Under the name Les Belges (the Belgians), eight Flemish and six Walloon fashion designers are off the Fashion Week in Paris in autumn. This will be the first time the Flanders Fashion Institute (FFI) and the Wallonie-Bruxelles Design/Mode (WBDM) will showcase their collections under a common name in the same showroom. "The buyers and press have limited time at their disposal," explains Laure Capitani of WBDM. "Working together in one showroom will streamline our meetings with them." Moreover the organisers intend to maximise the return of the strong brand 'Belgium'. According to Edith Verliet of FFI, marketing of regional brands diminishes their charisma. The fourteen participants were chosen for their innovative approach and the Belgian character of their designs. WBDM and Design Vlaanderen also exhibited together at the design expo in Milan. Paris Fashion Week will run from 1 to 5 October.

The EU environmental ministers met yesterday for informal talks in Ghent, with Flemish minister Joke Schauvliege (CD&V) heading the European environmental council for the next six months. She emphasised that 'it will be unacceptable if no real results are reached in Cancun either'. After the failure of the Copenhagen summit, public opinion would drop, she warned. European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, had the same message. There are two rounds of talks to go, one in Bonn in early August and one in China in October, she said. Hedegaard is thoroughly familiar with international climate talks, and she is familiar with many of the technical details involved in the matter. During the Copenhagen summit she was the Danish climate minister. Although Schauvliege has little international experience, she is still determined to play her role in Cancun as coordinator of the 27 member states. EU experts, including her fellow party member and former prime minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene, however, are explicitly calling to give the European Commission an extensive mandate in the negotiations, for the sake of the visibility of the EU. Schauvliege says she wants to create `a strong duo' with Hedegaard. The problem in Copenhagen was not that there were too many Europeans present, but that not everyone was on the same page, saysHedegaard. 'Whoever is going to speak on behalf of Europe with China, India or Malawi, must bring one single message', she stresses. Hedegaard and Schauvliege believe substantial progress can be made with regard to deforestation, technological cooperation and providing a framework of possible adaptations with respect to climate change. Europe also hopes to 'become a bridge between China and the US' so as to enable legally-binding agreements with regard to measuring, reporting on and controlling attempts to tackle climate issues, the European commissioner said. She argues for less harsh obligations for developing countries, which do not have the capacity of implementation. A new debate is also set to arise in Mexico on support for the poorest countries in their struggle against climate change.

Elio Di Rupo (PS) will, as preformateur meet the presidents of all the potential governing parties this week, together with Bart De Wever (N-VA), the former informateur. CDH chairwoman and former minister of Employment Joëlle Milquet was the first to be invited to negotiate with Di Rupo and De Wever. Groen! and the liberal Open VLD were the last to receive an invitation yesterday. Di Rupo started negotiations yesterday morning and, as long as it remains uncertain whether the French speaking liberals from the MR will be a part of the new government, the greatest resistance to an agreement on the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district can be expected in the CDH. Joëlle Milquet's party has interests to defend in the Brussels periphery that are bigger than those of the PS or Ecolo, while it is also the party which the N-VA has attacked the most in recent years, not just about the electoral district BHV but also with respect to labour policy. De Wever and Milquet have not yet found a similar level of agreement that has developed between the former and Di Rupo. Their first talks apparently demonstrated that the gulf between them was still very wide. The CDH is a certain governing party on the French-speaking side, but who the third French speaking partner will be is as yet uncertain. The N-VA will not mourn should Ecolo refuse to join the ranks or be dumped by Di Rupo in favour of the MR. De Wever considers a government made up of the PS, its sister party in Flanders, the SP.A and the CDH to be more than sufficiently left-wing. The N-VA and MR share demands such as the abolition of the early retirement pension and stricter immigration policy while, when it comes to state reforms, the N-VA's position remains in line with the Flemish standard. Another challenge for the Flemish parties will be the allocation of ministerial posts amongst them. If the N-VA is to remain true to its intention of limiting the cabinet to 15 ministers, including the prime minister, then only seven remain to be divided between the N-VA, CD&V and SP.A. But it seems as if the biggest problem is still going to be the position De Wever assumes. Nearly all the Flemish parties believe that the clear winner of the elections must play first fiddle in the government, as deputy prime minister under Di Rupo. De Wever is, according to N-VA sources, still not convinced of this idea, but the other parties do not want him to remain outside of the government as party chairman.

