9/10/10 - Every single day woodland the size of one and a half soccer pitches is cut down.

The royal mediators have presented their final report to the king. He is to receive the different party leaders during the forthcoming days, before taking a new initiative to restart the formation talks that should eventually lead to a new federal coalition government.

In various nursing homes and hospitals, screws have been found in the bread. The industrial bakery that made the delivery suspects that "sabotage" is involved.

05/10/10 - One day after it was announced that the Opel car plant in Antwerp is to close at the end of the year, it was business as usual for the workers. Information sessions will be held to inform staff of the further details of the closure.

Belgium's King Albert has entrusted Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever with a "clarification mission". The N-VA supremo has been given ten days in which to try and unblock the political stalemate by talking to the seven parties already involved in the political talks.

The leader of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, Bart De Wever, has said that efforts to achieve a breakthrough in the government formation talks are not working.

Belgium's King Albert has entrusted Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever with a "clarification mission". The N-VA supremo has been given ten days in which to try and unblock the political stalemate by talking to the seven parties already involved in the political talks.

Belgium's King Albert has entrusted Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever with a "clarification mission". The N-VA supremo has been given ten days in which to try and unblock the political stalemate by talking to the seven parties already involved in the political talks.

The decision by the Flemish nationalists to seek a fresh start to the government formation talks has triggered a wealth of reactions from the other Flemish parties involved.

Belgium's King Albert has entrusted Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever with a "clarification mission". The N-VA supremo has been given ten days in which to try and unblock the political stalemate by talking to the seven parties already involved in the political talks.

The restructuring plans for NMBS Logistics and the rumours about higher ticket prices are worrying NMBS workers. The socialist trades union has announced a strike for Monday 18 October.

The regular Asian- European Summit starts in Brussels on Monday. The Asia Europe Meeting or ASEM is a high level meeting between 48 Asian and European leaders.

L'exécution de l'accord gouvernemental flamand et du plan d'avenir "Vlaanderen in Actie" (VIA) sont dans les temps. Pour 335 projets-clés du plan d'action, on a testé s'ils suivaient le cap prévu, et il s'est avéré que c'était le cas pour 95% d'entre eux. C'est le Ministre-président flamand Kris Peeters (CD&V) qui l'a fait savoir hier. Désormais, suivant l'exemple des Pays-Bas, le gouvernement flamand va examiner deux fois par ans les progrès de ses promesses. Ce contrôle permettra tout simplement de voir que la procédure pour la réalisation d'une série de mesures suit le cours prévu. Pour chaque mesure, par exemple la diminution de la pauvreté ou la stimulation des entrepreneurs qui exportent, des "benchmarks" ont en effet été fixés, à savoir des données de référence correspondant à l'accomplissement d'une certaine étape. Cela ne signifie nulle part que les objectifs ont été atteints. C'est par contre bien le cas pour une mesure en particulier dans le volet économique, à savoir l'élargissement du prêt win-win. D'autres mesures sont dans le pipe-line ou déjà en cours, comme l'élargissement de l'offre de formation ou les stimuli (à l'aide d'une "boîte à outils") visant à garder les travailleurs âgés plus longtemps au travail. Un plan d'action pour les (pré)starters est pratiquement implémentable. Dans l'enseignement, la réforme du secondaire et du supérieur est sur les rails. En fin d'année, on aura aussi un plan permettant d'envoyer plus de jeunes étudier à l'étranger.

 Les projets qui prennent du retard sont, par exemple, le décret sur l'adoption des enfants belges, la lutte contre les nuisances sonores à Zaventem et l'exécution du plan Sigma visant à prévenir les inondations. Dans ce dernier cas, ce sont les permis de bâtir qui se font attendre.

Les réductions budgétaires annoncées dans le secteur de la culture ont déjà suscité pas mal d'émoi, et c'est à la ministre de la Culture Joke Schauvliege (CD&V) d'expliquer que la culture doit elle aussi participer aux mesures d'économie. Nonobstant, le secteur de la culture en Flandre a fait beaucoup d'efforts pour innover et internationaliser. Le cinéma, la mode, le théâtre, la danse et le livre flamand sont connus bien au-delà de nos frontières et ont déjà remporté de nombreux prix et récompenses.

 Geert Joris, directeur de Boek.be et organisateur de la Foire du livre anversoise, a invité le Ministre-président Kris Peeters, également en charge de l'économie, à venir jeter un coup d'oeil sur le plus grand salon du livre au monde : la Frankfurter Buchmesse, dans l'intention de lui montrer que le livre est aussi un secteur qui mérite qu'on y investisse. "Trente pour cent de notre chiffre d'affaires proviennent des exportations. Des marchés importants se signent ici tous les jours", a expliqué Joris. Les éditeurs flamands vendent surtout les droits d'ouvrages flamands à des pays germanophones, anglophones et francophones, mais on retrouve aussi des livres d'auteurs et illustrateurs flamands en Italie, dans les pays scandinaves et en Corée. Il s'agit souvent de noms connus comme Bart Moeyaert, Dimitri Verhulst ou Tom Lanoye, mais des efforts sont faits pour permettre au reste du monde de découvrir d'autres auteurs flamands.

