Politics of Wallonia

The politics of Wallonia concern the government of Wallonia, that is the southern Region of Belgium.

The capital is Namur, where are the seats of the Government of Wallonia, the Parliament of Wallonia and the Public Service of Wallonia.

Political landscape

Wallonia is considered to be left-wing politically, in contrast to Flanders, which is more right-wing.^[1] The region has been described as one of the few places in Europe without a significant right-wing populism presence.^[2]^[3] In Wallonia, there is a cordon sanitaire in the media, where far-right politicians are banned from interviews and live appearances.^[4]^[5] The ban has also affected more mainstream right-wing parties such as the N-VA.^[6]

Structures

Regions of Belgium
Brussels-Capital (**blue**)
Wallonia (**red**)
Flemish Region(**yellow**)

Since 23 April 1993, Belgium has been a federal state, divided into three geographical regions and three linguistic communities. The Walloon Region is one of the three regions, almost totally French-speaking. The other two geographical regions are the Flemish Region, a mainly Dutch-speaking region in the north and west, and the Brussels-Capital, bilingual French-Dutch administering the city of Brussels. Some governmental competencies are exercised by the linguistic communities, of which the French community of Belgium is the largest in Wallonia, while the German-speaking community of Belgium's responsibilities are for an area within Wallonia.

The Parliament of Wallonia is a unicameral legislature of 75 members elected to serve five-year terms. It is based in the former Hospice Saint-Gilles at Namur.

The Government of Wallonia is responsible to the Parliament. Excepting cultural and education matters, which are controlled by the linguistic communities, the Walloon Region's competences include local administration, housing, transport, training, employment, health and social policy. The region administers a number of companies, including those responsible for the provision of water and public transport.

The constitutional system of Belgium grants the Walloon Region its own legislative and executive powers in the fields for which it is competent:

agriculture and rural renewal
development of the territory and town planning
economy and foreign trade
employment and vocational training
the environment, water and nature conservation
housing
local authorities, subsidized works and sports infrastructures
scientific research, new technologies and energy
international relations
health and social affairs
tourism and heritage
regional transport, mobility and public works.

Motorways are attributed to Walloon Region in its territory.

Parliament

The directly elected Walloon Parliament was created in June 1995, replacing the Conseil régional wallon (Regional Council of Wallonia). This first sat on 15 October 1980 and was composed of members of the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives and the Belgian Senate elected from Wallonia.

The parliament exercises several functions:

It discusses and passes decrees, and they can take initiatives to draw them up. After this, decrees are sanctioned and promulgated by the Walloon Government.
It controls the Walloon Government. Control is exercised via the vote.
It ratifies the international treaties linked to its powers.

The composition of the parliament for the 2004-2009 legislature was as follows:

The president of the parliament was José Happart (PS), the Vice-Presidents were Véronique Cornet (MR), Michel Lebrun (CDh) and Charles Janssens (PS).

The composition of the parliament for the 2009-2014 legislature is as follows:

The president of the parliament is Emily Hoyos.

The new coalition government is gathering the PS, the CDH and Ecolo and has the same minister-president.

The 75 members of the parliament (except German-speaking members, who are substituted by French-speaking members from the same party), together with 19 French-speaking members elected by the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, form the Parliament of the French Community. Since 1999 elections have been held together with those for the European Parliament.

Government

The Government of Wallonia is the executive body of the Walloon Region.

Walloon Government - Dolimont v t e
Function	Name	Party
Minister-president; Minister of Budget, Finance, Animal Welfare, International Affairs, and Firearms Licenses	Adrien Dolimont		MR
Vice-President; Minister of Urban Planning, Public Works, Traffic Safety; and Local Affairs	François Desquesnes		LE
Vice-President; Minister of Economy and Employment	Pierre-Yves Jeholet		MR
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs	Anne-Catherine Dalcq		MR
Minister of Energy, Air-Climate Plan, Housing and Airports	Cécile Neven		MR
Minister of Sports, Infrastructure, and Media	Jacqueline Galant		MR
Minister of Tourism, Heritage, Infrastructure, and Childcare	Valérie Lescrenier		LE
Minister of Health, Environment, Social Economy, Social Action, Fight against Poverty, Handicapped, and Families	Yves Coppieters		LE

The Government of the French Community and the Government of the German-speaking Community are the executive bodies of respectively the French and German-speaking Communities.

References

^ "Getting to know Belgian politics: the traditional pillars versus left and right". belganewsagency.eu. 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
^ de Jonge, Léonie (2021). "The Curious Case of Belgium: Why is There no Right-Wing Populism in Wallonia?" (PDF). Government and Opposition. 56 (4): 598–614. doi:10.1017/gov.2020.8. ISSN 0017-257X.
^ Kasteel, Jean van (2024-06-11). "The Walloons do not send any far-right elected officials either to the Region, nor to the Federal, nor to Europe". DHnet (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-12.
^ Joyner, Ella (2024-06-04). "Belgian election tests limits of media's far-right boycott – DW – 06/04/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
^ "Belgium's far right struggles to break through media ban". www.euractiv.com. 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
^ Struys, Jeroen; De Lobel, Peter (2024-03-25). "N-VA-kandidaat in Wallonië in de ban geslagen: waarom er rechts van MR geen zuurstof is over de taalgrens". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-06-12.

External links

Wallonia Portal
(in French) Government of Wallonia
(in French) Parliament of Wallonia
(in French) Parliament of the French-Speaking Community

[e352-1] "Getting to know Belgian politics: the traditional pillars versus left and right". belganewsagency.eu. 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-06-12.

[n010-2] Jonge, Léonie (2021). "The Curious Case of Belgium: Why is There no Right-Wing Populism in Wallonia?" (PDF). Government and Opposition. 56 (4): 598–614. doi:10.1017/gov.2020.8. ISSN 0017-257X.

[b581-3] Kasteel, Jean van (2024-06-11). "The Walloons do not send any far-right elected officials either to the Region, nor to the Federal, nor to Europe". DHnet (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-12.

[o684-4] Joyner, Ella (2024-06-04). "Belgian election tests limits of media's far-right boycott – DW – 06/04/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-06-12.

[y238-5] "Belgium's far right struggles to break through media ban". www.euractiv.com. 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-06-12.

[r906-6] Struys, Jeroen; De Lobel, Peter (2024-03-25). "N-VA-kandidaat in Wallonië in de ban geslagen: waarom er rechts van MR geen zuurstof is over de taalgrens". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-06-12.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]