BELGIAN CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES

The 'Belgian Chamber of Representatives' (Dutch: ''de Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers'', French: ''la Chambre des Représentants'', German: ''Abgeordnetenkammer'') is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament.

Contents

Members and elections

Officers

Legislative functions

Relationship with the Government

Latest election

Current composition

See also

References

External links

Members and elections

Article 62 of the Belgian Constitution fixes the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives at 150. There are 11 electoral districts, which correspond with the Provinces, except in Flemish Brabant, which is divided into two electoral districts: Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and Leuven. The number of seats for each electoral district is proportional to its population. All electoral districts have an electoral threshold of 5%, except for the electoral districts of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, Leuven and Walloon Brabant.^[1]
There are 10 monolingual (5 Dutch-speaking and 5 French-speaking) electoral districts. Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde is the only bilingual electoral districts as it encompasses both the 19 bilingual municipalities from the Brussels-Capital region and some 35 Dutch-speaking municipalities in Flemish Brabant, including 6 municipalities with linguistic facilities for French-speaking inhabitants.
The Representatives are divided into two so-called "language groups". Currently, of the total of 150 Representatives, 88 are part of the Dutch language group, which consists of the Representatives from the Dutch language area, and 62 are part of the French language group, which consists of the Representatives from the French language area and the German language area. For the Representatives from Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde the language in which they take their oath as a Representative determines which language group they belong to. Following the 2007 federal election, the Chamber has a German-speaking member for the first time since 1999, Kattrin Jadin.^[2]
Nevertheless, because of the Belgian Constitution, both linguistic communities are granted equal powers in the Parliament. Although in general bills can be passed without a majority in both linguistic groups, bills relating to specific issues (so called 'community laws') can not and need the consent of both language groups^[3]. The current President of the Chamber is Herman Van Rompuy (CD&V).
The following table shows current distribution of seats between the language groups and the electoral districts:

Dutch language group		French language group
Electoral district	Seats	Electoral district	Seats
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde	9	Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde	13
Antwerp	24	Hainaut	19
East Flanders	20	Liège	15
Leuven	7	Luxembourg	4
Limburg	12	Namur	6
West Flanders	16	Walloon Brabant	5
Total	88	Total	62

Officers

The Chamber of Representatives elects a presiding officer, known as the President, at the beginning of each parliamentary term, which starts on the second Tuesday of October each year. The President is assisted by up to five Vice-Presidents, two of which are known respectively as the First Vice-President and the Second Vice-President, who are also elected at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The President is customarily a member of one of the parties forming the government coalition, only thrice in the history of the Chamber has the President been a member of the opposition. The First Vice-President is usually a member of the other language group than that of the President.
The President presides over the plenary assembly of the Chamber of Representatives, guides and controls debates in the assembly, and is responsible for ensuring the democratic functioning of the Chamber, for the maintenance of order and security in the assembly and for enforcing the Rules of the Chamber of Representatives. To this end, he or she is given considerable powers. He or she also represents the Chamber at both the national (to the other institutions) and the international level. The President also assesses the admissibility of bills and proposals.
The President of the Chamber or Representatives, together with the President of the Belgian Senate, ranks immediately behind the King in the order of precedence. The elder of the two takes the second place in the order of precedence. The Presidents of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate rank above the Prime Minister.
The Bureau of the Chamber of Representatives is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Secretaries and the floor leaders of the fractions with at least 5 members. The fractions that have at least 12 members and have no President, Vice-President or Secretary sitting on the Bureau can appoint an additional member. The Bureau is elected for the duration of one parliamentary term, but in practice the composition of the Bureau remains the same for the entire duration of the legislature, which is 4 years unless the Federal Parliament is dissolved early. The Bureau is responsible for the management of the Chamber of Representatives. In addition, the Bureau also appoints and dismisses the staff of the Chamber of Representatives. The Bureau usually meets once every three months.
There is also a Conference of Presidents, which is one of the most important bodies of the Chamber of Representatives. It consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents of the Chamber, former Presidents of the Chamber who are still members of the Chamber and the floor leader and a member of each fraction. A member of the Federal Government responsible for the relations with the Chamber attends the meetings of the Conference as well. The Conference meets weekly to discuss the day-to-day business and the work of the Chamber.
The Chamber of the Representatives has, just like the Senate, a College of Quaestors, which consists of five Representatives who are elected by the plenary assembly for a duration of two years. The Quaestors are in charge of the housekeeping of the Chamber of Representatives, they are also responible for matters such as human resources and computers. The Colleges of Quaestors of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives meet regularly to settle common problems concerning the library, buildings, security, catering, etc.

