The communities

The communities Article 2 of the Belgian constitution:

“Belgium contains three communities: the German-speaking Community, the Flemish Community and the French Community.”

The communities are autonomous member states of federal Belgium, with their own parliament, government and ministry for the exercising of those competences in their jurisdiction.

The responsibilities of the communities

According to the Belgian constitution, the core competences of the communities are:

• Cultural affairs;
• Person-related matters (families, healthcare, social services);
• Education, but with the following exceptions:
• the mandating of the beginning and end of the period of compulsory education,
• the minimum qualifications for the granting of a diplomas,
• the terms of pensions for school personnel;
• inter-communitary and international cooperation, including the conclusion of contracts and treaties in the above mentioned areas of competence;

In principle the communities also regulate issues concerning the use of languages

• in administrative matters,
• in schools,
• in the relationship between employees and personnel.

Exceptions

However, there are some important exceptions to these general constitutional requirements:

• the DG only has jurisdiction over the use of language in schools and colleges;
• the DG is able to exercise certain regional competences;
• a complex structure had been created in Brussels to enable both the French and Flemish Communities to exercise competences there;
• both the Wallonian Region and the French language group in the Brussels Regional Parliament are authorized to exercise powers of the French Community.

Also worthy of note is that the institutions of the Flemish Community (Parliament, Government and Ministry) are fused de facto with the Regional institutions.