Formally, executive power is vested in the king, who formally appoints the ministers. However, under the Constitution of Belgium, the king is not politically responsible for exercising his powers, but must exercise it through the ministers. The king's acts are not valid unless countersigned by a minister, and the countersigning minister assumes political responsibility for the act. Thus, in practice, the ministers do the actual day-to-day work of governing.[2]
At the federal level, executive power is wielded by the federal government, whilst the prime minister is the head of the government. Each minister heads a ministry, and secretaries of state, who are deputy to a minister, help run these ministries. The government reflects the weight of political parties that constitute the current governing coalition for the Chamber. No single party or party family across linguistic lines holds an absolute majority of seats in Parliament. Under current practice, no party family can win enough seats to govern alone, let alone win a majority.
The number of ministers is limited to 15, equally divided between French-speaking and Dutch-speaking ministers, according to Article 99 of the Constitution. Although the prime minister is officially exempt from this quota, no francophones held the post from 1979 to 2011. Some of the ministers are also deputy prime ministers; but in addition to taking the position of acting prime minister, they are also the link between the government and their political parties. A deputy prime minister is the voice of their political party within the federal government, and is also the voice of the federal government within their political party. Government meetings are conducted through simultaneous interpreters.
The prime minister and his ministers administer the government and the various Federal Public Services (Dutch: Federale Overheidsdienst, French: Service public fédéral); roughly equivalent to ministries in other countries' administrative organization. As in the United Kingdom, ministers must defend their policies and performance in person before the Chamber.
An important de facto body is the "inner cabinet" (kernkabinet; conseil des ministres restreint or kern), consisting of the prime minister and the deputy prime ministers. They meet to make the most important political decisions.
Formation
After the elections, the prime minister of the former government offers his resignation to the king, and the formation process for a new government starts. The incumbent government remains in office in a caretaker role until the new government is sworn in.[3] This process is based largely on constitutional convention rather than written law. The king is first consulted by the President of the Chamber of Representatives and the President of the Senate. The King also meets a number of prominent politicians in order to discuss the election results. Following these meetings, an Informateur is appointed.
The Informateur has the task of exploring the various possibilities for the new Federal Government and assessing which parties can form a majority in the Federal Parliament.[3] He also meets with prominent people in the socio-economic field to learn their views on the policy that the new Federal Government should conduct. The Informateur then reports to the King and advises him about the appointment of the Formateur.[3] However the King can also appoint a second Informateur or appoint a royal mediator. The task of a royal mediator is to reach an agreement on contentious issues, resolve remaining obstacles to the formation of a Federal Government and prepare the ground for a Formateur. On 5 July 2007 King Albert II appointed Jean-Luc Dehaene as royal mediator to reach an agreement on a new State Reform.[4]
The Formateur is appointed by the king on the basis of the informateur's report. The task of the Formateur is to form a new government coalition and lead the negotiations about the government agreement and the composition of the government. If these negotiations succeed, the Formateur presents a new Federal Government to the king. Usually, the Formateur also becomes the Prime Minister.[3]
In accordance with article 96 of the Belgian Constitution, the king appoints and dismisses his ministers. However, since all royal acts require the countersignature of a minister, the outgoing prime minister countersigns the royal order appointing the new prime minister, who then countersigns the royal order accepting the resignation of his predecessor. The prime minister then countersigns the royal orders appointing the other members of the new Federal Government.
The appointed ministers take the oath of office before the king. After they have taken the oath, the new Council of Ministers meets to draw up the declaration of government, in which the Federal Government sets out the main lines of the government agreement and outlines the government agenda. The prime minister reads the declaration of government to the Chamber of Representatives, which then holds a debate on the declaration of government. Following this debate, a vote of Confidence takes place. If the prime minister obtains the confidence of the majority, he can begin implementing the government agreement.
In May 2019 federal elections in the Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders far-right Vlaams Belang party made major gains. In the French-speaking southern area of Wallonia the Socialists were strong. The moderate Flemish nationalist party the N-VA remained the largest party in parliament.[5] Belgium’s first female prime minister Sophie Wilmès led the caretaker government since October 2019. The parties finally agreed on federal government 16 months after the elections and The Flemish Liberal party politician Alexander De Croo became new prime minister in October 2020.[6]
Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, Foreign Trade and Federal Cultural Institutions (absent from 22 April until 14 July 2022, replaced by colleagues De Croo, Clarinval and Michel)
Minister of the Small Businesses, Self-Employed, SMEs and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal (from 22 April until 14 July 2022 also acting Minister of Foreign Trade and Deputy Prime Minister for the MR, replacing Sophie Wilmès)
Secretary of State for Digitization, in charge of Administrative Simplification, Privacy and Buildings Administration 9from 22 April until 14 July 2022 also acting Secretary of State for Federal Cultural Institutions, replacing Sophie Wilmès) Deputy to the Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in charge of the National Lottery Deputy to the Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal
Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in charge of the National Lottery Deputy to the Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal
On 21 April 2022, Sophie Wilmès took a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons. Officially she remains in office as both Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, however, in reality all her duties have been taken over by other members of the cabinet from 22 April 2022. Prime minister Alexander De Croo is the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of European Affairs, David Clarinval took over her duties as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade, and finally Mathieu Michel took over the portfolio of Federal Cultural Institutions.[7] On 14 July 2022 Wilmès resigned definitively as a member of the De Croo government, with all her portfolios allocated to newcomer Hadja Lahbib, although David Clarinval kept the position of Deputy Prime Minister for the MR.[8]
On 27 June 2022, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi was replaced by Nicole de Moor, as Mahdi had been elected the new party president of CD&V.[9]
After a first revision of the budget after errors and a new proposal containing different errors, Secretary of State for BudgetEva De Bleeker [nl] offered her resignation on 18 November 2022 and was immediately replaced by Alexia Bertrand. Bertrand is a member of the French speaking liberals of MR, but was invited to become a party member as well for the Flemish speaking liberals of Open Vld, allowing her to take up the position.[10]
On 23 April 2023, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity Sarah Schlitz resigned following a week of criticism mainly centered around the use of a personal logo in governmental projects (thus promoting herself with tax money which is forbidden), lying about having requested the logo to be used and on top of that one of her staff members compared the New Flemish Alliance with Nazism.[12] Schlitz' party Ecolo appointed Marie-Colline Leroy as her successor and she was sworn in on 2 May 2023.[13]
Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned on 20 October 2023, a few days after the 2023 Brussels shooting, as it turned out an error had been made as Tunisia had asked already in 2022 to transfer the perpetrator but the dossier had not been processed.[14]. Two days later, Open Vld appointed Paul Van Tigchelt to replace him [15] causing former party president Gwendolyn Rutten to announce her immediate retirement from national politics.[16]
On 1 October 2024, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy Caroline Gennez resigned to become a minister in the Diependaele government. Frank Vandenbroucke, Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, took over her responsibilities.[17]
On 1 December 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade, and Federal Cultural Institutions Hadja Lahbib resigned to become European commissioner in the von der Leyen Commission II. Bernard Quintin succeeded her the next day.[18][19]
