Tag Archives: Belgium

A judge has given the Belgian State 30 days to provide a sound legal basis for covid restrictions

This afternoon.

The Belgian State has been ordered to lift “all coronavirus measures” within 30 days, as the legal basis for them is insufficient, a Brussels court ruled.

Via The Brussels Times:

The League for Human Rights had filed the lawsuit several weeks ago and challenged Belgium’s system of implementing the measures using Ministerial Decrees, which means it is done without any input from parliament.

The judge gave the Belgian State 30 days to provide a sound legal basis, or face a penalty of €5,000 per day that this period is exceeded, with a maximum limit of €200,000, reports Le Soir.

The current coronavirus measures are based on the Civil Safety Act of 2007, which enable the State to react quickly in “exceptional circumstances,” but the judge has now ruled that these laws cannot serve as a basis for the Ministerial Decrees.

Belgium must lift ‘all Covid-19 measures’ within 30 days, Brussels court rules (The Brussels Times)

Meanwhile…

Gulp.

Prime minister of Belgium, Charles Michel

Last night.

Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel offered his resignation to his country’s monarch King Philippe following a dispute with his former Flemish coalition partner, the N-VA, regarding the UN’s Global Compact on Migration.

Belgium will face a snap election next month.

The right-wing Flemish party quit the government after Mr Michel refused its demand to drop his support for the migration pact, and secured parliamentary approval to go ahead against its wishes.

It branded his weakened administration “the Marrakech coalition,” after the city where the accord was signed just over a week ago.

Its withdrawal left his French-speaking liberal MR supported only by two smaller Flemish parties.

The US dropped out of talks on the pact last year and countries including Italy, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Australia have rejected it.

The deal is expected to be ratified at the UN headquarters in New York on December 19.

Belgium PM Charles Michel resigns after government collapses in dispute over UN migration pact (Telegraph)

Belgian PM Charles Michel resigns after no-confidence motion (The Guardian)

wallonia

The regional government of the Belgian region of Wallonia is blocking an EU trade deal with Canada which would reduce 98% of the tariffs between Canada and the EU.

Critics of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement [CETA] believe it will weaken consumer rights and damage the agricultural industry in EU member countries.

Sean O’Reilly writes:

Interesting reading from American born, Belgian based, German supported news outlet Politico on the topic of CETA…

Via The Brussels Playbook

it’s easier to imagine the deal as a meal.

Among many, many concerns, the negotiation process for CETA has come under substantial fire for being more of a set menu than an À la carte proposal.

With dinner having been opaquely decided on, at best not quite suited to the taste of some guests, and at worst inedible to some in the room, the Wallonian government has decided that it won’t be eating.

A key concern of the Walloons is the threat CETA presents to agriculture. In a region which boasts a cow for every three inhabitants, the prospect of the European market becoming flooded with Canadian products is a daunting one.

That the deal is an all or nothing proposal, and that the Walloons have rejected it in major part because of this raises the question of whether this way of doing business is now tenable.

….it’s worth noting that Politico leans fairly heavily towards the American centre, that is to say it would be very much pro-business, free market capitalism, and transatlanticism.

It’s possibly fair to say the Americans have gone soft so far away from home, but what’s interesting here is that the negotiation of these deals has been so poorly handled that even those who might be expected to be cheering them on have reservations.

FIGHT!

The Brussels Playbook (Politico)

Map via Economist.com


Keep your fancy beers and luxurious chocolates.

Ireland were comprehensively beaten by Belgium this afternoon in Bordeuax.

We need divine intervention a result against the already qualified Italians now.

Final score: Ireland 0 Belgium 3 (three)

UEFA Euro 2016

Ken Early: Reality check for Ireland as Red Devils run riot (Irish Times)