Campaigns posters are put up in Brussels for the election of 13 June 2010

The Eurolab experiment gone wrong

Long hailed as the model for European integration, bilingual Belgium faces a divisive election that risks splitting it further at the seams. For the Economist's Charlemagne, it's a metaphor for the deepening north-south divide across the union.

Published on 11 June 2010 at 11:12
Campaigns posters are put up in Brussels for the election of 13 June 2010

The last time Belgium held a general election, in 2007, it took 282 days to form a fully fledged coalition government. The country is now being called to fresh elections on June 13th. Forming the next coalition may well be harder.

Among the Dutch-speakers of Flanders in the country’s north, the polls are topped by Bart De Wever, a populist bruiser who describes French-speakers in the south as “dependents” addicted to transfers from the thrifty Flemish. He wants to split the tax system in two, as well as the welfare state and most other public spending. The king and the country called Belgium can stay, for the time being, but Flanders’s “natural evolution”, says Mr De Wever, is to become an independent state.

Among the French-speakers who make up 40% of Belgium’s population, polls show a lead for Elio Di Rupo, a Socialist whose battle cry is “solidarity” within Belgium (ie, continued transfers from Flanders). Though Belgium’s public debt stands at 99% of national income, Mr Di Rupo promises above-inflation spending rises on health and pensions. In a final flourish, he is calling for price controls on 200 staples, such as bread and milk. Somehow, a coalition must be formed with the consent of these two men.

It has not been an impressive election campaign. Belgium’s leaders have barely addressed Europe’s most dangerous economic crisis in a generation. Instead they have argued about language rights in a set of Flemish communes with lots of French-speaking residents, and other local arcana. Read full article in The Economist...

Receive the best of European journalism straight to your inbox every Thursday
Tags

Was this article useful? If so we are delighted!

It is freely available because we believe that the right to free and independent information is essential for democracy. But this right is not guaranteed forever, and independence comes at a cost. We need your support in order to continue publishing independent, multilingual news for all Europeans.

Discover our subscription offers and their exclusive benefits and become a member of our community now!

Are you a news organisation, a business, an association or a foundation? Check out our bespoke editorial and translation services.

Support independent European journalism

European democracy needs independent media. Join our community!

On the same topic