Vlaanderen
Covers Flanders' position within Belgium's federal structure, the parties campaigning for Flemish independence or confederalism, and the political crises and reforms most directly tied to Flemish–Walloon relations since 1993. It does not attempt a general political or cultural history of Flanders, nor an assessment of Vlaams Belang's broader programme beyond its constitutional and electoral positions.
Belgium became a federal state through a constitutional revision in 1993, the culmination of state reforms beginning in 1970, with Flanders governed by a merged Flemish Region and Community.[1][2] Two Flemish parties campaign for a change to this settlement: N-VA, founded in 2001 and pursuing gradual, peaceful confederalisation or eventual independence within the EU, and Vlaams Belang, founded in 2004 as the successor to Vlaams Blok after a court ruling against that party under Belgium's anti-racism law.[3][4][5][6] A 541-day government formation crisis in 2010–2011, tied to Flemish–Walloon disagreement, produced the sixth state reform, and in 2025 N-VA co-founder Bart De Wever became the first Flemish nationalist Prime Minister of Belgium.[7][8][9]
Status verified as of
Flanders is a Region and Community within federal Belgium. No referendum on Flemish independence has been held or is legally provided for. N-VA and Vlaams Belang, which together won 51 of the Flemish Parliament's 124 seats in 2024, support confederalism or independence; N-VA co-founder Bart De Wever became federal Prime Minister in February 2025 at the head of a coalition that does not include an independence or confederalism referendum in its programme.[10][9]
History
From the 1970–1993 state reforms that made Belgium a federal state, through N-VA's and Vlaams Belang's rise, the 2010–2011 government formation crisis and sixth state reform, to Bart De Wever's 2025 premiership.
634 words · 3 min read
· Constitutional change
A constitutional revision declared Belgium a federal state composed of Communities and Regions, including the Flemish Region and Community.
Significance here: Established the federal constitutional framework within which Flanders now exercises regional and community self-government.
· Other
A 541-day deadlock between Flemish and francophone parties over further state reform set a world record for the longest period without an elected government in peacetime.
Significance here: Exposed the depth of the Flemish–Walloon political divide and directly preceded the sixth state reform.
· Constitutional change
Transferred roughly €20 billion a year in competences from the federal level to the regions and communities, the largest devolution since 1993.
Significance here: The most substantial extension of Flemish regional competence since the 1993 federalisation.
· Other
Bart De Wever, an N-VA founder, became the first Flemish nationalist Prime Minister of Belgium at the head of a five-party "Arizona coalition".
Significance here: Marked N-VA's first leadership of a federal Belgian government, a party whose founding aim was Flemish independence.
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
Claim: The constitutional revision of 5 May 1993 amended Article 1 of the Belgian Constitution from "Belgium is divided into provinces" to "Belgium is a Federal State which consists of Communities and Regions", completing Belgium's transformation into a federal state.
Claim: Belgium's federal structure developed through six successive state reforms, beginning in 1970 and continuing through 1980, 1988–89, 1993, 2001 and 2011–2014, progressively transferring powers from the national level to the Communities and Regions, including the Flemish Region and Community.
Claim: The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) was founded on 13 October 2001 from the "Vlaams Nationaal" faction of the dissolved Volksunie party, after a referendum of Volksunie members on the split.
Claim: N-VA describes itself as a democratic Flemish-national party pursuing an independent Flanders as a Member State of the European Union, while its later confederalist platform envisages Flanders and Wallonia as the owners of all powers, cooperating voluntarily rather than being bound by a federal structure. Attributed to N-VA (party statute and platform)
Claim: In April 2004 the Ghent Court of Appeal issued a final ruling, following a Court of Cassation decision, that Vlaams Blok had violated Belgium's 1981 anti-racism law through repeated incitement to discrimination, a ruling that in practice ended state funding and made the party's continuation as previously structured untenable.
Claim: On 14 November 2004, Vlaams Blok's leadership founded Vlaams Belang ("Flemish Interest") as its successor, adopting a new statute that dropped some of Vlaams Blok's most extreme positions.
Claim: The 541-day formation period set a world record for the longest time a country had gone without an elected government in peacetime, surpassing the previous record of 249 days set by Iraq in 2010; a government led by Elio Di Rupo was sworn in on 5 December 2011.
Claim: The sixth state reform, agreed in 2011 and implemented through constitutional and legislative changes between 2012 and 2014, transferred further competences valued at roughly €20 billion a year — around 4.4% of Belgian GDP — from the federal level to the regions and communities, the largest single devolution since 1993.
Claim: On 3 February 2025, Bart De Wever was sworn in as Prime Minister of Belgium at the head of a five-party coalition — N-VA, Forward, CD&V, MR and Les Engagés, nicknamed the "Arizona coalition" — becoming the first Flemish nationalist to hold the office.
Claim: At the same-day Flemish Parliament election, N-VA and Vlaams Belang tied for the largest party, each winning 31 of 124 seats, with 23.88% and 22.66% of the vote respectively.
Claim: In an April 2024 HLN/VTM reader survey of around 1.1 million respondents, 40% answered "yes" when asked whether Flanders should gain independence over time, against just over 50% who said no.