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Belgium

27 Voices for Europe | Belgium: Europe obscured by multiple national elections

In Belgium, there are no less than five local elections stealing thunder from the European elections. No surprise, then, if Belgians are paying little attention this time round.

24 May 2019 – VoxEurop
#youth4climate: Good conscience

15 February 2019 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam)
Catalonia comes to Brussels: Lessons in seceding

2 November 2017 – Cartoon movement (Amsterdam)
EU asylum policy: Defending in Court the case of humanitarian visas for refugees

The EU Court of Justice Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi demonstrated that governments are legally obliged to grant asylum to Syrian refugees. In a landmark verdict to be delivered on 7 March, the Court could decide to adopt Mengozzi’s arguments or to strike a blow to the hopes of so many Syrians.

6 March 2017 – Internazionale (Rome)
Stimulating the economy: Boosting public investment requires a new EU rulebook

By Arnaud Dessoy and Pierre-Emmanuel Noël This “old” idea reconnecting with Keynesian theory has never elicited such unanimous consent. In recent months, many mainstream economists and […]

8 February 2017 – VoxEurop
CETA negotiations: More democracy for Europe and a new star for the Left

Wallonia’s intervention in the final phase of the free trade talks between the EU and Canada may have permanently changed the way commercial treaties are negotiated. Key to this has been the conviction and strength of character of Paul Magnette, the Belgian region’s President.

30 November 2016 – VoxEurop
EU-Canada trade agreement: CETA can wait

28 October 2016 – Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich)
Belgium and terror: Time now for a measured debate

Healing the country’s wounds needs time and a clear-headed national discussion on the causes of the 22 March attacks and how they can be addressed, argues the Editor in Chief of Le Soir.

31 March 2016 – Le Soir (Brussels)
After Brussels’ suicide bombings: An attack on Europe

In Brussels – as in Paris – the terrorists were targeting Europe, and what it stands for, as much as individual countries. That is why our response must be collective, argues political scientist José Ignacio Torreblanca.

24 March 2016 – El País (Madrid)
Brussels siege: Lock-down

24 November 2015 – Le Soir (Brussels)
After Paris attacks: Europe is unarmed against jihadists

The lack of information-sharing and of a common European intelligence has meant French and Belgian authorities were unable to prevent the Paris killings.

24 November 2015 – VoxEurop
Steel industry and air pollution: Belgian “CO2 champion” plant bought off forged Chinese carbon credits

The Arcelor Mittal steel plant in Ghent is Belgium’s leading “polluting permits” buyer. But those CO2 credits are largely bought from a Chinese chemicals plant that forged its emissions scheme.

23 September 2015 – MobileReporter (Rome)
Refugees and the right to asylum: Humanitarian visas against Europe’s hypocrisy

To present an asylum request to an EU member state, refugees need a visa, which these days is virtually unobtainable. But member states could, if they wanted, easily release humanitarian visas. The story of two Syrian families who entered Belgium thanks to the actions of a group of citizens shows that this can be done.

28 August 2015 – Internazionale (Rome)
Counterterrorism in Belgium: ‘Police target of terror’

Two heavily armed men have been killed in an anti-terror police raid in Verviers, in eastern Belgium. Another man has been arrested. The suspects were […]

16 January 2015 – VoxEurop De Standaard
Espionage: Investigation into EU cyberattack leads to US and UK intelligence agencies

British and US intelligence agencies are suspected of being behind cyberattacks on the European Union and a Belgian telecom company, writes The Intercept. The site explains […]

27 November 2014 – VoxEurop The Intercept, De Volkskrant
Interview: ‘There is more business activity in the cultural sector than in the auto industry’

One of the characteristics of Europe is state support for cultural production and the protection of cultural heritage. Belgian theatre director Hugo de Greef says, however, it is impossible to define what in culture is specifically European.

14 October 2014 – Dilema Veche (Bucharest)
Belgium: ‘Belfius trembling with fear over stress test’

Belfius Bank, formerly known as Dexia Bank prior to its nationalisation by the Belgian state in 2012, probably needs to raise new capital, and “there’s […]

13 October 2014 – VoxEurop De Morgen
Belgium: ‘Coalition agreement Michel I’

Five months after Belgium held general elections, the main centre-right parties have agreed to form a coalition with French-speaking liberal Charles Michel as prime minister. […]

8 October 2014 – VoxEurop De Standaard
Belgium: ‘Terrorism trial. Day 1’

One of the biggest ever terrorism trials in Belgium has started on 29 September in Antwerp, writes the Gazet van Antwerpen. It targets the radical […]

30 September 2014 – VoxEurop Gazet van Antwerpen
Terrorism: ‘The bomb was ready’

The European Commission headquarters in Brussels was going to be the target of an alleged terrorist plot, reports Het Laatste Nieuws. Quoting Dutch broadcaster NOS, […]

22 September 2014 – VoxEurop Het Laatste Nieuws
Crisis in the Middle East: ‘Warning: products from Occupied territory’

The Belgian government is introducing a label for products coming from Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. “Though this is not a boycott, it is an […]

29 July 2014 – VoxEurop De Morgen
The future of Europe: ‘Where Belgium goes, Europe goes’

“If you want to know how the EU will look like in about five years time, you should look at Belgium today”, writes former Belgian […]

17 July 2014 – VoxEurop De Volkskrant
Belgium: ‘No one wants to be designated’

Following two deadline extensions, on 26 June the leader of the Flemish nationalist N-VA, Bart De Wever, abandoned his mission to form a new federal […]

30 June 2014 – VoxEurop De Standaard
Brussels’ attack: ‘Jihadi danger has become tangible’

With the arrest of Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French jihadist who had spent time Syria, on suspicion of killing three people at the Brussels’ Jewish […]

