Parliamentary support of the Verhofstadt I government

The Verhofstadt I Government was the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

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 ...

from 12 July 1999 to 12 July 2003. It was the first government headed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

(

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 = P ...

). It consisted of the

Flemish Liberals and Democrats french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts , abbreviation = Open Vld , logo = , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert , foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld) , predecessor = P ...

(VLD), the French-speaking Liberal Reformist Party (PRL), the Flemish

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(SP), the French-speaking

(PS), the Flemish

green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

Agalev Groen (English: Green; nl, Groen, ), founded as Agalev (see Name below), is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other. Party history Before ...

and the French-speaking green party

Ecolo Ecolo, officially Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales'', (English: Confederate Ecologists for the Organisation of Original Struggles)'' is a French-speaking political party in Belgium based on green politics. The ...

. Because it comprised liberals,

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

and greens it was also known as a "purple-green" coalition. It was the first liberal-led coalition in Belgium since 1938, as well as the first since 1958 that did not include a Christian Democratic party. It was also the first coalition in Belgian history to have included green parties.

Composition

The Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and the Secretary of State for Development Cooperation were attached to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary of State for Energy and Sustainable Development was attached to the Minister of Mobility and Transport.

Reshuffles

*8 April 2000:

Rudy Demotte Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch polit ...

resigns as Minister of Economy and Scientific Research and is replaced by

Charles Picqué Charles Picqué (born 1 November 1948) is a Belgian politician. He is a former Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region. After obtaining a master's degree in economics at the Institut d'administration et de gestion at the Louvain Schoo ...

, who also becomes responsible for urban policy. *11 October 2000: Pierre Chevalier resigns as Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and is replaced by

Annemie Neyts Anne-Marie Cécile J. Neyts-Uyttebroeck (; born 17 June 1944) is a Politics of Belgium, Belgian politician and was a Member of the European Parliament for Flanders with the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, Open Flemish Liberals and Democrat ...

. *10 July 2001:

Jaak Gabriëls Petrus Josephus Jacobus "Jaak" Gabriëls (born 22 September 1943) is a Belgium, Belgian politician and member of the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) ( nl, Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten or VLD). He gra ...

resigns as Minister of Agriculture and Middle Classes.

Rik Daems Hendrik Jules Joseph "Rik" Daems (born 18 August 1959) is a Belgian painter, wine trader and politician who served as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2020 to 2022, a 70-year-old body bringing together par ...

is charged with Middle Classes,

is appointed as Minister attached to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and is charged with Agriculture. *28 August 2002:

Magda Aelvoet Magdalena Godelieve Hilda Aelvoet (born 4 April 1944) is a Belgian politician in Flanders. She was a provincial senator for Antwerp between 1985 and 1991 and a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the district of Leuven between 199 ...

resigns as Minister of Consumer Affairs, Public Health and Environment and is replaced by

Jef Tavernier Jef Tavernier (born 1 November 1951 in Aalter, East Flanders, Belgium) is a Belgian politician. He was once member of the party Green! (''Groen!''). Career *24/11/1991 – 12/04/1995: Senator irectly elected(constituency Ghent–Eeklo) *07/01 ...

. *5 May 2003:

Isabelle Durant Isabelle Annie J. Durant (born 4 September 1954) is a Belgian politician of the Ecolo party who served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 2017 to 2021 and as acting Secretary-General ...

and Olivier Deleuze resign, respectively, as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility and Transport and as Secretary of State for Energy and Sustainable Development.

Laurette Onkelinx Laurette A. J. Onkelinx (born 2 October 1958) is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party. She was the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e., the Di Rupo G ...

is charged with Mobility and Transport,

Yvan Ylieff Yvan Ylieff ( bg, Иван Илиев, ''Ivan Iliev''; born 8 March 1941) is a Belgian politician of the Francophone Socialist Party. Ylieff was born in Verviers, Liège, to a Bulgarian emigrant family. He graduated in history before engagin ...

(PS) is appointed as Minister attached to the Minister of Scientific Research and Alain Zenner (PRL) is appointed as Secretary of State for Energy and Sustainable Development, attached to the Minister of Finance.

Actions

Some of the notable actions under this government include: * Reform of the federal government administration ("Copernicus Reform") * Fifth state reform * Legalisation of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

* Legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

* Faster naturalisation of foreigners {{Belgian governments Belgian governments 1999 establishments in Belgium 2003 disestablishments in Belgium Cabinets established in 1999 Cabinets disestablished in 2003 Grand coalition governments