 Peeters s'est entretenu avec quelques éditeurs et s'est dit agréablement surpris par l'approche professionnelle et passionnée du livre flamand. Il a aussi reconnu que son gouvernement a commis l'erreur d'oubier les industries créatives dans la mise sur pied de Vlaanderen in Actie, et a promis de rectifier le tir. Autre erreur avouée par le Ministre-président : l'approche de Cultuurinvest, un fonds d'investissement indépendant géré par la PMV (société de participation flamande) qui s'adresse aux entrepreneurs de l'industrie culturelle. Selon Peeters, l'initiative passe à côté de sa cible.

 Pour le reste, Peeters a surtout mis la balle dans le camp du secteur culturel avec un message disant en substance : "Montrez-nous votre ambition, et nous viendrons à votre rencontre". Il a aussi insisté sur le fait que le secteur du livre devrait réfléchir davantage à une approche commune. Le fait que les livres puissent être rentables est incarné par l'auteur flamand David Van Reybrouck : les droits mondiaux pour la traduction anglaise de son livre Congo, édité par De Bezige Bij, viennent d'être achetés par HarperCollins (New York) pour la coquette somme de 50.000 dollars. Mais les éditeurs flamands ont souligné le fait que c'est un montant exceptionnel pour des droits, car les deals réalisés à Francfort portent généralement sur quelques milliers d'euros.

The rollout of the Flemish government agreement and the Flanders future plan of action, Flanders in Actie (VIA), is on schedule. The key projects associated with the plan have been tested and it seems 335 or 95 percent of these are on schedule, Flemish Prime Minister Kris Peeters (CD&V) announced yesterday. Following the Dutch example, the Flemish government will monitor all progress in respect of set promises, ensuring all procedures to achieve a series of measures are in place. Each measure, for example the decrease of poverty and the stimulation of export activity, will be seen as "milestones", i.e. deadlines for the accomplishment of some phase of the project. Obviously few objectives have been met. However, this is the case for a measure in the economic window, the expansion of the win-win loan. Others are still in the pipeline or underway, like the expansion of the training offer or stimuli (with a ‘toolbox’) aimed at keeping older employees in the job market for longer, and an action plan for (pre) starters, which is ready to run. In the education sector, reforms at secondary school and college level are also on track, and at the end of the year a plan will be finalized to encourage students to study abroad.

Projects faced with delays include the domestic child adoption decree, the issue of noise pollution near the airport at Zaventem and the rollout of the Sigma plan to prevent flooding, which is being stalled by pending building permits.

The announced budget cuts in the cultural sector have created a considerable stir and Minister of Culture, Joke Schauvliege (CD&V), had some matters to explain in respect of savings in the Department of Culture. The Flemish cultural sector made many efforts towards innovation and internationalization during the past few years. Flemish films, fashion, theatre, dance and even books have gained popularity beyond the region’s borders, receiving numerous awards and considerable recognition.

Geert Joris, director of Boek.be and organizer of the Antwerp Book Fair, invited minister-president Kris Peeters (CD&V), who is also tasked with Economic Affairs, to visit the biggest book fair in the world: The Frankfurter Buchmesse in an attempt to show policymakers that the book sector belongs to the trade sector and deserves investment efforts. “Thirty percent of our turnover comes from exports and crucial deals are being signed on a daily basis,” Joris told Peeters. Flemish publishers sell rights of Flemish books to German, English and French-speaking publishers in particular, but the interest in Flemish writers and illustrators reaches as far as Italy, the Scandinavian countries and Korea. Popular names like Bart Moeyaert , Dimitri Verhulst and Tom Lanoye often top the list, but efforts are being made to introduce the rest of the reading world to some lesser-known Flemish authors as well.

Peeters, following discussions with a number of publishers, was pleasantly surprised with the professional and passionate approach in the Flemish book sector, admitting that his government erred when ignoring creative industries during the formation of the future action plan, Flanders in Action (VIA) and promised to put things right. Another mistake he admitted to was the approach to cultural investment through the 'Cultuurinvest' fund. The latter is an independent investment fund managed by the venture capital company ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV), which targets businesses in the cultural industry. Peeters feels the fund misses the mark.

Peeters threw the ball in the cultural sector’s court, stressing his point with the key message: “Show us your ambition and we will meet you halfway”. He reiterated the importance of joint collaboration within the book sector. The fact that the book market could be quite a lucrative market was highlighted with the example of Flemish writer David Van Reybrouck, who sold the world rights for the English translation of his book, Congo, published by publishing company De Bezige Bij, to Harper Collins in New York for a mere 50,000 dollars. Flemish publishers however stressed that rarely exceptional prices were paid for rights and that deals by Flemish publishers are often amounting to only a few thousand euros.

GM Europe, Opel's parent company, has made it clear that none of the candidates that came forward with a view to taking over the factory meet the conditions set by the car maker.

After the massive lay-offs at the Opel plant in Antwerp last summer, one in three former employees have found new employment.

4/10/10 - The Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere (Flemish Christian democrat) has spoken of his high hopes for the Asia-EU Summit that is taking place in Brussels.

4/10/10 - The Belgian frigate Louise Marie is on its way to the horn of Africa. The vessel will take part in a European mission against piracy on the high seas.