Belgian Senate
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The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
Federal Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
of
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "
upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...
" of the Federal Parliament. Created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives, it has undergone several reforms in the past, most notably in 1993 and 2014. The
2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...
were the first without a direct election of senators. Instead, the new Senate is composed of members of community and regional parliaments and co-opted members. It is a chamber of the communities and regions and serves as a platform for discussion and reflection about matters between these federated entities. The Senate today plays a minor role in the federal legislative process. However, the Senate, together with the Chamber, has full competence for the Constitution and legislation on the organization and functioning of the Federal State and the federated entities. Since the reform of 2014, it holds about ten plenary sessions a year.


History

After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the National Congress decided on the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
and the state structure. Belgium would become a unitary state. A bicameral Parliament was chosen over a unicameral one. The Senate was seen as a more conservative and elite body that served as a counterweight to the more progressive Chamber of representatives. Senators were directly elected, but only those who paid ground taxes were eligible. Only men who paid taxes were allowed to vote. There was also the possibility for the heir to the throne to become senator by right. In 1893 the principal of universal multiple voting right was introduced for men. This was combined with the principle of compulsory voting and the principle of proportional representation. For the Senate, candidates still needed to pay ground taxes, but the threshold was lowered. Moreover, a new category of provincial senators was introduced. After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the single vote system - "one man, one vote" - was introduced. This principle of
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
was only applicable to men, women had no right to vote. They however could be a candidate in elections. 1921 saw a new reform for the Senate. The prerequisite of taxes was abolished and 4 categories of senators were created: directly elected senators, provincial senators, co-opted senators and senators by right. In 1936,
Maria Baers Maria Gabriella Baers (20 September 1883 – 30 December 1959) was a Belgian senator, feminist, and trade unionist. Baers was the founder of Nationaal Verbond der Christelijke Vrouwengilden (''National Union of Christian Women's Guilds''. nowadays ...
and became the first women senators. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, women finally received the same rights as men as far as voting was concerned. The post-World War era saw a series of six Belgian state reforms from 1970 until 2014. In 1993, the competences of the Senate were redefined during the fourth State Reform. In 2014, during the sixth State Reform, the Senate transformed in the assembly it is today, with important reforms concerning composition and competences.


Composition


Overview


Current categories of senators

Since the sixth state reform of 2014, the Senate consists of 60 members. 50 are elected by the parliaments of the federated entities, and 10 are co-opted members.


Senators of the federated entities

Starting with the elections of 25 May 2014, 50 senators are appointed by and from the parliaments of the federated entities: * 29 senators appointed by the
Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural communi ...
from the Flemish Parliament or from the Dutch language group of the
Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewe ...
* 10 senators appointed by and from the
Parliament of the French Community The Parliament of the French Community (french: Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. It consists of all 75 members of the Walloon Parliament exc ...
(which itself is composed of all members of the Parliament of Wallonia and several members of the French language group of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region) * 8 senators appointed by and from the
Parliament of Wallonia The Parliament of Wallonia (french: Parlement de Wallonie) (Walloon Parliament (french: Parlement wallon) in the decrees) is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium (the other two being Flanders and t ...
* 2 senators appointed by and from the French-language group of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region * 1 senator appointed by and from the
Parliament of the German-speaking Community The Parliament of the German-speaking Community (german: Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft or PDG) is the legislative assembly of the German-speaking Community of Belgium located in Eupen. The most important tasks of the Parliament of ...
Whereas the German-speaking senator is chosen by plurality of votes in the Parliament of the German-speaking community, the seats of the senators of the federated entities are distributed proportionally between parties based on the results for the latest election for the federated entities, i.e. the Flemish Parliament, the Parliament of Wallonia and the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (regional level).


Co-opted senators

Ten senators are co-opted, meaning they are elected by their peers: six by the Dutch-language group of the Senate and four by the French-language group of the Senate. These seats are distributed proportionally between parties based on the results of the latest direct election of the Chamber of Representatives (federal level). In 1921, the co-opted members were included in the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
as a new category of senators. It was intended to allow the senators to elect a number of experts or members of representative organizations to join them to enhance the quality of debate and legislation; however, political parties sometimes use it as a means of rewarding loyal members that were not elected.


Former categories of senators

Prior to the Belgian federal election of May 21, 1995, there were 184 senators, the largest part of which were directly elected, some appointed by the Provincial Councils and others co-opted. The fourth state reform, which took place in 1993, revised the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
, reduced the number of senators to 71. The change took effect following the May 21, 1995 federal election.


