The

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of 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 ...

(All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) ( French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'',

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 ...

: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest''), is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

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 ...

. It is also known as the Brussels Regional Parliament ( French: ''Parlement Bruxellois'',

: ''Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Parlement'').

Elections

Elections of 75 Brussels regional

deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

, 89 since 2004, take place every five years. Here is the list of past regional elections: * June 18, 1989 (first elections) * May 21, 1995, coincided with the federal legislative elections; * June 13, 1999, coincided with the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

elections; * June 13, 2004, coincided with the

elections; * June 7, 2009, coincided with the

elections; * May 25, 2014 coincided with the

elections; * May 26, 2019, coincided with the

elections.

Current composition

The composition of the Brussels Parliament is as follows:

Previous compositions

2004–2009 2009–2014 Zetelverdeling-BP-2009

2014–2019 2019–present Hôtel de Limminghe (DSC01797)

Functions

The Brussels Parliament role mainly consists in controlling the government of the

, approving the budget and creating and passing legislation in regional matters, known as ordinances, which are legally binding. One of its first tasks after the Parliament is renewed is appointing five

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

and three regional secretaries of state, who together form the cabinet of the Brussels-Capital Region. The Brussels Parliament can also force the cabinet as a whole or one or more of its members to resign by passing a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. However, because the Parliament cannot be dissolved prior to the end of its five-year term, such a motion is only admissible if it is a constructive motion, in other words, the Parliament must decide upon a successor to the cabinet or to one or more of its members. The 89 members of the Brussels Parliament are divided into two language groups: 72 belong to the French-speaking group and 17 members belong to the

-speaking group. The members of the French-speaking group also make up the ''Parlement francophone bruxellois'' (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Francophone Brussels Parliament), which was formerly known as the Assembly of the

French Community Commission The ''Commission communautaire française'' (COCOF) or the French Community Commission is the local representative of the French-speaking authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. On 3 December 2001, the ''A ...

, while the members of the Dutch-speaking group make up the Council of the

Flemish Community Commission The Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (or VGC, or, in English, the Flemish Community Commission) is the local representative of the Flemish authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. The VGC depends on the Flemish ...

. The ''Parlement francophone bruxellois'' and the Council of the

together form the United Assembly of the

Common Community Commission The Common Community Commission (french: Commission communautaire commune, nl, Gemeenschappelijke Gemeenschapscommissie) is responsible for Brussels community matters that are common to both the French Community and the Flemish Community and for i ...

. The Community Commissions are to a certain extent responsible for

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

competencies within the

. 19 of the 72 French-speaking members of the Brussels Parliament are also members of the Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, and until 2004 this was also the case for six Dutch-speaking members, who were at the same time members of 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 ...

. Nowadays, people voting for a Flemish party have to vote separately for 6 directly-elected members of the Flemish Parliament. Due to the multiple capacities of single members, there are members of the Brussels Parliament who are simultaneously members of the Parliament of the

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Fédé ...

and of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

as "community senators" for the French Community. At the moment, this is the case for François Roelants du Vivier ( MR), ( PS) and Sfia Bouarfa ( PS). However, there are certain restrictions in place in order to prevent one person from combining too many mandates. For instance, it is not possible to be a member of the Chamber of Representatives and of one of the Regional Parliaments at the same time.

References

Notes

External links

Brussels-Capital Region
''Centre d'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise'' (Brussels Regional Informatics Center).
Brussels Parliament
official webpage
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