Belgium flag Belgium: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Belgium

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
King: Philippe of Belgium (since 21 August 2013);
Prime Minister: Alexander De Croo (since 1 October 2020)
Next Election Dates
House of Representatives: June 2029
Senate: July 2029
Current Political Context
In June of 2024, the Federal and European Parliament elections were held concurrently in Belgium. The outcomes of the federal elections turned out to be rather complicated as many political conversations took place. Hence, King Philippe tasked Bart De Wever, who is the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party leader, with the responsibility of assembling a federal government. The ‘Arizona’ coalition which was proposed consisted of N-VA, Mouvement Réformateur (MR), Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V), Les Engagés, along with Vooruit, the Dutch-speaking socialist party. Sadly, Belgium has yet to assemble a new federal government after the elections took place back in June 2024, so as it stands Alexander De Croo remains as the caretaker Prime Minister.
In the elections for the European Parliament, Belgium's two dozen seats were contested between multiple parties. With a 14.5% vote share, Vlaams Belang (VB) claimed three seats while New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) and Reformist Movement (MR) also grabbed three seats each with a vote share of 13.96% and 12.7% respectively. The Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) gained further popularity allowing them to increase their total to two seats, this demonstrates how both right-wing and left-wing populist parties are gaining support.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Belgium supported the sanctions placed on Russia by the European Union. Internally, significant social opposition emerged in Belgium during January 2025 due to the pension changes being proposed. The strike which was nationwide interrupted air and rail travel with close to half if not more of Brussels airport traffic being cancelled and public transport services facing severe curtailment. The strike captured the government’s conundrum where they were trying to push forward with their reform agenda but were facing stiff public resistance.
Main Political Parties
Historically, parties are divided between French and Flemish groups, fuelling intercommunal tensions. The main parties following the 2024 elections are:

- New-Flemish Alliance (N-VA): right-wing, pushes for Flemish independence from Belgium, Eurosceptic
- Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang): right-wing populist, pushing for Flemish independence
- Reform Movement (MR): centre-right, francophone party
- Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA): far-left (ideologies: communism, marxism, marxism-leninism, socialism)
- Socialist Party (PS): centre-left, largest francophone party
- Vooruit: social democratic, formerly known as the Flemish Socialist Party
- Christian, Democratic and Flemish Party (CD&V): centre-right
Les Engagés (LE): centre, francophone party
- Open Flemish Liberal Democrats (Open VLD): centre-right, Flemish party
- Groen: green, Flemish party
- Ecolo: green, francophone party
- Démocrate fédéraliste indépendant (DéFI): social-liberal, francophone.
Executive Power
Chief of the state is the King, who plays a largely ceremonial and symbolic role. The King's primary political function is to designate a political leader (Prime Minister) to form a new government. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party (or the leader of the majority coalition) is usually appointed Prime Minister by the King and then approved by the parliament for a four-year term. The King, on recommendation of the Prime Minister, formally appoints the Council of Ministers. At the federal level, executive power is wielded by the Council of Ministers, with each minister heading a governmental department, with a maximum of 15 ministers. The Prime Minister chairs the Council.
Legislative Power
The Belgian Parliament is bicameral and consists of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The Chamber has 150 directly elected members by proportional representation vote. The Senate has 60 members; 50 members indirectly elected by the community and regional parliaments based on their election results, and 10 elected by the 50 other senators. All the members of the Parliament serve 5-year terms.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
11/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Free
Political Freedom:
1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: February 2025