Government of Michel I
The Belgian government Michel I was in office from October 11, 2014 to December 9, 2018 and consisted of 14 ministers (including prime ministers) and four state secretaries. On October 17, 2014, she was given confidence by the Chamber of Deputies .
This first federal government , led by Charles Michel (MR) , consisted of the Flemish Nationalists ( N-VA ), the Flemish Christian Democrats ( CD&V ) and the Flemish and French-speaking liberals ( Open VLD and MR ). The Michel I government was also named Sweden Coalition based on the flag of Sweden : the yellow party color for the N-VA, blue for the Liberals and the cross for the Christian Democrats. The government was sometimes also called the Kamikaze coalition , as it was the first federal government in recent Belgian history whose Francophone component consisted of only one party and was therefore in the minority in the French language group of the parliament. Since the MR had to assume a strong opposition, it was like a kamikaze in an "all or nothing" position. The Michel I government was the first Belgian government without the participation of the Francophone Socialists ( PS ) since 1988. The Michel I government ended with the withdrawal of the N-VA on December 9, 2018.
education
The Michel I government was appointed by King Philippe after the federal elections on May 25, 2014 ; it followed the Di Rupo government under Elio Di Rupo (PS). At the federal level, on the Flemish side, the N-VA and CD&V and on the Francophone side the MR emerged victorious. The PS and the cdH , on the other hand, incurred slight losses. Initially, King Philippe appointed Bart De Wever (N-VA) as the informateur . The cdH rejected his proposal to form a coalition of nationalists, Christian democrats and liberals on June 24, 2014. Thereupon Charles Michel (MR) was appointed informator. When the possibility of a coalition of N-VA, CD&V, Open VLD and MR became apparent, the king commissioned the tandem Charles Michel and Kris Peeters to form a government on July 22, 2014. An agreement was reached on October 7, 2014 after around two and a half months of negotiations.
composition
Office | Surname | Political party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
prime minister | Charles Michel | MR | ||
Deputy Prime Minister for Employment, Economy and Consumer Protection in charge of foreign trade |
Kris Peeters | CD&V | ||
Deputy Prime Minister Security and Internal Affairs entrusted with the building management until May 21, 2015: entrusted with the major cities and the building management |
Jan Jambon | N-VA | ||
Deputy Prime Minister for Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecommunications and Postal Services |
Alexander De Croo | Open VLD | ||
Deputy Prime Minister Foreign and European Affairs charged with Beliris and the federal cultural institutions |
Didier Reynders | MR | ||
Household entrusted with the national lottery |
Sophie Wilmès until September 22, 2015: Hervé Jamar |
MR | ||
Judiciary | Koen Geens | CD&V | ||
Social and health | Maggie De Block | Open VLD | ||
pensions | Daniel Bacquelaine | MR | ||
Finance Fighting tax fraud until May 21, 2015: Minister of Finance |
Johan Van Overtveldt | N-VA | ||
Middle class, self-employed, SMEs, agriculture and social integration |
Denis Ducarme until July 28, 2017: Willy Borsus |
MR | ||
Energy, environment and sustainability | Marie-Christine Marghem | MR | ||
Defense entrusted to the public service |
Sander Loones until November 12, 2018: Steven Vandeput |
N-VA | ||
Mobility commissioned with Belgocontrol and the NMBS / SNCB |
François Bellot until April 18, 2016: Jacqueline Galant |
MR | ||
State Secretaries | Surname | Political party | ||
Foreign trade | Pieter De Crem | CD&V | ||
Fight against social fraud, protection of privacy and the North Sea |
Philippe De Backer until May 2, 2016: Bart Tommelein |
Open VLD | ||
Fight against poverty, equal opportunities, disability and science policy and major cities by May 21, 2015: fight against poverty, equal opportunities, disability and science policy and fight against tax fraud |
Zuhal Demir until February 24, 2017: Elke Sleurs |
N-VA | ||
Asylum and Immigration tasked with simplifying the administration |
Theo Francken | N-VA |
Changes
In May 2015, the N-VA carried out an internal redistribution of responsibilities in order to “carry out a more homogeneous distribution of powers”: Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt was assigned the task of combating tax fraud , while State Secretary Elke Sleurs received the policy of major cities from Interior Minister Jan Jambon in return . About a year after the formation of the government, the MR announced that Sophie Wilmès, who had been little known at the federal level at that time , would take over the post of budget minister from her party colleague Hervé Jamar so that he could accept the post of governor of the province of Liège .
After the terrorist attacks in Brussels in March 2016, Interior Minister Jambon and Justice Minister Geens offered to resign, but the Prime Minister refused. A little later it became known that the European Commission had already pointed out security gaps in the area of Brussels-Zaventem Airport in 2011 and 2015 . When the head of the responsible administration announced via the media that Mobility Minister Jacqueline Galant was aware of these reports and yet cut funding for security, she resigned on April 15, 2016. She was replaced by François Bellot on April 18, 2016 .
When the Flemish Vice Prime Minister Annemie Turtelboom (Open VLD) announced her resignation at the end of April 2016 , State Secretary Bart Tommelein took over as her successor in the regional government. For him moved Philippe De Backer , by then a member of the European Parliament , to the federal government after.
In the course of the " Telenet affair" around Chamber President Siegfried Bracke (N-VA) and his subsequent renunciation of the top candidacy in the local elections in Ghent , Elke Sleurs was proclaimed the party's mayoral candidate. She then decided to step down as State Secretary in order to better prepare for the elections. Her successor in the federal government was her party colleague Zuhal Demir .
In June 2017 the cdH withdrew its trust in the ruling PS- cdH coalition at the level of the Walloon Region and then submitted a constructive vote of no confidence with the MR for the formation of a new MR-cdH government (“ blue orange ”). In this new government, Willy Borsus (MR) became Prime Minister. He left his ministerial office in the federal government to Denis Ducarme , who until then had been chairman of the MR parliamentary group in the chamber.
As a result of the local elections on October 14, 2018, the incumbent Defense Minister Steven Vandeput decided to assume the office of mayor in Hasselt from 2019 , Sander Loones (N-VA) was designated as his successor in the federal government. He took his oath on November 12th.
The End
After the N-VA declared its rejection of the UN migration pact at the beginning of December 2018 , parliament, with the support of the opposition, voted in favor of signing the pact on December 7th. Prime Minister Michel then announced that he would give Belgium's support for the UN pact on behalf of Parliament and not on behalf of the government. The N-VA then stated that should Michel sign the pact, it saw “no point” in further participation in the government. Michel then proposed that instead of early elections, by the planned parliamentary election on May 26, 2019 , a minority government tolerated by the opposition should be sought and the N-VA ministers and state secretaries should be replaced.
On December 9th, Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon confirmed the formal withdrawal of the N-VA from the government and the King appointed new ministers and state secretaries on December 9th, 2018 at Michel's suggestion, and expanded the portfolio of some ministers to include all those who became vacant To be filled by members of the remaining governing parties. Instead of the “Swedish” coalition ( La suédoise ), the minority alliance Michel II is referred to as “orange-blue”.
Web links
- Premier.be - Official website of the Belgian Prime Minister (multilingual)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lalibre.be: Charles Michel officiellement Premier ministre, la "suédoise" est Lancee October 11, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Standaard.be: Kamer geeft vertrouwen aan regering-Michel na 30 uur debat October 17, 2014 (Dutch).
- ↑ RTLinfo.be: "Suédoise", "Kamikaze": d'où vient le nom des futures coalitions fédérales? July 15, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Lesoir.be: Le CDH rejette la note de Bart De Wever June 24, 2014 (French).
- ^ Standaard.be: Formatieopdracht voor Kris Peeters en Charles Michel July 22, 2014 (Dutch).
- ↑ Lesoir.be: La suédoise boucle l'accord de gouvernement, Charles Michel Premier ministre October 7, 2014 (French).
- ↑ DeMorgen.be: Sleurs (N-VA): "Dit is geen degradatie" ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. May 21, 2015 (Dutch).
- ↑ Lalibre.be: Hervé Jamar quitte le gouvernement fédéral, remplacé par Sophie Wilmès September 21, 2015 (French).
- ↑ HLN.be: Jambon en Geens bieden ontslag aan, Michel refuses March 24, 2016 (Dutch).
- ↑ Lalibre.be: Démission de Galant: "Inacceptable qu'un élément précis n'ait pas été communiqué à la Chambre" April 15, 2016 (French).
- ^ Nieuwsblad.be: Philippe De Backer places maandag al de eed af as Staatssecretaris April 29, 2016 (Dutch).
- ↑ Nieuwsblad.be: Niet Siegfried Bracke, maar Elke Sleurs trekt lijst Gentse N-VA (February 20, 2017) (Dutch).
- ↑ Standaard.be: Zuhal Demir wordt nieuwe N-VA -staatssecretaris February 23, 2017 (Dutch).
- ↑ Lesoir.be: Wallon governorate: la motion de méfiance a été déposée (July 26, 2017) (French).
- ↑ Lalibre.be: Denis Ducarme remplace Willy Borsus au fédéral, Isabelle Galant devient députée à la Chambre (26 July 2017) (French).
- ↑ DeMorgen.be: Sander Loones (N-VA) eed af as minister van Defensie (November 12, 2018) (Dutch).
- ↑ Belgium: UN migration pact triggers government crisis . Welt Online, December 5, 2018.
- ↑ Parliament agrees to join the UN Migration Pact , on deutschlandfunk.de
- ↑ Belgium is behind the UN migration pact
- ^ Belgian PM Charles Michel wins backing for UN migration pact , on timesnownews.com
- ^ Coalition before the end: Migration pact triggers government crisis in Belgium . Spiegel Online, December 9, 2018.
- ↑ Zeit online: Belgium: Government coalition breaks up on the migration pact , accessed on December 9, 2018, 4:15 p.m.
- ^ Government crisis in Belgium - nationalists leave coalition . Welt Online, December 9, 2018.