The Catholic University of Leuven is examining with which British, Dutch, German and northern French universities it could form a consortium. Simultaneously the university is also looking for an American partner so as to seek out opportunities for academic cooperation in emerging countries like China, Brazil or the Eastern European nations. 'A race is going on between Western universities to create a presence in other countries, and we will have to do the same,' says the university's rector, Marc Waer. The plan is part of the university's intention to expand into an international centre of knowledge, and Waer is focusing on countries where the academic environment can still grow, such as Brazil, China and the Eastern European countries, but is aware that it is not an easy task to set up a branch in places like these. This is something the American universities have already experienced. But, says Waer, the Catholic University of Leuven will henceforth have an additional advantage, with the Leuven University Hospital announcing yesterday that it was the first Belgian hospital to receive accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI). The JCI is an international accreditation system founded in the US that determines standards with regard to healthcare and patient safety. Some 80 hospitals have already been accredited in Europe.

As of the next academic year five research groups will be launched at the University of Ghent, bringing together specialists from a wide array of fields. The research groups - in neurosciences, bio-informatics, nanophotonics, infections and immunity and biotechnology for a more sustainable economy - may each recruit five top scientists. Nineteen jobs will be filled by young and promising scientists who have been awarded a doctorate and already have important publications to their name, whereas the university is also seeking six world-leading academics. The vacancies are to be announced this week, both in the Flemish media and in specialist journals such as Nature Jobs. The university will also approach a number of leading specialists personally. 'Recruiting in such a focused manner ensures a greater chance of success than open vacancies,' says Luc Moens, vice-rector of the university and in charge of research policy. It marks the first time that a university is attempting to entice internationally leading academics on such a scale. These academics will not be paid more than their counterparts. 'We cannot compete with the major foreign universities in financial terms,' says Moens. But the academics are fortunately primarily convinced by the scientific challenge, the vice-rector says, including the fields of the research groups, the researchers working there, the present expertise, the infrastructure and, in particular, the ambitions of the research groups.

Both the audiences and the press responded enthusiastically to Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker as well as theatre director Guy Cassiers at the Avignon Theatre Festival, while they went wild for Gardenia by Alain Platel, Frank van Laecke and Vanessa Van Durme. Programmers from all regions clustered around the tables of Flemish companies to book shows at the festival centre in Cloître Saint-Louis. `Man zonder Eigenschappen' (The man without Qualities) (based on a novel by Robert Musil) by Guy Cassiers received great applause from the audience, but aside from being well-reviewd in Libération the reception was somewhat lukewarm at Le Monde. De Keersmaeker's dance company, Rosas, is however getting rave reviews from the media. Gardenia by Les Ballets C. de la B. has even set Avignon afire. The show is directed by Alain Platel and Frank Van Laecke and is based on an idea by the transsexual Vanessa Van Durme. Van Durme brought together a group of former transvestites for the spectacle, who have become too old to continue performing as variety artists. They are depicted as performing their last show in the cabaret Gardenia. Guy Baguet, in charge of commercial operations for Les Ballets C. de la B. has experienced an overwhelming reception amongst the audiences and programmers. 'We are booking shows around the world. We are already working on the schedule for 2012.'