Legislative functions

Since the elections of 21 May 1995, there has been a breakdown of powers^[4] between the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, which resulted in the Senate having fewer competences than the Chamber of Representatives. Prior to that, the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate did the same legislative work on an equal footing. This means that the both chambers had to pass the exact same version of a bill.
In certain matters both the Chamber and the Senate still have equal power, which means that both Chambers must pass the exact same version of the bill. These include constitutional revisions, laws requiring a qualified majority (the so-called "community laws"), laws on the basic structure of the Belgian State, laws approving agreements of cooperation between the Federal State, the Communities and the Regions, laws on the approval of international treaties, and laws on the organisation of the judiciary, the Council of State, and the Constitutional Court of Belgium. However, bills concerning international treaties are introduced in the Senate first before moving on to the Chamber.
For almost all other legislation, the Chamber of Representatives takes precedence over the Senate. However, the Senate may still intervene as a chamber of consideration and reflection as it has the opportunity to, within specific time limits, examine the texts adopted by the Chamber and, if there is a reason to do so, make amendments. The Chamber can subsequently adopt or reject the amendments proposed by the Senate or make new proposals. Whatever the case, the Chamber has the final word on all "ordinary legislation". The Senate may also submit a bill it has adopted to the Chamber which can approve, reject or amend it, in this case the Chamber also has the final word.
There are also certain matters for which the Chamber of Representatives is exclusively responsible. These matters include the granting of naturalisations, passing legislation with regard to the civil and criminal liability of the ministers of the Federal Government, the government budget and the State's accounts, appointing parliamentary ombudsmen and examine their activities, and determining military quotas.

Relationship with the Government

The members of the Federal Government are answerable to the Chamber of Representatives, in accordance with Article 101 of the Belgian Constitution. Upon taking office, the Federal Government must have the confidence of the majority of the Representatives. The Chamber of Representatives is also exclusively responsible for the political control of the Federal Government. The confidence in the Federal Government may be revoked by the Chamber at any time by the adoption of a motion of no confidence or by the rejection of a motion of confidence.^[5]

Latest election

Main articles: Belgian general election, 2007

Current composition

Following the federal election of June 10, 2007, a new Federal Government still needs to be formed. On Thursday June 28, 2007, the newly-constituted Chamber of Representatives has met for the first time and the Representatives have taken the oath of office
Composition of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives from 2007-2011 (foreseen):

Affiliation		Members
	Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams / Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie	30
	Mouvement Réformateur	23
	Parti Socialiste	20
	Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	18
	Vlaams Belang	17
	Socialistische Partij Anders - Spirit	14
	Ecolo - Groen!	12
	Centre Démocrate Humaniste	10
	Lijst Dedecker	5
	Front National	1
'Total'		'150'

See also

★ List of Presidents of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives

★ Belgian Federal Parliament

★ Belgian Senate

★ Politics of Belgium

References

1. Factsheet on electoral legislation
2. Les 23 députés MR ont prêté serment à la Chambre – Prestation de Serment aussi au Sénat pour les 6 sénateurs MR
3. Fact Sheet on the composition of the Chamber
4. Factsheet on the Senate
5. Factsheet on the Chamber of Representatives

External links

★ Chamber of Representatives Official Webpage

★ Federal Government Official Webpage