| Government Name: | Flemish Government |
| Nativename: | Vlaamse Regering |
| Polity: | Flanders (Community & Region) |
| Address: | Martyrs' Square, Brussels, Belgium |
| Leader Title: | Minister-President |
| Appointed: | Flemish Parliament |
| Budget: | € 44.7 billion (2018) |
| Responsible: | Flemish Parliament |
| Url: | www.flanders.be |
The Flemish Government (Dutch; Flemish: Vlaamse regering in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˌvlaːmsə rəˈɣeːrɪŋ/) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, and the public administration (civil service) divided into 13 policy areas, each with an executive department and multiple agencies.
The Flemish Government cabinet consists of up to a maximum of eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament. At least one minister must come from Brussels. The ministers are drawn from the political parties which, in practice, form the governing coalition. The Government is chaired by the Flemish Minister-President. Ministers head executive departments of the government administration. Ministers must defend their policies and performance in person before the Flemish Parliament. The Flemish Government must receive and keep the confidence of the Flemish Parliament.Until 1993 the Flemish Government was called the Flemish Executive (Vlaamse Executieve).
Following the 7 June 2009 election, CD&V (31 seats), N-VA (16 seats) and SP.A (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.
Following the 2004 election, (29 seats)/ (6 seats), / (25 seats) and (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.
The composition at the end of the legislature:
After the regional elections of 1999, a coalition of VLD, SP, Agalev and the VU was formed with Patrick Dewael (VLD) as Minister-President.
After the federal elections of June 2003, Patrick Dewael resigned as Minister-President and went to the federal political level. He was succeeded by Bart Somers as Flemish Minister-President until the end of term in 2004. Due to changes in political parties, the coalition was different:
After the regional elections of 1995 (which were the first direct elections for the Flemish Parliament), a coalition of CVP and SP was formed.
| Minister | Name | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minister-President, Foreign Policy, European Affairs, Science and Technology | Luc Van den Brande | CVP | ||
| Vice-Minister-President, Education and Public Administration | Luc Van den Bossche | SP | ||
| Environment and Labour | Theo Kelchtermans | CVP | ||
| Finance, Budget and Health Policy | CVP | |||
| Public Works, Transport and Spatial Planning | Eddy Baldewijns | SP | ||
| Economy, SME, Agriculture and Media | Eric Van Rompuy | CVP | ||
| Home Affairs, Urban Policy and Housing | SP | |||
| Culture, Family Policy and Welfare | CVP | |||
| Brussels Affairs and Equal en Equal Opportunities Policy | Anne Van Asbroeck | SP |
See main article: Minister-President of Flanders.
| Name | Period | Party | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 – 1981 | Only of Flemish Community | |||
| 22 December 1981 – 21 January 1992 | CVP | |||
| 21 February 1992 – 1999 | CVP | |||
| 13 July 1999 – 5 June 2003 | ||||
| 11 June 2003 – 20 July 2004 | VLD | |||
| 20 July 2004 – 28 June 2007 | ||||
| 28 June 2007 – 25 July 2014 | CD&V | |||
| 25 July 2014 – 2 July 2019 | ||||
| 2 July 2019 – 2 October 2019 | ||||
| 2 October 2019 – present |
The Flemish administration (Dutch: Vlaamse overheid) denotes the Flemish civil service. With the 2006 reform program Better Administrative Policy (Dutch: Beter Bestuurlijk Beleid), the Flemish civil service is designed to make the Flemish public administration more efficient and transparent.
The tasks of the Flemish public administration are now organised in 13 policy areas. Each policy area comprises a department and a number of (semi-) independent government agencies. Only those with their own article are mentioned below.
The 11 policy areas are:
Several other institutes, such as the Flemish Opera and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), were not incorporated into the above structure.
Every year, the Minister-President presents the current state of affairs in Flanders and the Government's plans for next year during the September Declaration on the fourth Monday in September.
The below figures use the 2018 budget as example, which had €44.7 billion in expenses and €42.3 billion in revenue.[1]
The revenue comes from the following sources:
The expenses are as follows per policy area:
| €13.2 billion | Education and Training | Mostly wages of education personnel | |
| €12.1 billion | Welfare, Public Health and Family | E.g. child benefits | |
| €3.96 billion | Chancellery and Governance | Mostly funds for local governments (provinces, cities and other municipalities) | |
| €3.69 billion | Work and Social Economy | Mostly service vouchers | |
| €3.67 billion | Mobility and Public Works | Mostly the public transportation company De Lijn and road infrastructure and road safety | |
| €2.52 billion | Finances and Budget | Mostly financial incentives for private property | |
| €2.04 billion | Spatial | E.g. management of immovable heritage and sustainable energy | |
| €1.66 billion | Economy, Science and Innovation | Supporting entrepreneurship, scientific research and innovation | |
| €1.29 billion | Culture, Youth, Sports and Media | Mostly the public broadcaster VRT and sports | |
| €0.19 billion | Agriculture and Fisheries | Mostly the Agriculture Investment Fund | |
| €0.17 billion | international Flanders | Tourism, international entrepreneurship, development aid and international relations | |
| €0.13 billion | Higher Entities | Operating costs of the ministerial cabinets and the Flemish Parliament |
The Flemish Government owns the rights to Flanders Today, an English-speaking online and print newspaper focused on current affairs in Flanders and Brussels. The project was launched in 2007 by Geert Bourgeois – then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism -, for three main reasons:[2]
In May 2017, the Flemish Government announced it would not be rebidding the Flanders Today project. Both the print and the online version of the paper are to be shut down in October 2017.[3]