Belgium: Economic and Political Outline

Economic Overview

Following the 2009 global recession, the Belgian GDP again began to grow in 2010 but then slowed down in 2011 (1.9%) as a result of the debt crisis in the eurozone. Given the country's economy's particular vulnerability to external shocks, the prospects for 2012 are not optimistic.

The new government has set a target to reduce the budget deficit to zero by 2015. With a public debt of around 100% of GDP in 2012, deficit reduction is an imperative. Austerity measures have also been implemented, together with a planned reform of the labor market. A support plan for the banking system is also expected.

Belgium is a prosperous country and its GDP is among the highest in the world. Nevertheless, regional disparities remain strong; Wallonia faces a worrying problem of structural unemployment.

Main Sectors of Industry

The Belgian economy is largely orientated towards services. In fact, the tertiary sector accounts for almost three fourths of the national wealth. Brussels, which is home to several European institutions, numerous diplomatic missions and different interest groups, has created an economy which is based essentially on services.

The industrial sector accounts for practically a fourth of the GDP. There are significant discrepancies between the three Belgian regions. While Flanders has succeeded in developing the second largest petro-chemical sector in the world, Wallonia is in the middle of restructuring, following the closure of several collieries and a large number of steel industries. Brussels distinguishes itself in the areas of telecommunication, software development and in pharmaceutical and automobile industry.

Agriculture contributes a small amount to the Belgian economy.

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

70.2/100

Position:

Mostly free

World Rank:

30/179

Regional Rank:

17/42

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Sources of General Economic Information

Ministries

Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

Belgian Chamber of Commerce
Exportservices

Statistical Office

National Institute of Statistics

Central Bank

National Bank of Belgium

Stock Exchange

Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam stock exchange

Main Online Newspapers

Le Soir newspaper
Of Tijd
Free Belgium newspaper (in french)
Echo newspaper

Economic Portals

Belgium Portal

Political Outline

Type of State

Belgium is a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch.

Executive Power

Chief of the state is the King, who plays a largely ceremonial and symbolic role. King's primary political function is to designate a political leader (Prime Minister) to form a new government. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party (or the leader of the majority coalition) is usually appointed Prime Minister by the King and then approved by the parliament for a four-year term.
The King, on recommendation of the Prime Minister formally appoint Council of Ministers. At the federal level, executive power is wielded by the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister chairs the Council. Each minister heads a governmental department.

Legislative Power

The Belgian Parliament consists of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The Chamber has 150 directly elected members. The Senate has 71 members.

Main Political Parties

Political parties in Belgium are divided on the basis of community and linguistic lines into two groups:
- Flemish parties: VLD (Flemish Liberal Democrats), CD&V (Flemish Christian Democrats Party), SP.A/Spirit (the Flemish Socialists and Spirit alliance), GROEN! (formerly AGALEV, Flemish Greens); NVA (New Flemish Alliance) and the right-wing VB (Flemish Interest);
- Francophone parties: PS (Socialist Party), MR (Reformist Movement), ECOLO (Francophone Greens); CDH (Humanist and Democratic Center) and FN (National Front).

Current Political Leaders

King: ALBERT II (since August 1993);
Heir Apparent: Prince PHILIPPE, son of the present King.
Prime Minister: Elio DI RUPO (since 5 December 2011) - Socialist Party;

Next Election Dates

Senate and Chamber of Deputies : June 2011.
Communal and provincial elections in October 2012.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

20/179

Evolution:

6 places down compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).