Another element involves extra money for Brussels. There is something odd about this. Brussels is the capital of Europe, of Belgium and of Flanders, but more money for this needy city is considered a demand of the French speakers. How has it come about that our three-fold capital has become almost like a foreign body in our midst?
When Guy Verhofstadt became prime minister in 1999, his government was mostly made up of men and women in their 40s, a new generation with new ideas about family. They decided from the start to take time off during all school holidays.
That is a hard thing to do during the formation of a new government, though. With elections in May or June, formation talks can go on all summer, as was the case in 2007. Bart De Wever, whose party N-VA won the federal elections in Flanders last June, did not even book a holiday this year. Visionary, as the formation – again – drags on.
Three years on, even the French speakers are convinced that some sort of state reform is needed. There are still taboos though. Social security is one of them. The French speakers fear that once this is split up, there will be nothing left to hold Belgium together. They also object strongly to the idea of children “receiving less child support, simply because they live in one part of the country”. Or the unemployed being treated in a different way, for the same reason. Yet according to indiscretions, that is exactly what is on the table at the government formation talks.
This is particularly true of the Christian Democrats, who used to be the bearer of the state, a great unifier. Now both the Flemish CD&V and the French-speaking CDH have embraced the language issue, driving them (and the state) apart. As a result, institutional agreements have become much harder to broker. In fact, CDH’s president, Joëlle Milquet, is often called “Madame Non” in Flanders, because of her stubborn resistance to state reform.
The federal elections, however, have upset the political balance between the coalition partners – CD&V, N-VA and SP.A. The nationalist N-VA, which used to be relatively small, has grown to become Flanders’ number one party. This strengthens its position and boosts the confidence of its Flemish ministers Geert Bourgeois and Philippe Muyters.
His nationalist party N-VA may have won the elections, but De Wever has no ambition of becoming prime minister. Flemish nationalist parties – N-VA and its predecessor Volksunie – have always been apprehensive when it comes to entering governments. Whenever they do, party members suspect their own ministers of putting their own careers before their parties’ interests. This is one of the reasons why De Wever opted to stay out of the Flemish government in 2009.
No-one forced Thyssen out; on the contrary, she was begged to stay. Physically and mentally exhausted, she refused, leaving her party of Christian Democrats in a state of confusion.
Presidents who feel responsible for their parties’ losses at the ballot box usually take a step aside the next day. The fact that Thyssen stayed on for two weeks, shows that there is more to her resignation. Apparently, she felt unable to cope with the tensions that rage within CD&V.
One traditional element was lacking, though: bijltjesdag. Bijltjesdag, or “day of the little axes”, usually takes place the day after the election, when the leaders of the losing parties are sent off to make way for a new generation. With so many losers – Christian Democrats, liberals, socialists and Vlaams Belang – one would expect at least one bijltjesdag, but so far we have not seen any. Why not?
The chances are slim that you can find anyone on the street who can explain what confederalism means, yet this has become a major theme in the election debates. A confederation, should you wonder, is an association of sovereign member states. This is one step further than the federal state Belgium is at the moment – a union of partially self-governing regions and communities – and in the eyes of many French speakers, it is one step removed from Flemish secession.
The reports have often missed the point that, even at its peak – with 24% of the votes – most people in Flanders actively detest the Vlaams Belang. This is not a party like any other, was the phrase often used. Because of its anti-immigrant viewpoints, often bordering on the racist, all other Flemish parties created a cordon sanitaire around the Vlaams Belang, refusing to enter any government with them.
Flanders Today is a 
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