Els Brems

Parlement bruxellois - Brussels Parlement

The Brussels-Capital Region was created on the territory of the 19 communes by the Special Act of 12 January 1989. It brought a long journey to an end, with many ups and downs in the political life of Belgium. There are lots of milestones on the way to the Brussels-Capital Region's establishment in January 1989. The Parliament and the Governement of the Brussels-Capital Region were only created during the State Reform of 1988-89. (The Flemish and Walloon Region have had theirs since 1980). The Sixth Belgian state reform (constitutional revisions of 6 January 2014) introduces significant modifications with regard to the institutions of Brussels. The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region exercises the legislative power by means of ordinances. The Brussels Parliament is constituted by 89 deputies directly elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term. The ordinances, voted by the Parliament, have the same legal force as decrees and federal laws. In strictly legal terms, ordinances have less "force" than a decree or federal law under certain circumstances. The executive power lies with the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region . The Government consists of one Minister-President and four ministers, two of them French-speaking and two Dutch-speaking. Three State Secretaries, at least one of whom must be Dutch-speaking, are added to the Regional Ministers. The Ministry of the Brussels-Capital Region is the most important instrument of the Brussels government for the execution of its policy.