About: Flanders

Climate impact of new buildings still too high, says independent expert

New standards to reduce carbon emissions in the building sector will not be enough to meet the EU's 2030 and 2050 climate targets, according to a recent report by Building Performance Institute Europe (BPIE), an independent expertise centre. EURACTIV France reports.

Rise of nationalist parties threatens to stall progress on race discrimination in Belgium

In 2021, Belgium will mark 40 years since the national Anti-Racism Act was passed. However, despite efforts to combat racism and ethnic discrimination, complaints of racism rose by almost 50% in 2020.

Israel condemns EU ritual slaughter ruling

The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday (17 December) that authorities can order that animals be stunned before slaughter in a move decried by Israel and religious groups as attacking their traditions.

Belgian government to relax lockdown measures in three phases, starting 4 May

Belgium is to begin a gradual deconfinement with an exit strategy to be rolled out with the key dates of 4, 11 and 18 May, as well as 8 June, the National Security Council (CNS) decided on Friday (24 April).

Flanders chooses EU Green Deal as battleground between regions

Belgium will not join more than a dozen member states in insisting the Green Deal must serve as a basis for the coronavirus recovery, after a dispute among the three regional parliaments and the government nixed the chances of a common position.

EU castigates Aalst carnival parade for ‘anti-Semitism’

The European Commission on Monday (24 February) slammed a Belgian street parade for featuring anti-Semitic floats that it said were "incompatible" with EU values.

Belgium ‘not prepared’ for Brexit effects

Amid all the hot-air about the economic effects of Brexit, the impact on other countries is often lost. Belgium is no exception - the UK is Belgium’s fourth-largest trading partner, responsible for 8% of its exports and 5% of its imports.

Belgian investors give feedback on their Kazakh experience

The deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan, Yermek Kosherbayev, met with a dozen Belgian investors in Brussels on Wednesday (9 October) to hear about their experience with his country and help solve potential issues.

Diplomatic tensions flare between Spain and Belgium over Catalan crisis

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel sought to defuse bilateral tensions at an EU summit yesterday (17 October) after Flemish and Spanish authorities traded accusations over Spain's handling of Catalonia's illegal declaration of independence and imprisonment of separatists.

Spain furious over Flemish letter to Catalan separatist

Spain summoned the Belgian ambassador over a letter sent to jailed Catalan separatist Carme Forcadell by the speaker of the regional Flemish parliament questioning democracy in Spain, a diplomatic source said Wednesday (26 September).

Muslim animal slaughter must occur in approved abattoirs: EU court

The EU's top court ruled Tuesday (29 May) that animal slaughter without stunning can only occur in approved abattoirs, saying a ban on temporary slaughter houses does not violate Muslim religious freedom.

Belgian PM seeks EU help in row over deported Sudanese

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said yesterday (11 January) he would seek EU help to settle a row over his country's deportation of Sudanese who were allegedly tortured on their return home.

Can an ‘EU of the regions’ offer an alternative to Catalan secession?

On Monday, local government officials from across the European Union will converge in Brussels for the ‘European Week of Regions and Cities’. As they meet, they will be well aware of the turmoil taking place in one region in particular - Catalonia.

Belgian beer culture added to UNESCO’s heritage list

Beer culture in Belgium was inscribed yesterday (30 November) on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Wallonia strikes out at Canada

There are historic reasons behind the Walloon rejection of CETA, and a price to pay for post-Napoleonic Britain having engineered Belgium as a nation in gridlock, writes George Friedman.

Belgium mocked for its inability to hash out COP21 commitment

Belgium’s international image is deteriorating further as the country's regions - French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders - prove unable to agree on the distribution of monies coming from its national emission trading fund.

San Jeronimo and Edegem are proud of their compost project

SPECIAL REPORT / The partnership between the Belgian town of Edegem, and the Peruvian municipality of San Jeronimo has been so successful that many other localities in the Latin American country come to visit and study the project that composts organic waste and uses it for agriculture.

Putting reuse and repair at heart of the circular economy

Every year, we throw away millions of euros worth of goods that could be repaired or reused. Europe must seize the opportunity offered by the new Circular Economy Package to turn this situation around, argues Michal Len. 

EU holds its breath as Scots go to polls

The EU has largely kept a diplomatic silence in the weeks before today’s Scotland's independence referendum, but the implications of a “yes” vote are broadly seen in Brussels as the last thing the Union needs in its present difficult circumstances.

Will Flemish separatists save the Tories in Europe?

The Flemish separatist party N-VA is once again set to make big gains in Belgium’s triple elections this month, but they remain undecided about which group to join in the next EU Parliament. Could they become the much-needed new member of the ECR group, led by the British Conservative Party?

Flemish MEP row reveals tensions in Greens/EFA group

The Flemish Green party has accused the separatist N-VA of deviating too much from the political line of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament.

EU court condemns Belgian Flanders for language bias

The European Court of Justice has handed down a judgement against the Belgian Flemish community for infringing EU freedom of movement by only drafting workers’ contracts in Dutch.

Regional independence: Opening Pandora’s box

It is too simplistic to propose that a region could simply remain in the European Union after seceding from its EU member state and that the ‘evaporation theory’ of Belgium's New Flemish Alliance cannot adequately grasp all the political and legal problems which such a scenario would entail, say Guillaume Van der Loo and Merijn Chamon.

Campaigner: Flanders ‘will almost go to war’ over Brussels airport

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.