Tag: Brussels

A new survey of the lives of more than 9,000 EU expatriates in Brussels paints a picture of an estranged community, largely secluded from local residents in a city they consider dirty and unsafe, but somehow pleasant to live in.

Flights over Brussels should be more severely restricted in order to protect inhabitants from excess noise levels, says Véronique de Potter from local campaign group Bruxelles Air Libre. But she says the Flemish region, where the airport is situated, "will almost go to war" if flight routes are diverted from the Belgian capital to fly over Flemish territory.

One aspect of the current EU financial crisis has been the proliferation of EU actors within the Brussels circle and the exclusion of national-level actors, something that can endanger the idea of European integration in the future, warns Bernd Hüttemann of European Movement Germany.

Negotiators from the eight political parties involved in coalition talks have reached an agreement over the weekend to overhaul the Belgian state, lifting a major stumbling bloc on the way to forming a new government.

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and the capital of the European Union, both of which are going through severe crises. Foreign EU citizens represent a fifth of Brussels' population and an increasingly large segment of its economy. Yet they are almost absent from its political life. Can this multicultural city be a model of coexistence and integration, asks Alain Deneef, founder of the think-tank Aula Magna.

On the country's national day, Belgium could end a 400-day long stalemate on forming a new government as the Flemish conservative party agreed to enter coalition talks, but this time without the winner of last year's elections, the separatist party N-VA.

In a move to speed up cross-border legal disputes and cut costs, the European Commission on Tuesday (14 December) approved broad changes to rules concerning court cases for businesses and consumers.

The EU opened talks on an association agreement with Georgia yesterday (15 July) in a move that will boost the former Soviet republic's hopes of forging closer ties with the West. The agreement, however, does not promise future EU accession.

Squabbling among Brussels authorities has derailed town planning throughout the Belgian capital's recent history, alleges a study published this week by a think-tank based in the city.