French Community of Belgium Communauté française (French) | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
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| Coordinates:50°30′N4°45′E / 50.500°N 4.750°E /50.500; 4.750 | |
| Country |  Belgium |
| Regions |  Wallonia Brussels |
| Established | 1980 |
| Capital | City of Brussels |
| Government | |
| • Executive | Government of the French Community |
| • Governing parties(2024-2029) | MR andLes Engagés |
| • Minister-President | Élisabeth Degryse (Les Engagés) |
| • Legislature | Parliament of the French Community |
| • Speaker | Benoît Dispa (Les Engagés) |
| Population | |
• Total | ~4,500,000 |
| Celebration Day | 27 September |
| Language | French |
| Website | www |
| The Walloon flag was chosen as flag of the French minority of Belgium in 1975. It was adopted by theWalloon Region in 1998.[1][2] | |
In Belgium, theFrench Community (French:Communauté française (de Belgique),pronounced[kɔmynotefʁɑ̃sɛːzdəbɛlʒik],CFB)[a] refers to one of the threeconstituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French minority has used the nameWallonia-Brussels Federation (French:Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles,pronounced[fedeʁɑsjɔ̃walɔnibʁysɛl],FWB),[b] which is controversial because its name in theBelgian Constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement. The name "French Community" refers to theFrench language and not toFrance. As such, the French minority of Belgium is sometimes rendered inEnglish as "the French-speaking Community of Belgium" for clarity,[3][4] in analogy to theGerman-speaking Community of Belgium.
The Community has its ownparliament,government, and administration. It and its predecessor entity have used theflag of Wallonia since 1975.
Belgium was transformed from theunitary into afederal state. The first state reform of 1970 introduced the "cultural communities" including the French Cultural Community (Communauté culturelle française). This was re-organised and expanded into the French Community (Communauté française) through the second state reform in 1980. Further reforms expanded its legal competences.
The French Community of Belgium extends over 4.5 million people, of whom:
The French Community has no jurisdiction over French speakers living in theFlemish Region. Their number is unknown, given the absence of sub-nationality status and the discouragement of linguistic criteria in census-taking. Estimates of the French-speaking population of Flanders vary from 120,000,[6] around 200,000,[7] to around 300,000.[8]
The French Community of Belgium extends over about 40% of the total population of Belgium; 60% of the population belongs to theFlemish Community, and 1% to theGerman-speaking Community.
For years there have been hints that the Community wanted to better demonstrate[citation needed] the link betweenWallonia andBrussels, the two main territories where the French speakers are in the majority. These include the creation of several organisations such asWallonie-Bruxelles International, a public body in charge of international cultural affairs set up jointly by the French Community, theWalloon Region and theCommission communautaire française (COCOF, a French-speaking institution of theBrussels-Capital Region).[9] The concept of "Wallonie-Bruxelles" is however not mentioned in theBelgian constitution, and appeared only in a few official legal texts, such as the "Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française fixant le code de qualité et de l'accueil" of 17 December 2003, mentioning the name "Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles", and the "Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française approuvant le programme quinquennal de promotion de la santé 2004–2008" of 30 April 2004, mentioning the name "Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles".
In May 2011, the parliament of the Community voted a resolution according to which it would, from then on, use the name "Wallonia-Brussels Federation" (French: "Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles") for all its communications, campaigns and in the administration. The move was immediately interpreted as aggressive by the Flemish authorities, the Minister-President of Flanders announcing he would not recognize the federation as an official body and saying that documents that would be sent by the federation would be unconstitutional and therefore would not exist.[10]
That name also obscures the fact that this institution does not represent the Flemings living in Brussels, nor their local Flemish Community Commission ('Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie', or VGC) nor the Brussels-Capital Region.
While the authorities of the Community acknowledge the fact that the new name is not mentioned in the Belgian Constitution, they insist that their move is not illegal, as long as the new name is used as an additional name for the Community and is not used when it could create a legal issue (such as with the official texts published in theBelgian Official Journal).[11]
Although the thenBelgian Prime MinisterYves Leterme said that the federal government would not use the new name[12] and the FlemishVRT decided not to use the new name in its news programs either,[13] it is used by the French-speaking media, including theRTBF public network, which is fully controlled by the Community. The independent/private media uses both the alternative and the original designation.
In September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name.
The French Community of Belgium is governed by theParliament of the French Community, which selects the executive branch, theGovernment of the French Community.
TheParliament of the French Community (French:Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in theQuartier Royal [fr]. It consists of all 75 members of theWalloon Parliament except German-speaking members (currently two) who are substituted by French-speaking members from the same party, and 19 members elected by the French linguistic group of theParliament of the Brussels-Capital Region within the former body. These members are elected for a term of five years.
The current president of the Parliament of the French Community isBenoît Dispa [fr] (LE).
| Affiliation | Members | |
|---|---|---|
| • | Reformist Movement (MR) | 31 |
| Socialist Party (PS) | 24 | |
| • | Les Engages (LE) | 19 |
| Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB) | 12 | |
| Ecolo | 7 | |
| Democratic Federalist Independent (DéFI) | 1 | |
| Total | 94 | |
Note: Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets (•)
The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium (French:Gouvernement de la Communauté française) is the executive branch of the French Community, and it too sits inBrussels. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the parliament and is headed by aMinister-President.
| Party | Name | Function | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LR | Élisabeth Degryse | Minister President and Minister of Budget, Higher Education, School Buildings, Culture, Continuous Education, International Relations, and Francophony | |
| MR | Valérie Glatigny | Vice-Minister President and Minister of Mandatory Education | |
| LR | Valérie Lescrenier | Minister of Early Childhood and Youth Care | |
| LR | Yves Coppieters | Minister of Health, Equal Opportunities, and Women's Rights | |
| MR | Jacqueline Galant | Minister of Sports, Media, and Education in Wallonia & Brussels | |
| MR | Adrien Dolimont | Minister of Scientific Research | |
| Philippe Moureaux (1st term) | 22 December 1981 – 9 December 1985 | PS |
| Philippe Monfils | 9 December 1985 – 2 February 1988 | PRL |
| Philippe Moureaux (2nd term) | 2 February – 9 May 1988 | PS |
| Valmy Féaux | 17 May 1988 – 7 January 1992 | PS |
| Bernard Anselme | 7 January 1992 – 4 May 1993 | PS |
| Laurette Onkelinx | 4 May 1993 – 13 July 1999 | PS |
| Hervé Hasquin | 13 July 1999 – 19 July 2004 | PRL |
| Marie Arena | 19 July 2004 – 20 March 2008 | PS |
| Rudy Demotte | 20 March 2008 – 17 September 2019 | PS |
| Pierre-Yves Jeholet | 17 September 2019 – incumbent | MR |
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