Flemish parliament set to reopen, with or without government in place

The Flemish Parliament will open for the 2019-2020 session as planned on Monday, 23 September. If no Flemish government is in place by then, the opening will go ahead without the traditional September Declaration to begin proceedings.

If the government has been formed by 23 September, the plenary meeting will take place that afternoon and the morning of 25 September. On the agenda will be the opening of the session with elections for the Bureau – the committees responsible for the day-to-day running of parliament – Bureau chair Wilfried Vandaele’s speech, the swearing in of the new ministers and the September Declaration. This is the minister-president's annual address reflecting on the general social situation and on the budget for the coming year.

If, however, there is no government in place by that time – which is more likely – the plenary meeting will discuss matters including the elections of the Bureau and the chair’s speech, and an ad hoc commission will meet on Wednesday. The commission will deal with questions the MPs wish to put to the outgoing Flemish government. It will be led by Vandaele, all topics can be addressed, and it will continue until a government is formed.

Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA

This article first appeared in Flanders Today