An example: 10 years ago, the french-speaking socialist Laurette Onkelinx, then minister for work, decided to tackle youth unemployment with the so-called Rosetta Plan. She met with fierce Flemish opposition as there was hardly any youth unemployment in Flanders, which actually faced a shortage of workers.

Another example: Onkelinx’ successor, Frank Vandenbroucke, tried to get small domestic services, such as cleaning, out of the black economy by introducing a system of dienstencheques (service cheques). This was applauded in Flanders, but the French speakers reviled him for encouraging low-paying, low status jobs (or McJobs, as they were called).

A similar conflict seemed in the making, as the new minister for work, Joëlle Milquet, had yet another plan to tackle youth unemployment that would have been counter-productive for Flanders. The Flemish government has threatened to call for an official “conflict of interest”, which led Milquet to warn of a federal government crisis, but things cooled down after an agreement was reached.

By contrast, the Flemish government has seemed like a beacon of peace and quiet for years. Ideological conflicts are largely absent and, until the economic crisis hit, there was no lack of money to keep everyone happy. As a result, the Flemish government, personified by its minister-president, has always prided itself on its “good governance”.

But things have changed. While the federal government Leterme II still enjoys an (undoubtedly short-lived) honeymoon period, the Flemish government is going through some rough times. The newspaper De Standaard last week summed up all the present and potential conflicts in a large diagram, full of flashing red arrows. Teachers’ wages, replacing the head of the public broadcaster VRT, the Oosterweel link, the concessions Flanders will have to make in the yet-to-start institutional talks… It’s quite an impressive list.

No wonder the newspaper called minister-president Kris Peeters (CD&V), faced with all of that and an economic crisis, a “stress bunny”. Peeters prefers to compare himself to a magician who has no problem keeping 20 or 30 plates up in the air. He has officially denied being a stress bunny.

Well, it’s a start, isn’t it?