925	17 June 1925	35	Catholic Party	1925	Van de Vyvere	Cath.
		Prosper Poullet (1868–1937)	17 June 1925	20 May 1926	337	Catholic Party	–	Poullet— Vandervelde	Cath.–BWP/POB
		Henri Jaspar (1870–1939)	20 May 1926	22 November 1927	1843	Catholic Party	–	Jaspar I	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB
			22 November 1927	6 June 1931			1929	Jaspar II	Cath.–Lib.
		Jules Renkin (1862–1934)	6 June 1931	22 October 1932	504	Catholic Party	–	Renkin	Cath.–Lib.
		Charles de Broqueville (1860–1940)	22 October 1932	20 November 1934	759	Catholic Party	1932	De Broqueville II	Cath.–Lib.
		Georges Theunis (1873–1966)	20 November 1934	25 March 1935	125	Catholic Party	–	Theunis II	Cath.–Lib.	Leopold III (1934–1944)
		Paul van Zeeland (1893–1973)	25 March 1935	13 June 1936	975	Catholic Party	–	Van Zeeland I	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB
			13 June 1936	24 November 1937			1936	Van Zeeland II
		Paul-Émile Janson (1873–1944)	24 November 1937	15 May 1938	172	Liberal Party	–	Janson	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB
		Paul-Henri Spaak (1899–1972)	15 May 1938	22 February 1939	283	Belgian Labour Party	–	Spaak I	Cath.–Lib.–BWP/POB
		Hubert Pierlot (1883–1963)	22 February 1939	16 April 1939	2465	Catholic Party	1939	Pierlot I	Cath.–Lib.
			16 April 1939	3 September 1939			–	Pierlot II
			3 September 1939	28 May 1940			–	Pierlot III	Cath.–Lib.–BSP/PSB
			28 May 1940	27 September 1944			–	Pierlot IV (in exile)
			27 September 1944	12 December 1944			–	Pierlot V	Cath.–Lib.–BSP/PSB–KPB-PCB	Prince Charles Regent (1944–1950)
			12 December 1944	12 February 1945			–	Pierlot VI	Cath.–Lib.–BSP/PSB
		Achille Van Acker (1898–1975)	12 February 1945	2 August 1945	394	Belgian Socialist Party	–	Van Acker I	BSP/PSB–Cath.–Lib.
			2 August 1945	13 March 1946				Van Acker II	BSP/PSB–BDU/UDB–Lib.–KPB-PCB
		Paul-Henri Spaak (1899–1972)	13 March 1946	31 March 1946	18	Belgian Socialist Party	1946	Spaak II	BSP/PSB–PSC/CVP
		Achille Van Acker (1898–1975)	31 March 1946	3 August 1946	125	Belgian Socialist Party	–	Van Acker III	BSP/PSB–LP/PL–KPB-PCB
		Camille Huysmans (1871–1968)	3 August 1946	20 March 1947	229	Belgian Socialist Party	–	Huysmans	BSP/PSB–LP/PL–KPB-PCB
		Paul-Henri Spaak (1899–1972)	20 March 1947	27 November 1948	875	Belgian Socialist Party	–	Spaak III	BSP/PSB–PSC/CVP
			27 November 1948	11 August 1949				Spaak IV
		Gaston Eyskens (1905–1988)	11 August 1949	8 June 1950	301	Christian Social Party	1949	G.Eyskens I	PSC/CVP–LP/PL
		Jean Duvieusart (1900–1977)	8 June 1950	16 August 1950	69	Christian Social Party	1950	Duvieusart	PSC/CVP
		Joseph Pholien (1884–1968)	16 August 1950	15 January 1952	517	Christian Social Party	–	Pholien	PSC/CVP	Baudouin (1950–1993)
		Jean Van Houtte (1907–1991)	15 January 1952	23 April 1954	829	Christian Social Party	–	Van Houtte	PSC/CVP
		Achille Van Acker (1898–1975)	23 April 1954	26 June 1958	1525	Belgian Socialist Party	1954	Van Acker IV	BSP/PSB–LP/PL
		Gaston Eyskens (1905–1988)	26 June 1958	6 November 1958	1034	Christian Social Party	1958	G.Eyskens II	PSC/CVP
			6 November 1958	3 September 1960			–	G.Eyskens III	PSC/CVP–LP/PL
			3 September 1960	25 April 1961			–	G.Eyskens IV
		Théo Lefèvre (1914–1973)	25 April 1961	28 July 1965	1555	Christian Social Party	1961	Lefèvre	PSC/CVP–BSP/PSB
		Pierre Harmel (1911–2009)	28 July 1965	19 March 1966	234	Christian Social Party	1965	Harmel	PSC/CVP–BSP/PSB