The informal European Union Environmental Council met yesterday in Ghent to discuss proposals made by Belgium, one of which concerned the export of electronic waste, which the nation says should be drastically cut. European exports of e-waste have grown over a decade from 1.1 million tons to 2.5 million tons in 2008, with imports shrinking over the same period from 1.8 million tons to 1 million tons. The discarded electronic machinery is dismantled in India and in African countries under degrading working conditions and with disastrous consequences for the local environment. Many NGOs in Europe have already launched protests against the practice, and Belgium has consequently proposed that the EU countries may only export electronic waste if the buyer can prove that the processing thereof is undertaken efficiently and under proper conditions. Companies outside of Europe that would henceforth be eligible to process the waste must submit a certificate. The problem is that in most countries only the valuable raw materials are recovered, generally only the gold. All other metals are discarded. 'This can no longer be permitted in a society that has to deal frugally with primary raw materials, especially in Europe,' says Thomas Leysen, head of the materials technology company Umicore and present chairman of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises. Leysen predicts that the global consumption of raw materials will increase from 58 billion tons in 2005 to 80 billion tons in 2020. It is consequently up to Europe to ensure that those countries rich in natural resources will continue to grant access to their ore, and that European products that incorporate that ore remain competitive. A danger exists that the materials will become too expensive as a result of high export duties. Europe will thus have to engage a well-thought out recycling policy, so as to satisfy its own need for raw resources and materials in the long term. 'Belgium is well-placed when it comes to disseminating that message. We are top of the class in terms of recycling plastics, paper and glass, while the country is also in the international vanguard for recycling metals, thanks to the new Umicore factory in Hoboken,' says Leysen.

Once the state reform is implemented and fresh competences are transferred from the federal to the regional level, the Financing Law will again be up for debate. While negotiations on the government formation and state reform are still in their early stages, a number of financial experts have already been engaging in studying and considering reforming the hopelessly complicated Financing Law, which controls money transfers between the federal and regional levels. The major criticism levelled at the law is that it does not work in a sufficiently `accountable' manner. The federated states (the regions and communities) are not rewarded or punished for the policy they undertake. This means that Wallonia and Brussels have no financial interest in cutting unemployment amongst their citizens. Proposals have already been made with respect to the reform of the Financing Law, one of which stems from Eric Kirsch, present chief of staff for the prime minister, Yves Leterme (CD&V). Kirsch worked for the then-prime minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene, in the 1990s and played a part in devising the extant financing legislation. His point of departure in reforming the law is the Flemish Octopus Memo that is part of the Flemish government policy statement, or the transfer to the regions of (a part of) the income taxes. The new proposal by Kirsch sees 85 percent of income taxes transferred, which corresponds to what the communities and regions are presently receiving from the federal authorities. The regions can then, says Kirsch, impose additional taxes on top of that sum or cut them. He also provides for a series of adjustment mechanisms, such as correcting for commuting between regions so as to divide the taxes collected between the regions where a taxpayer works and lives, which he envisages will spur the poorer regions to encourage unemployed people to find work in other areas. He also allows for a so-called solidarity adjustment (shifting funds between regions) and a correction with respect to education. To date the (language) communities receive education funds in proportion to the number of pupils residing there. Kirsch has also proposed a transitional period of ten years. On the French-speaking side criticism has focused on the transfer of income taxes, as they opt for the taxable income as the transfer basis. The actual tax rate is lower in Wallonia and Brussels because, say francophone sources, the taxable income is lower in these regions and the tax rates increase for higher incomes. But Flemish sources do not exclude the fact that tax collecting in Flanders is stricter.

For some 1,250 people working at GM Europe's Antwerp factory, 30 June was their last day at work. The company is set to shut the factory's doors by the end of the year unless an alternative solution can be found in the intervening period. A steering group for the employment unit has in the mean time been launched for the employees, comprising a joint operation of the company, the unions, outplacement bureaus, the sector fund and the VDAB employment service. The employment unit is tasked with informing the dismissed employees about future opportunities in the labour market. The VDAB will in turn ensure that they can provide their CVs to potential employers, while they will also be kept updated on job vacancies and can enroll for training courses. A selection of companies that have indicated they would be interested in employing GM's former workers will be listed on the VDAB's website. Nearly all the dismissed workers have already registered for outplacement assistance.