2 June 2014 – VoxEurop De Volkskrant
Belgium: ‘As fast as possible’

“The race is on between the N-VA and the PS to form a federal government fast” in the wake of the Flemish nationalists' victory in […]

27 May 2014 – VoxEurop De Morgen
Belgium: ‘Winner held hostage. Loser will decide.’

With more than 32 per cent of the vote in Flanders, the clear winner in Belgian 25-May legislative and regional elections, which were overshadowed by […]

26 May 2014 – VoxEurop De Morgen
Belgium: ‘Blood on the polls. Killing in Brussels’ Jewish museum’

A gunman killed three people (among them, an Israeli couple) and wounded another in Brussels' Jewish Museum on Saturday 24 May, on the eve of […]

25 May 2014 – VoxEurop La Repubblica
European Parliament: Everyone to Brussels

20 November 2013 – La Libre Belgique (Brussels)
Belgium: ‘Euthanasia for children. Now’

"A collective of 16 renowned paediatricians sent a message of distress" – an open letter to the Belgian Senate Committee scheduled to debate, on November […]

6 November 2013 – Presseurop De Morgen
Belgium: ‘N-VA transforms Belgium into funeral home’

“There will be virtually nothing left of Belgium,” warns De Standaard in the wake of the October 30 presentation of a the new plan for […]

31 October 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Belgium: ‘Nowhere else do foreigners work so little’

Less than two thirds (62 per cent) of non-European immigrants living in Belgium had a job in 2012, notes De Standaard, in a report which […]

29 October 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Brussels-Paris train: High-speed lobbying

Lobbyists, EU officials, MEPs and lawyers all mingle in the first-class car of Thalys, a high-speed train that links Paris to the Belgian capital. The Thalys can be a microcosm of the Brussels corridors of power, and also the scene of lucrative eavesdropping.

25 October 2013 – Les Echos (Paris)
Belgium: ‘Wilfried Martens (1936-2013), every second a statesman’

Wilfried Martens, a former prime minister, president of the European People’s Party (EPP) and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V), died on […]

11 October 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Belgium: ‘Historic Nobel Prize’

On October 8, Belgian François Englert, of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, age 80, and British scientist Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh, age […]

9 October 2013 – Presseurop Le Soir
Belgium: ‘Belgacom still infected’

Several weeks after a cyber attack that infected Belgacom's computers and those of its subsidiary BICS, the Belgian telecommunications company is apparently unable to rid […]

4 October 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Belgium: ‘Chinese.hack@premier.fed.be’

Recent computer attacks on the offices of Prime Minister Elio di Rupo and Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders reported on September 20 by De Tijd, […]

27 September 2013 – Presseurop De Morgen
Arms: Countries bale out of fighter deals

Several European nations, which had previously committed to renew their fleets of fighter planes by purchasing new US-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), may no […]

19 September 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard, De Volkskrant, Il Sole-24 Ore
American eavesdropping: ‘NSA suspected of hacking Belgacom’

According to a recent Belgacom study, undertaken in the wake of revelations of american eavesdropping, the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been recording international […]

16 September 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Drugs: ‘Illegal cannabis cultivation surges in Belgium’

Some 20 people are to be tried before the criminal court in Liège in the autumn, in the wake of an investigation by Belgian and […]

22 August 2013 – Presseurop La Libre Belgique
Belgium: ‘Syrian fighters’ benefits cut’

Municipal authorities in Antwerp and Vilvoorde have removed 29 people who have left Belgium to fight in Syria from social welfare registers, effectively cutting them […]

19 August 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Work: ‘Minimum wages: Belgium at the top’

Eurostat figures published at the end of July, show that the minimum legal wage in Belgium is higher than it is in most European countries, […]

9 August 2013 – Presseurop Le Soir
Cyber crime: ‘Belgium poorly defended against hackers’

Belgium has occasonally request assistance from the “American big brother” to counter cyber-attacks. This is the key point of an interview given by deputy chief […]

7 August 2013 – Presseurop Le Soir
Belgium: ‘Sharp increase in medical tourism from neighbouring countries’

The number of Dutch, Germans, French, Luxembourgians and British seeking treatment in Belgian hospitals has risen by 18 per cent in four years, notes De […]

6 August 2013 – Presseurop De Morgen
Belgium: ‘Deprivation peaks along the coast’

"The crisis is worst in coastal areas where more and more children are being born into deprived families," writes De Morgen, citing figures from […]

30 July 2013 – Presseurop De Morgen
Belgium: King’s kiss

22 July 2013 – L’Avenir (Namur)
Belgium: King who must hold his country together

“A new Belgium,” headlines Le Soir after King Philippe was crowned on July 21, succeeding his father, Albert II. The French-language Belgian daily branded Philippe’s enthronement […]

22 July 2013 – Presseurop Le Soir, De Standaard, De Morgen
Article: Long live the Crown?

From July 14 to July 21: from the storming of the Bastille to the swearing-in of Léopold I. On the calendar of national holidays in […]

19 July 2013 – Presseurop
Belgium: ‘Voluntary disclosures to keep tax office busy for years’

The tax amnesty established in 2006 has provoked so much interest that the tax office has had trouble processing all of the applications, notes De […]

16 July 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Belgium: ‘High minimum wages hinder job creation’

According to a report drafted by the High Council for Employment delivered on July 10, minimum wage legislation in Belgium, which ensures that workers are […]

11 July 2013 – Presseurop De Standaard
Politics: ‘A new Belgium in July 2014’

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo completed the sixth state reform on July 9, concluding what Le Soir describes as a “historic week”. The reform, which […]

10 July 2013 – Presseurop Le Soir