Activity 6: Brussels within the administrative organisation of federal Belgium
Brussels, capital of what?
Activity 6: Brussels within the administrative organisation of federal Belgium
The Regions
Previously, you saw that Brussels - an administrative and political entity - is a Region in its own right. On the following map, please put the names of federal Belgium's different Regions in their rightful place.
The Regions are "territorial" entities. Their competences are primarily related to the management of land. This includes the likes of transport (with the exception of railways), the environment, certain economic jurisdictions and infrastructural development.
Each Region manages a different public transport company. The Brussels-Capital Region administers the STIB - MIVB (Brussels Intercommunal Transport company) the Flemish Region operates De Lijn ("The Line") and the Walloon Region manages TEC ("Public Transport").
In Belgium, there are three Regions:
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The Flemish Region in the north, whose municipalities comprise the Dutch-language realm. |
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The Walloon Region in the south, which includes a large French-language domain and a few German-language municipalities in the east of the Liège province. |
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The Brussels-Capital Region in the centre, which is officially bilingual (French and Dutch) and surrounded by the Flemish Region. |
The Communities
On the following map, please put the names of federal Belgium's different Communities in their rightful place.
In Belgium, there are also three Communities:
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The Flemish Community is active in the municipalities of the Dutch-language region as well as the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The Flemish Community and the Flemish Region are united as the "Vlaamse Overheid" ("Flemish Authority"). |
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The French Community, also known as the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, is active in the municipalities of the French-language region and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The latter therefore brings together the French Community and the Flemish Community. |
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The German-speaking Community is active in the German-speaking municipalities of the Walloon Region, i.e. the East Cantons. This Community calls itself "Ost-Belgien" (East Belgium). |
The responsibilities of these Communities concern everything directly related to individuals, such as culture, education and care (i.e. healthcare or assistance).
The Federal State
The federal state is the Belgian state in the strict sense of the word. Since 1970, a series of institutional reforms have gradually ceded powers of the State to the Regions and Communities. However, it retains a series of competences - sometimes shared - including in the domains of justice, social security, railway management (SNCB - NMBS, the National Railway Company of Belgium), postal services, diplomacy, the army and the levying of taxes.
What about Brussels in all of this?
Brussels is a fully-fledged Region. At present, its inhabitants can make use of the services offered or subsidised by both the Flemish and French Communities.
Moreover, Brussels is also the capital of the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Flemish Community and the French Community (in addition to being the main seat of the European Union institutions, as we will see hereafter). To find out more about this subject, see section 6: Brussels, administrative city and spy nest?
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