Directly elected senators

Until the elections of 25 May 2014, the Senate contained 40 directly elected members. To elect these members, the electorate was divided into two electoral colleges: a
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
and a French electoral college. Unlike for
European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...
, there was no German-speaking electoral college. Instead, the members of the
German-speaking Community The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...
were a part of the French electoral college. Even though there were two electoral colleges, there were three
constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
for Senate elections: a
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
constituency, a Walloon constituency and the constituency of
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde The area within Belgium known as Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde encompasses the bilingual— French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vil ...
, which comprised the
Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and the surrounding part of the
Flemish Region The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...
. The constituency of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde ceased to exist following the 2014 sixth State Reform. The voters in the Flemish constituency belonged to the Dutch electoral college and the voters in the Walloon constituency (which also includes the people living in the German-speaking Community) belonged to the French electoral college, whereas the voters in Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde could choose for which electoral college they wanted to vote: they had the lists of both electoral colleges on one ballot. In each electoral college, the seats were divided by proportional representation, using the
D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
. Of the total of 40 directly elected senators, 25 were elected by the Dutch electoral college and 15 by the French electoral college. These numbers were in the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
and roughly reflect the ratio of Dutch-speakers to French-speakers by population. The directly elected senators were always elected on the same day as the members of the Chamber of Representatives, for a term of 4 years, except if the Chambers were dissolved earlier. The last federal election that had directly elected senators took place on Sunday June 13, 2010.


Provincial senators

Between 1894 and 1991, a number of senators were elected by each provincial council of the nine
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
. The number was dependent on a province's population, and increased along with the increase in a province's population.


Senators by right

Before the sixth state reform, the children of the King, older than 18, or if there were none, the Belgian descendants of the main branch of the Royal house, were entitled to be
senators by right Senators by right ( nl, senator van rechtswege, french: sénateur de droit, german: Senator von Rechts wegen) were non-elected members of the Belgian Senate. If the ruling monarch of Belgium had any children, all of them who were older than eig ...
by taking the oath of office. Senators by right over the age of 21 were in theory entitled to vote, but in practice they did not cast their vote. They were not taken into account for the required
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
for voting. Until Prince Philippe became King in July 2013, there were three senators by right (Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent). When the function of senators by right was abolished in 2014 as part of the sixth state reform, there were no senators by right, as King Philippe's children were all under the age of 18.


Qualifications

Article 69 of the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
sets forth four qualifications for senators: each senator must be at least 18 years old, must possess the Belgian nationality, must have the full enjoyment of civil and political rights, and must be resident in
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. Originally, the minimum age to be elected senator was 40; this was reduced to 21 in 1993 and eventually to 18 in 2014. A senator can only enter into office after having taken the constitutional oath, in either of the three official languages in Belgium:
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
, French or
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
. They may also choose to take the oath in more than one language. The oath is as follows: ''"I swear to observe the Constitution"''. ( nl, Ik zweer de Grondwet na te leven, french: Je jure d'observer la Constitution, german: Ich schwöre, die Verfassung zu befolgen) Certain offices are incompatible with the office of senator. A member of the Senate may not be a member of the Chamber of Representatives at the same time and representatives must give up their seats in the Chamber of Representatives in order to join the Senate. Another important incompatibility is based on the
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
. A senator who is appointed as a minister ceases to sit in the Senate and is replaced for as long as he is a minister. However, if he resigns as a minister, he may return to the Senate, in accordance with Article 50 of the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
. A senator cannot also be a civil servant or a member of the judiciary at the same time. However, a civil servant who is elected to the Senate is entitled to political leave and doesn't have to resign as a civil servant. It is also not possible to be a member of the
Federal Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
and a
Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
at the same time.


Language groups

With the exception of the senator appointed by the
Parliament of the German-speaking Community The Parliament of the German-speaking Community (german: Parlament der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft or PDG) is the legislative assembly of the German-speaking Community of Belgium located in Eupen. The most important tasks of the Parliament of ...
, all senators are divided into two language groups: a
Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...
group and a
French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
group. The Dutch language group consists of members appointed by the
Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural communi ...
, members appointed by the Dutch language group of the
Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewe ...
, and the members co-opted by the two aforementioned groups. The French language group consists of members appointed by the
Parliament of the French Community The Parliament of the French Community (french: Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. It consists of all 75 members of the Walloon Parliament exc ...
, members appointed by the
Parliament of Wallonia The Parliament of Wallonia (french: Parlement de Wallonie) (Walloon Parliament (french: Parlement wallon) in the decrees) is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium (the other two being Flanders and t ...
, members appointed by the French language group of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the members co-opted by the three aforementioned groups. There are 35 senators in the Dutch language group, 24 in the French language group, and one in the German language group.


Brussels

Article 67 of the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
determines that at least one of the senators in the Dutch language group must be resident in the
Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on the date of their election, as well as six of the senators in the French language group.


