“I am not showing off my title as senator. When people talk to me about the Senate, it is to ask me when it will be abolished. It is also for this purpose that I sit there myself,” explains Karl Vanlouwe, NV-A senator appointed by the Flemish Parliament. This sums up the position of senators from the north of the country, all political tendencies combined: the Senate is no longer useful, so we might as well put an end to it quickly.
And the figures confirm it: the Flemings have already taken into account the disappearance of this “second bedroom”. Those who still take initiatives and most frequently speak out are French-speaking. All the resolutions adopted in this chamber since the elections come from French-speakers; the north of the country has only tabled one bill. In addition, only 29% of Flemish people approved the Senate budget.
The N-VA and Open Vld abstained, the CD&V and Vooruit voted in favor. The allocation remains equal to 44 million euros; it was therefore not indexed. The operating budget of the parliamentary groups also fell by ten percent. Ten years ago, the Senate still had an allocation of 64 million euros. “We strive to be economical, but also to think about staff,” says Benjamin Dalle (CD&V). Staff remuneration today represents 85% of the upper assembly’s budget.
To reread
“The Belgian Senate? An expensive and useless institution”
Note that since the sixth state reform, the Senate still has sixty senators, fifty of whom come from regional parliaments. They do not receive any additional remuneration in addition to their parliamentary allowance. On the other hand, ten senators are still co-opted: they receive half a salary. Kris Verduyckt, senator (Vooruit) appointed by the Flemish parliament explains: “For us, the senators are four “Chinese volunteers”. And we have chosen not to appoint co-opted senators. »
Compared to the Flemings, the French speakers appear hyperactive. It must be said that they still consider the Senate as the symbol of Belgium and fear that its removal will be the beginning of the end of Belgium. The MR, who, with Valérie De Bue, holds the presidency of the Senate, is a fervent supporter of maintaining or even rehabilitating the Senate. As such, it has repeatedly come up against the Open Vld, its Flemish counterpart. The day after the elections, Stephanie D’Hose, president of the Senate during the previous legislature, tabled a proposal for its deletion, only to be rejected.
The budgetary table from trainer Bart De Wever (N-VA) clearly foresees the abolition of the Senate as a means of saving money, without certainty that this measure will succeed. If Vooruit, the CD&V and the N-VA are in favor, the president of the MR, Georges-Louis Bouchez, is formally opposed to it. A compromise, suggested by the CD&V, could be to abolish the Senate as a separate institution and to set up a united Constitutional Assembly, where the deputies of the federated entities could decide on revisions of the Constitution, reforms of state and important appointments. In the meantime, “all are suspended from the decision of the upper echelons”, quips Senator Verduyckt.
To reread
If the Senate bothers you, delete it
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