Belgian Federal Parliament
You can help expand this section with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (July 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Federal Parliament | |
---|---|
PS since 13 October 2020 | |
Structure | |
Seats | Senate: 60 Chamber of Representatives: 150 |
Senate political groups | Government (37)
Opposition (23) |
Chamber political groups | Government (87)
Opposition (63)
|
Elections | |
26 May 2019 | |
Meeting place | |
Palace of the Nation, Brussels | |
Website | |
www.fed-parl.be |
The Federal Parliament is the
The Constitution does not mention the Federal Parliament as such; it stipulates that the federal legislative power is exercised by the King and the Chamber of Representatives (and exceptionally the Senate), and defines when the United Chambers convene.
Chamber of Representatives
The Chamber of Representatives holds its plenary meetings in the Palace of the Nation, Brussels. Eligibility requirements for the Chamber are a minimum age of 21, citizenship, and residency in Belgium.
The number of seats in the Chamber is constitutionally set at 150 elected from 11 electoral districts. The districts are divided along linguistic lines: 5
All districts have an electoral threshold of 5%, except for
The current composition was elected at the federal elections of 2019.
Belgium portal |
Senate
Since 2014, the Senate consists of 60 members. There are two categories of senators: co-opted senators and senators of community and regional parliaments.
50 senators are elected by and from the
The 10 other senators are co-opted: elected by the 50 other senators. Eligibility requirements for the Senate are identical to those for the Chamber.
Before 2014, the Senate consisted of 71 senators, only 21 of which were elected by the community parliaments. 25 were directly elected by the Flemish-speaking constituency and 15 by the French-speaking constituency. The last direct election of these 40 members occurred in the
The President of the Senate since 2014 has been
Legislative procedure
Since the elections of 21 May 1995, there has been a breakdown of powers between the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, which resulted in the latter having fewer competencies than the Chamber of Representatives. Prior to that, the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate did the same parliamentary work on an equal footing, but now there are three different legislative procedures that can be followed: the one-chamber procedure, the optional two-chamber procedure, and the mandatory two-chamber procedure.
In certain matters, both Chambers have equal power. These include constitutional revisions, laws requiring a qualified majority, laws on the basic structure of the Belgian State, laws approving agreements of cooperation between the
For most other legislation, the Chamber of Representatives takes precedence over the Senate and the optional bicameral procedure applies. This means that the Senate may still intervene as a chamber of consideration and reflection. It has the opportunity to, within specific time limits, examine the bills adopted by the Chamber of Representatives and, if there is a reason to do so, make amendments. The Chamber may subsequently adopt or reject the amendments proposed by the Senate or make new proposals. The Senate can also submit a bill it has adopted to the Chamber, which can approve, reject or amend it. Whatever the case, the Chamber has the final word.
The one-chamber procedure applies in cases where the Chamber of Representatives has the sole power to legislate. It means that the Senate cannot intervene and that the Senate's approval is not required for the bill to pass. The matters for which the Chamber of Representatives is exclusively responsible include naturalizations, ministerial liability, State budget, and accounts and military quotas.
National drug commissioner
In February 2023, the Belgium government appointed their first national drug commissioner, Ine Van Wymersch, to fight the rising issue of drug trafficking and organized drug crimes in Belgium.[1] It was part of the federal government’s measures to fight narco-terrorism, which included increased police forces in ports, screening of infrastructure, ramping up fines or imposing rehab for cocaine users to €1,000, auditing port workers, shutting down businesses being used to launder drug money, etc.[2] The government was also to put pressure on the UAE to extradite people involved in drug crimes, including Nordin El Hajjioui, who was living in Dubai and was charged of coordinating cocaine trafficking in Antwerp.[3][4]
United Chambers
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
The United Chambers (Dutch: Verenigde Kamers, French: Chambres réunies, German: Vereinigten Kammern) is the name given to the body created when both chambers of the Federal Parliament meet in
Palace of the Nation
The
The building stands across the street from
See also
- Politics of Belgium
- Court of Audit of Belgium
- List of political parties in Belgium
- Commission communautaire française
- Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie
- List of legislatures by country
References
Citations
- ^ Preussen, Wilhelmine (2023-02-17). "Belgium names first national drug czar in fight against narco-terrorism". Politico. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ "National drug commissioner and more police in the port of Antwerp in the fight against drug mafia". Premier.be (in Flemish). 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
- ^ Cokelaere, Hanne (2023-02-12). "Belgian government presents plan to fight drug violence that's become 'narco-terrorism'". Politico. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
- ^ "United Arab Emirates refuse to extradite Antwerp drug criminal". Brussels Times. 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
- Belgian Chamber of Representatives. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
- ^ Mardaga 1993, p. 335.
- ^ "Palace Of The Nation - Belgian Federal Parliament on EarthInPictures.com". www.earthinpictures.com. 8 March 2024.
Bibliography
- Le Patrimoine monumental de la Belgique: Bruxelles (PDF) (in French). Vol. 1B: Pentagone E-M. Liège: Pierre Mardaga. 1993.