French Community of Belgium

French Community of Belgium Communauté française
—  Community of Belgium  —
Flag Logo
Country	Belgium
Established	1993
Capital	Brussels
Government
– Minister-President	Rudy Demotte
Celebration Day	27th September
Language	French
Website	cfwb.be
The Walloon flag was chosen as flag of the French Community of Belgium in 1975. It was adopted by the Walloon Region in 1998.[1][2]

The French Community of Belgium (French: Communauté française, Dutch: Franse Gemeenschap, also called Wallonia-Brussels Federation) is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not. The French Community of Belgium is not a group of people or inhabitants, but an official institution which refers to French-speaking Belgian citizens. As such, it is sometimes called the French-speaking Community of Belgium. The French Community of Belgium has its own parliament, government, and administration. Its official flag is also the official flag of Wallonia where 80% of its citizens live. Its capital is the City of Brussels.

Alternative name

There were since years hints that the Community wanted to evidence the link between Wallonia and Brussels, being the two main territories where the community exercises its competences, such as when it created Wallonie-Bruxelles International, a public body in charge with international cultural competences by the Community, the Walloon Region and the Commission communautaire française (COCOF, a French-speaking institution of the Brussels-Capital Region) ^[3]. The concept of "Wallonie-Bruxelles" is however not mentioned in the Belgian constitution, and appeared only in a few official legal texts, such as the "Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française fixant le code de qualité et de l'accueil" of 17 December 2003, mentioning the name "Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles", and the "Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française approuvant le programme quinquennal de promotion de la santé 2004-2008 of 30 April 2004, mentioning the name "Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles".^{[citation needed]}

In May 2011, the parliament of the Community voted a resolution according to which it would, from then on, use the name "Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles" for all its communications, campaigns and in the administration. The move was immediately interpreted as agressive by the Flemish authorities, the Minister-President of Flanders announcing he would not recognize the federation as an official body and saying that documents that would be sent by the federation would be unconstitutional and therefore would not exist ^[4].

While the authorities of the Community ackowledge the fact that the new name is not mentionned in the Belgian Constitution, they insist that their move is not illegal, as long as the new name is used as an additional name for the Community and is not used when it could create a legal issue (such as with the official texts published in the Belgian Official Journal) ^[5]

Although the Belgian Prime Minister said that it would no use the new name ^[6] and the Flemish VRT decided not to use the new name also in its news programmes ^[7], the new name is somewhat used in the French-speaking part of the country: it is used by the French-speaking RTBF, which is fully controlled by the Community, but is not always used in independent media.

In September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name.

Comparison with "Flanders"

A confusion sometimes arises from the term "Flanders" which can refer to two different political institutions and concepts, being the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community. "Flanders", though not named in the Belgian constitution either, is more widely used in official publications, because the Region has merged its institutions with the Community – whereas the Walloon Region and the French Community of Belgium remain separate.

List of Ministers-President of the French Community

Philippe Moureaux (1st time)	22 December 1981 - 9 December 1985	PS
Philippe Monfils	9 December 1985 - 2 February 1988	PRL
Philippe Moureaux (2nd time)	2 February - 9 May 1988	PS
Valmy Féaux	17 May 1988 - 7 January 1992	PS
Bernard Anselme	7 January 1992 - 4 May 1993	PS
Laurette Onkelinx	4 May 1993 - 13 July 1999	PS
Hervé Hasquin	13 July 1999 - 19 July 2004	PRL
Marie Arena	19 July 2004 - 20 March 2008	PS
Rudi Demotte	20 March 2008 - incumbent	PS

See also

• Brussels-Capital Region
• Communities and regions of Belgium
• Commission communautaire française (COCOF)
• Wallonia

Notes

1. ^ Le Drapeau - Communauté française de Belgique
2. ^ Décret déterminant le jour de fête et les emblèmes propres à la Communauté française de Belgique (D. 03-07-1991, M.B. 15-11-1991)
3. ^ See website of Wallonie-Bruxelles International
4. ^ La nouvelle Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles défraye la chronique, La Libre Belgique, 25 May 2011
5. ^ Une Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, La Dernière Heure, 5 April 2011
6. ^ Leterme houdt alleen rekening met benaming in grondwet , De Standaard, 26 May 2011
7. ^ Ne dites pas "Federatie Wallonië-Brussel" sur la VRT, 7sur7, 29 September 2011

External links

• French Community of Belgium, official website.
  • Portal in English
• Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, official website (in French, with some information available in English).
• Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles
• Wallonie-Bruxelles Image (WBI)
• Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques (WBM)
• (French) Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre (WBT)
• Bureau International de la Jeunesse (also [1])
• Médiathèque de la Communauté française de Belgique
• "UNION FRANCOPHONE DES BELGES À L'ÉTRANGER", the official website of the Association of French-speaking Belgians Abroad.