Officers

The president of the Senate is elected by the Senate at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The president is assisted by two vice presidents, who are also elected at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The president of the Senate is usually a member of a party of the majority with a great deal of political experience, while the virst vice president is a member of the other language group. The current president of the Belgian Senate is Stephanie D'Hose of the
Open VLD french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts , abbreviation = Open Vld , logo = , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert , foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld) , predecessor = ...
. The president of the Senate presides over the plenary assembly of the Senate, manages and controls debates in the assembly, is responsible for ensuring the democratic functioning of the Senate, maintains order and security in the assembly and enforces the rules of the Senate. The president represents the Senate at both the national (to the other institutions) and the international level. Additionally, the president chairs the Bureau, which determines the order of business, supervises the administrative services of the Senate, and leads the Senate's activities. The president of the Senate, together with the president of the Chamber of Representatives, ranks immediately behind the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
in the
order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...
. The elder of the two takes the second place in the order of precedence. The Bureau of the Senate is composed of the president, the two vice presidents, and the leaders of the political groups that are represented in the standing committees. The Bureau leads the day-to-day activities of the Senate and convenes every two weeks in order to manage the work of the Senate. The Bureau determines the legislative agenda and the order of business in the plenary assembly and the committees, and manages the internal affairs of the Senate. A member of the Federal Government is usually invited to attend the discussions about the legislative agenda. The Bureau also assists the président in the conduct of parliamentary business. In addition, the Bureau also appoints, promotes, and dismisses the staff of the Senate. The Senate is served by a number of civil servants. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the secretary-general of the Senate, who is appointed by the assembly and heads the Senate's legislative services. He is assisted by the director-general who heads the administrative services and replaces the secretary-general in his absence.


Competences

The Senate mainly has the following tasks: Legislation: The Senate, together with the Chamber, has full competence for the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
and legislation on the organization and functioning of the Federal State and the federated entities. Depending on the type of law, different procedures are possible that require, among others, special majorities (i.e. a two-thirds majority in the Senate, combined with a majority in each language group). Information reports: The Senate may draw up information reports, in particular concerning topics that are governed by rules and regulations of different state levels. Conflicts of interest: Within the logic of federalism, the Senate mediates in possible conflicts of interest between the different parliaments of the country. International parliamentary organizations: The Senate sends parliamentary delegations to different interparliamentary conferences and organizations. Through their representatives in the Senate, the federated entities have access to this interparliamentary cooperation. Subsidiarity: Following the EU Treaties, the Senate has the right as chamber of the federal parliament to ensure that the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
does not take an initiative on an issue that is better dealt with at another level. This is the so-called early warning mechanism concerning subsidiarity. Appointments to courts: The Senate participates in a number of appointments to high courts (
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
,
Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
, High Council of Justice).


Committees

Before a dossier or topic for debate is dealt with in plenary, it is prepared in one of the committees of the Senate. In addition to the standing committees, the Senate can set up special committees, working groups, advisory committees or joint committees (together with the Chamber). A standing committee consists of 20 senators. The political strength of the committees reflects the strength of the political groups in the plenary session. The Senate had three standing committees: * Institutional Affairs Committee: deals mainly with issues related to the Constitution and the legislation on the organization and functioning of the Federal State and the federated entities. * Transversal Affairs Committee: deals mainly with issues that are governed by rules and regulations of different state levels. * Committee for Democratic Renewal and Citizenship. The Senate also has an Equal Opportunities Advisory Committee that focuses on equality between women and men. The Senate and the Chamber of Representatives have established three joint committees: * Federal Advisory Committee on EU Affairs * Parliamentary Committee for Law Evaluation * Parliamentary Concertation Committee: this committee deals with all issues relating to the legislative processes where both the Senate and the Chamber are involved in.


Non-permanent body

Given its limited legislative power, since the reform of 2014, the Senate holds about ten plenary sessions a year. The standing committees of the Senate, however, determine their own meeting schedule.


Current composition

This is the composition of the Senate following the
federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
and regional elections of May 26, 2019. * Including the senator of the German-speaking community By political family *Far-right 7 *Conservative 9 *Liberals 12 *Christian-democrats 7 *Socialists 11 *Ecologists 9 *Far-left 5


See also

* Belgian Chamber of Representatives *
Belgian Federal Parliament The Federal Parliament is the bicameral parliament of Belgium. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives ( Dutch: , french: Chambre des Représentants, german: Abgeordnetenkammer) and the Senate ( Dutch: , french: Sénat, german: Senat). ...
*
List of presidents of the Belgian Senate The president of the Senate ( nl, Voorzitter van de Senaat, french: Président du Sénat) is the presiding officer of the upper house of the Federal Parliament of Belgium. The current president of the Senate is Stephanie D'Hose. It is custom ...
*
Politics of Belgium The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state, and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government, in a multi-party ...


References


External links

* {{coord, 50, 50, 48, N, 4, 21, 53, E, source:kolossus-rowiki, display=title 1831 establishments in Belgium
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...