Here at Flanders Today, we were reminded of the first type of story last week when we received a press release about the Council of Europe on its mission to monitor regional democracy in Belgium. That’s right: we’re on the road to more headlines in the foreign press about alleged Flemish oppression of the mayors of the facility communes around Brussels, and all the misunderstandings to which that subject is prey.

The subject of state reform in Belgium, and the endless push-me/pull-you between French-speaking and Flemish sides, is the story that never goes away. It went quiet for a time, while Herman Van Rompuy was prime minister from the start of 2009, but, like a volcano, you knew it was only a matter of time before it erupted once more. Now that Jean-Luc Dehaene has taken over, the problem will bubble away under the surface, but it will still be there. Dehaene will try to keep a lid on leaks from his negotiations, but it can’t be long before something comes to the surface.

An example of the second kind of story was the bizarre case of a pharmacist in Middelkerke who tried to kill her husband and children with poisoned cheese. She was arrested and committed to a psychiatric institution in Ostend. When at home on leave, she apparently couldn’t face returning to the institution, and took her own life as only a pharmacist knows how. End of story – although for those involved, of course, it’s anything but. That was a story of the utmost tragedy.

Of similar short duration and longlasting effect was the strange death of cycling’s enfant terrible Frank Vandenbroucke, who died in a seedy hotel in Senegal. The conclusion of the coroner, who admitted he didn’t have the resources to carry out a toxicological analysis, was that the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism, an unusual cause in one so young and so fit. A prostitute and two men were arrested, having apparently fleeced Vandenbroucke either before or after his death. His body was brought home and given a proper funeral. The family has said there will be no further investigation. End of story, with all loose ends still hanging.

By the time you read this, there will still be two weeks left in 2009 in which the story that represents the third of our arcs might resolve itself. In our issue of 4 February, we ran a front-page article with the headline: “General Motors has been in Antwerp for the past 80 years and has survived worse times than these”.

Three weeks later, the news in Flanders Today was of another tenor altogether: “Flanders region this week sent a top-level delegation to Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, for talks with the management of both General Motors and Ford following the announcement of plans for major closures that could affect Opel Antwerp”.

If you’ve been reading Flanders Today in the meantime, you’ll know that Opel Antwerp turned out to be the sort of roller-coaster that Plopsaland can only dream of. Here’s a selection of our headlines throughout the year which, like the dialogue cards in an old silent movie, tell the whole tale in a minimum of words:

25 February • Ministers fly to Motor City

3 March • Opel reveals plan for €3.3 billion bailout

5 May • The Flemish Region has offered some €200 million to Opel Antwerp

12 May • Fiat has “no intention” of closing Opel

26 May • Opel Antwerp future in the balance in Bonn

28 July • Government gives up on Opel Antwerp

25 August • Decision on Opel postponed

16 September • EU is last chance for Opel Antwerp

11 November • GM pulls out of Opel sale

There’ll be more to come on that story, and of course you’ll read about it here. We’ll be back in print on 6 January. A Happy New Year to all our readers.