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 مقر الاتحاد الأوربي خلا من دولة فدرالية لعامين: شايلا موسها كتبه عبد الله علي إبراهيم
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08:05 PM October, 05 2024 سودانيز اون لاين
عبدالله علي إبراهيم-Missouri-USA
مكتبتى
رابط مختصر
لم أصدق عيوني وأنا أقرأ أن بروكسل، عاصمة بلجيكا ومقر الاتحاد الأوربي، عاشت لنحو عامين بغير حكومة فدرالية لخلافات عائد لصراع هوية بين جماعات لغوية متصارعة، الناطقون باللغة الهولندية والآخرون الناطقون باللغة الفرنسية. وهو خلاف في أصل الدولة منذ تكوينها في 1860. وما أسعفها سوى نظام فدرالي لم يترك للحكومة المركزية سوى العفو. وتجد من يقول عندنا من يقول إننا في السودان ل"ملام" لم نبلغ أوربا في تكون الدولة الوطنية القومية. وها هي دولة قويمة أوربية ترينا أن الخلاف في الدولة القومية لا يفسد ود قضية متى توقيت له بفدرالية ناصحة. وقال معلق سيظل هذا الخلاف في مركز دائرة السياسة في بلجيكا. بمعني أن الفدرالية نفسها لن تلغيه. فقط تتعلم البلد أن تعيش مع الخلاف وتحسم إدارته. وليست تنجح في كل مرة: يكفي أن حاضرة أوربا التي تتربص بدولنا وتزجرنا زجراً لإصلاحها تنعقد في بلد بحكومة أمر واقع انتقالية حتى لاح الفرج. ينفد صبر كثير منا ويركبون الصعب.
How did Belgium Manage to Survive without having a Government for 652 days؟ A case study of the Complexities and Challenges of the Federal State of Belgium
February 20, 2023
Did you know that Belgium had no government for 652 days؟ Hard to believe but true. This was the case from December 2018 to October 2020, where Belgium had no federal government and was governed by an interim government. This is nothing new to Belgium. It broke its own record from 2014 of not having a government for the longest time in the world [1]. Now you may think, ‘How was this possible؟”. It was possible because of how Belgium is structured with its 6 governments and overall, a strongly federalized state. The historic background is the sharp regional divide between the Flemish-speaking North and the French-speaking South. Therefore, in the case of Belgium, it proved that a federalized state with extensive regionalized competence is on its own stable enough to function well with all its capacities without a federal government for an interim period.
Belgium consists of three regions: Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. These three regions each have their own government. This means they have their own parliament, set their own laws, have a budget, and a respective representative. As well as the French-speaking [2] and the German-speaking [3] community have their own government (for some reason the Flemish community decided to have a combined government with Flanders [4]). The concept of a federalized state is quite common and can be seen in Germany, Switzerland as well as the United States. A federal state is where the division of power and political authority is divided between two autonomous sets of governments, one national and the other subnational [5]. Due to the language and historical split, the regions have a considerable degree of competence with limited powers entrusted by the Federal Belgian State. This divide mirrors the permanent fight in the USA between the federal competencies and that of the 50 individual states. The history of Belgium and its different languages, and cultures is a complex matter. There has been ongoing discussion of regions becoming independent [6] and the most notable conflicts are between the Flemish-speaking and French-speaking communities. Both cultures have quite different sets of values and mentality which regularly lead to confrontation and disputes.
In December 2018, the Belgian Government collapsed, and an interim government was set in place. This interim government that was supposed to last until May 2019, however ended up governing until October 2020 [7]. This means that there was no federal government for 652 days and this during a worldwide pandemic.
While the interim government was in place, no major crises or catastrophes happened that were directly the government's fault (the pandemic cannot be considered here). Institutions such as public transport, schools, and Health care where all continuing as usual. This shows the strength of the institutionalization and federalization of Belgium. When these public commodities become private, not only do they increase the costs for citizens but also allow a certain number of the population to be excluded. Public transportation is seen as a common good and politicians are thriving for public transport to be as cheap as possible, especially for people under 25 but also for pensioners [8]. Because the public goods (electricity, public transport, etc.) were running, there was no major outrage from the population. This may sound absurd to many people, but most of the population did not care and did not notice. Their salaries were being paid, and the trains were running. Everything was going well. Their daily lives did not change and as one citizen said: “In the end, things don't work any less well without a government. So, we're not in such a rush” [9]. And most importantly, it was only the federal government that was not in place but the 5 other regional and communal governments were still in place and governing each of their respective regions/communities. As well as the interim government which was deciding on matters of everyday life [10] and in some urgent cases could take actions such as during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing new was decided which means nothing changed.
Although the public goods were running and the population did not seem to be bothered much, it is true that in the short term, it wouldn't have a big effect on them. However, in the long term, it can have grave consequences on the country since an interim government cannot operate the Budget [11]. Only a federal government with full power [12] has the ability to set and manage the budget. This would then cause having problems with the EU (European Union) and its sanctions [13].
If we return to the general question of the power of a federal country, if there is a lot of competence decentralized, then the government's decisions are "weak". This leads to a lack of coherence and equal treatment of citizens. In the case of the EU, the fight is between federal EU competence and local Communal and individual Member States. The rational thing would be, as the EU leaders permanently underline, to take decisions at the federal (EU) level which are required from the point of view of efficiency, and fairness, and leave the rest of the decisions to be taken locally [14]. A fight between the head (Federal) and the heart (Regional, local) which in the end is a question of identity. The identity issue prefers a weak centralized government and a strong local government. It is clear that local officials/administration should decide what to be done locally and the central federal government on what is required so that society is connected, creates equal conditions and avoids discrimination. This is the case in Belgium.
In conclusion, it is important to point out that because of Belgium’s extremely complicated institutions and division between communities and regions, the formation of a government and coalition takes an unusually long time [15]. Each party has its priorities and an Agenda, but in Belgium, it is much more about language and identity. This is a struggle that is part of the Belgian identity and will likely be part of it forever. During the time of December 2018 and October 2020, the interim government governed Belgium during a challenging time at the start of the covid-19 outbreak [16]. The country managed to function as its public goods were still running and the 5 other governments were governing their respective regions and communities. Although, there were some consequences that will potentially lead to long-term problems. It is certain that as the Belgians will laugh about the situation and continue to joke about their differences, the world will actively watch how this little country will become more divided than ever.
Nora Kaul Hoelgaard
Nora, Year 2 CPS bachelor student, is Danish and Austrian, who grew up in Brussels, Belgium. She has always had an enormous passion and fascination for politics, international relations and the rise of the far right. Email: [email protected]
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عبدالله علي إبراهيم
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست