The Brussels-Capital Region

The Brussels-Capital Region is one of Belgium's three Regions, established by the special law of 12 January 1989. It exercises its own competences over a territory of 161 km² housing 1.2 million inhabitants and 19 municipalities.

The regional government

The Brussels government consists of a Minister-President and four ministers, of whom at least two from each language group (French-speaking and Dutch-speaking). They are assisted by three regional state secretaries. The government exercises executive power: it proposes ordinances to Parliament, manages the administration and implements regional policies.

The Brussels Parliament

The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region has 89 members: 72 from the French language group and 17 from the Dutch language group. It votes ordinances (regional laws), the budget and oversees the government. The double linguistic majority — required for government formation — is one of the key features of Brussels' institutional architecture.

Regional competences

The Region exercises competences in many areas that directly affect the daily lives of Brussels residents:

Spatial planning and urbanism — Housing — Environment and water policy — Employment and economy — Mobility and public works — Energy — External relations and foreign trade — Scientific research — Supervision of municipalities

The Region has also taken over provincial competences (Brussels has no province), which broadens its scope compared to the other two Regions.

The regional budget

The budget of the Brussels-Capital Region amounts to approximately 7 billion euros per year. It is funded by federal transfers (special financing law), own tax revenues (vehicle tax, property tax) and European funds. Brussels suffers from a structural imbalance: it produces 19% of Belgium's GDP but captures only a fraction of the corresponding tax revenues due to the commuter effect.

Para-regional bodies

The Region relies on a network of public interest bodies to implement its policies: Actiris (employment), STIB/MIVB (transport), Brussels Environment, Brussels Housing, perspective.brussels (urban planning), Innoviris (research), Bruxelles-Propreté (waste management). These bodies operate under multi-year management contracts.