The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (; ) is the governing body of the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

, one of the three federated

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is also known as the Brussels Regional Parliament (; ), or simply the Brussels Parliament (; ).

History

The Council of the

(, ) was established with the creation of the region in 1989, on the occasion of the third state reform. Unlike its Flemish and Walloon regional counterparts, whose regional parliaments were initially composed of those members of the

Belgian Federal Parliament The Federal Parliament (; ; ) is the bicameral parliament of Belgium. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). It sits in the Palace of the Nation in the centre of the nation's capital, Brussels ...

elected in their respective regions, the Brussels Council was immediately elected by direct

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

. Initially, it had 75 deputies, divided between 64 French-speaking and 11 Dutch-speaking members. A reform in 2001, applicable from 2004, increased this number to 89, divided between 72 French-speakers and 17 Dutch-speakers. On 25 February 2005, a revision of the

Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium (; ; ) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the separation of powers. The most recent majo ...

to the special law relating to regional and community institutions, which came into force on 11 March 2006, followed by an amendment on 11 April 2006, transformed the Council into the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (, ).

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 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 or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

. 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 Dutch-speaking group. The members of the French-speaking group also make up the ''Parlement francophone bruxellois'' (English: Francophone Brussels Parliament), which was formerly known as the Assembly of the French Community Commission, while the members of the Dutch-speaking group make up the Council of the Flemish Community Commission. The ''Parlement francophone bruxellois'' and the Council of the Flemish Community Commission together form the United Assembly of the

Common Community Commission The Common Community Commission (; ) is responsible for Brussels community matters that are common to both the French Community and the Flemish Community and for institutions that fall within the competencies of the Communities but do not belong ex ...

. The Community Commissions are to a certain extent responsible for

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

competencies within the Brussels-Capital Region. 19 of the 72 French-speaking members of the Brussels Parliament are also members of the

Parliament of the French Community of Belgium The Parliament of the French Community ( ; PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium, based in the Royal Quarter of Brussels. It consists of all 75 members of the Walloon Parliament except German-speaking members (curren ...

, 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 language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

. Nowadays, people voting for a Flemish party have to vote separately for six 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 (, , CFB) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (, , FWB), which is controversial because ...

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.

Elections

Elections of 75 Brussels regional deputies, 89 since 2004, take place every five years. Here is the list of past regional elections: * 18 June 1989 (first elections) * 21 May 1995, coincided with the federal legislative elections; * 13 June 1999, coincided with the

European Parliament election 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 the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

; * 13 June 2004, coincided with the

; * 7 June 2009, coincided with the

; * 25 May 2014 coincided with the

; * 26 May 2019, coincided with the

; * 9 June 2024, coincided with the

Current composition

The composition of the Brussels Parliament is as follows:

Previous compositions

2004–2009 2009–2014 2014–2019 2019–2024 2024–present

References

External links

Brussels-Capital Region
''Centre d'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise'' (Brussels Regional Informatics Center).
Brussels Parliament
official webpage {{coord, 50, 50, 41, N, 4, 21, 5, E, display=title, type:landmark_region:BE 1989 establishments in Belgium Government of Brussels