Sven Gatz op bezoek in het Lange Max Museum

Sven Gatz (born 6 May 1967 in

Sint-Agatha-Berchem Berchem-Sainte-Agathe ( French, ) or Sint-Agatha-Berchem (Dutch, ), often simply called Berchem, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by Gansh ...

) is 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; ...

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 = Pa ...

politician and the current Brussels Minister of Finance, Budget, Civil Service and Multilingualism in the government of the Brussels-Capital Region. From 1999 to 2011 he was member 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 ...

and from 2007 to 2011 he was leader of the Open Vld group there. He started as member of the

Volksunie People's Union ( nl, Volksunie, VU) was a Flemish nationalist political party in Belgium, formed in 1954 as a successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union. The Volksunie defined itself as a big tent and catch-all party that combined suppor ...

and switched to Open Vld when Volksunie was split. From 2000 to 2012 he was also member of the municipal council of

Jette Jette (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Ganshoren, Koekelberg, and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, as well as the Flemi ...

. In the 2012 local elections, he was not re-elected. In 2011, he left politics to become director of the Union of Belgian Brewers. In July 2014, he returned to politics when he became Flemish Minister for Culture, Youth, Media and Brussels in the

Bourgeois Government The Bourgeois Government (''Regering-Bourgeois'') was the Flemish Government formed following the 2014 Flemish Parliament election. The cabinet consisted of a centre-right coalition of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Christian D ...

as Open Vld had to provide the required minister living in Brussels. As Minister for Culture, his term of office has been marked by a decree that also makes libraries a municipal matter, no longer a Flemish one, and absolves the municipalities of their obligation to organise a local public library. This government decision was controversial and caused community leaders to speak out against it.

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Living people 1967 births Government ministers of Flanders Members of the Flemish Parliament Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten politicians KU Leuven alumni 21st-century Belgian politicians {{Flanders-politician-stub