Flemish Brabant

Politics

The Governor is the representative or "commissioner" of the federal and Flemish governments in Flemish Brabant. He is appointed by the Flemish government, on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers. From the creation of Flemish Brabant in 1995, as a result of the division of the Province of Brabant into Flemish- and French-speaking provinces, until his retirement in 2020, the governor was Lodewijk De Witte. He was succeeded by Jan Spooren.

The governor is responsible for supervising the local authorities, ensuring that laws and decrees are observed, maintaining public order and security, and coordinating the response to a disaster which has occurred in his province. He also presides over the Deputation, however, he does not have the right to vote in the Deputation except in those cases where the Deputation exercises a judicial function.

Flemish Brabant is the only province that has a deputy governor as well. The deputy governor is appointed by the Flemish Government on the unanimous advice of the Federal Council of Ministers and must have a considerable knowledge of both the Dutch and the French language. He is responsible for ensuring that the language legislation is observed in the peripheral municipalities of Flemish Brabant.

The Provincial Council of Flemish Brabant consists of 72 members (84 members until 2012) elected for a term of office of 6 years. The last election was held on Sunday 14 October 2012. Seven political parties have seats in the provincial council:

• New Flemish Alliance (N-VA): 19 seats
• Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V): 15 seats
• Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld): 13 seats
• Vooruit: 8 seats
• Green (Groen): 7 seats
• Union of Francophones (UF): 5 seats
• Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang): 5 seats The current president of the provincial council is An Hermans (CD&V). She is assisted by a bureau which consists of two vice-presidents, four secretaries, three quaestors and the floor leaders of the fractions in the provincial council.

The governing majority in the provincial council for 2013–2018 is formed by CD&V, Open VLD, sp.a and Groen. These parties together have a majority of 43 out of 72 seats.

The Deputation is the executive organ responsible for the daily administration of the province. It consists of the governor and six deputies elected by the provincial council from among its midst. For the 2013–2018 legislative term, the deputies are divided among the majority parties as follows: two for CD&V, two for Open Vld, one for sp.a and one for Groen.

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 49.8 billion € in 2018. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 38,600 € or 128% of the EU27 average in the same year.

Religion

According to the International Social Survey Programme 2008: Religion III by the Association of Religion Data Archives, 73.9% of Flemish Brabant's population identified themselves as Catholics, 23.1% as non-religious, and 3% adhered to other religions.

Municipalities

Flemish Brabant has 63 municipalities: 33 in the Arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde and 30 in Leuven.

Notes

References

References

1. "be.STAT".
2. "Structuur van de bevolking | Statbel".
3. "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat".
4. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab".
5. "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018".
6. "Analysis {{!}} International Social Survey Programme 2008: Religion III {{!}} Data Archive {{!}} The Association of Religion Data Archives".