Belgium–France relations are the interstate relations between

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 ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Relations were established after the independence of Belgium. Both nations are great allies. Both nations have cultural similarities. Both nations are founding members of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

and 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 de ...

History

After the independence of Belgium in 1830, there were fears that the new country would come under French influence, thus leading to a disruption of the European balance of power of the

Concert of Europe The Concert of Europe was a general consensus among the Great Powers of 19th-century Europe to maintain the European balance of power, political boundaries, and spheres of influence. Never a perfect unity and subject to disputes and jockeying ...

. When the peace treaty with

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

was drawn up, the important fortress cities of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

were given back to the Dutch king. This was to prevent France from controlling these strategic locations at the start of a new general European war. When

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

came to power in France, he made designs on Belgium. These were later abandoned. During both

World Wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

Belgium and France fought on the same side. Nowadays the countries are close allies.

Diaspora

In the 1850s, Belgians made up one third of the foreign nationals living in France. As of 2013, there were 133,066 registered Belgians living in France.

Diplomatic visits

In May 2007,

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Nicolas Sarkozy visited Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. In February 2008, Prime Minister Verhofstadt visited President Sarkozy. In February 2014, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where they were welcomed during a visite de Courtoisie. They were received by the President François Hollande.

Economic cooperation

In 2007, French president Sarkozy and Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt called for the euro zone to have an economic government. In September 2008, the

French government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

acted with the

Belgian government The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...

and with other stakeholders to grant Franco-Belgian bank

Dexia Dexia N.V./S.A., or the Dexia Group, is a Franco-Belgian financial institution formed in 1996. At its peak in 2010, it had about 35,200 members of staff and a core shareholders' equity of €19.2 billion. In 2008, the bank entered severe ...

a €6.4 billion bailout.

Agreements

The two countries signed a trade agreement in 1934. In 1997, French and Belgian defence ministers

Alain Richard Alain Richard (, born 29 August 1945) is a French politician serving as Senator for Val-d'Oise since 2011. A member of the National Assembly for Val-d'Oise from 1978 to 1993, he was elected to the Senate in 1995 before his appointment as Minis ...

and Jean-Paul Poncelet signed an agreement providing for Belgium's use of the French armed forces' Syracuse communication satellite system.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Belgium has an embassy in

and consulates-general in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and Strasbourg. * France has an embassy in

Brussels 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 ...

.Embassy of France in Brussels
/ref> File:Belgian Embassy, Paris (January 2020).jpg, Embassy of Belgium in Paris File:Strasbourg-41 allée de la Robertsau (2).JPG, Consulate-General of Belgium in Strasbourg File:Rue Ducale 65 Hertogstraat Brussels 2012-06 B.JPG, Embassy of France in Brussels

History

Diaspora

Diplomatic visits

Economic cooperation

Agreements

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References

Further reading