		Paul Vanden Boeynants (1919–2001)	19 March 1966	17 July 1968	851	Christian Social Party	–	Vanden Boeynants I	PSC/CVP–PVV/PLP
		Gaston Eyskens (1905–1988)	17 July 1968	20 January 1972	1654	Christian People's Party (CVP)	1968	G.Eyskens V	CVP/PSC–BSP/PSB
			20 January 1972	26 January 1973			1971	G.Eyskens VI
		Edmond Leburton (1915–1997)	26 January 1973	23 October 1973	454	Belgian Socialist Party	–	Leburton I	BSP/PSB–CVP/PSC–PVV/PLP
			23 October 1973	25 April 1974			–	Leburton II	BSP/PSB–CVP/PSC
		Leo Tindemans (1922–2014)	25 April 1974	3 June 1977	1135	Christian People's Party (CVP)	1974	Tindemans I	CVP/PSC–PVV/PLP
			3 June 1977	20 October 1978			1977	Tindemans II	CVP/PSC–SP/PS–VU/FDF
		Paul Vanden Boeynants (1919–2001)	20 October 1978	3 April 1979	165	Christian Social Party (PSC)	–	Vanden Boeynants II	CVP/PSC–SP/PS–VU/FDF
		Wilfried Martens (1936–2013)	3 April 1979	23 January 1980	728	Christian People's Party (CVP)	1978	Martens I	CVP/PSC–SP/PS–VU/FDF
			23 January 1980	18 May 1980			–	Martens II	CVP/PSC–SP/PS
			18 May 1980	22 October 1980			–	Martens III	CVP/PSC–SP/PS–PVV/PRL
			22 October 1980	31 March 1981			–	Martens IV	CVP/PSC–SP/PS
		Mark Eyskens (1933–)	31 March 1981	17 December 1981	261	Christian People's Party (CVP)	–	M.Eyskens	CVP/PSC–SP/PS
		Wilfried Martens (1936–2013)	17 December 1981	28 November 1985	3733	Christian People's Party (CVP)	1981	Martens V	CVP/PSC-PVV/PRL
			28 November 1985	21 October 1987			1985	Martens VI
			21 October 1987	9 May 1988			1987	Martens VII	CVP/PSC–PVV/PRL
			9 May 1988	29 September 1991			–	Martens VIII	CVP/PSC–SP/PS–VU/FDF
			29 September 1991	7 March 1992			1991	Martens IX	CVP/PSC–SP/PS
		Jean-Luc Dehaene (1940–2014)	7 March 1992	21 May 1995	2683	Christian People's Party (CVP)	–	Dehaene I	CVP/PSC–SP/PS
			21 May 1995	12 July 1999			1995	Dehaene II		Albert II (1993–2013)
		Guy Verhofstadt (1953–)	12 July 1999	12 July 2003	3174	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD)	1999	Verhofstadt I	VLD/PRL–SP.A/PS–Agalev/Ecolo
			12 July 2003	21 December 2007			2003	Verhofstadt II	VLD/MR–SP.A/PS
			21 December 2007	20 March 2008			2007	Verhofstadt III	VLD/MR–CD&V/CDH–PS
		Yves Leterme (1960–)	20 March 2008	30 December 2008	285	Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V)	–	Leterme I	CD&V/CDH–PS–VLD/MR
		Herman Van Rompuy (1947–)	30 December 2008	25 November 2009	330	Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V)	–	Van Rompuy	CD&V/CDH–VLD/MR–PS
		Yves Leterme (1960–)	25 November 2009	6 December 2011	741	Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V)	–	Leterme II	CD&V/CDH–VLD/MR–PS
		Elio Di Rupo (1951–)	6 December 2011	11 October 2014	1040	Socialist Party (PS)	2010	Di Rupo	SP.A/PS–CD&V/CDH–VLD/MR
										Philippe (2013–)
		Charles Michel (1975–)	11 October 2014	Incumbent	1047	Reformist Movement (MR)	2014	Michel	VLD/MR–N-VA–CD&V

Timeline since 1918

Living former Prime Ministers

See also

• List of Belgian monarchs
• List of Belgian Prime Ministers by political affiliation
• List of Belgian Prime Ministers by time in office
• Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region
• Minister-President of Flanders
• Minister-President of the French Community
• Minister-President of the German-speaking Community
• Minister-President of the Walloon Region
• History of Belgium
• Lists of incumbents
• Politics of Belgium

References