Flemish Government

Emblem of the Flemish Region

The Flemish Government (with a capital "G") (Dutch:  Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. It consists of up to a maximum of eleven ministers, chosen by the Flemish Parliament. At least one minister must come from Brussels.

The executive branch of government consists of a limited number (maximum 11) of ministers drawn from the political parties which, in practice, form the governing coalition. The ministers are appointed by the Flemish Parliament. The Government is chaired by the Flemish Minister-President. Ministers head executive departments of the government. Ministers must defend their policies and performance in person before the Flemish Parliament. The Flemish Government must receive and keep the confidence of the Flemish Parliament.

Composition

Peeters II (current)

Government coalition 2009-present

Following the 7 June 2009 election,     CD&V (31 seats),     N-VA (16 seats) and     SP.A (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.

Flemish Government - Peeters II 2009-2014
	Party	Name	Function
	CD&V	Kris Peeters	Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Economy, Foreign Policy, Agriculture and Rural Policy
	SP.A	Ingrid Lieten	Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Innovation, Public Investment, Media and Poverty Reduction
	N-VA	Geert Bourgeois	Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse Rand
	CD&V	Jo Vandeurzen	Flemish Minister for Welfare, Public Health and Family
	CD&V	Hilde Crevits	Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works
	SP.A	Freya Van den Bossche	Flemish Minister for Energy, Housing, Cities and Social Economy
	N-VA	Philippe Muyters	Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget, Work, Town and Country Planning and Sport
	CD&V	Joke Schauvliege	Flemish Minister for Environment, Nature and Culture
	SP.A	Pascal Smet	Flemish Minister for Education, Youth, Equal Opportunities and Brussels Affairs

Leterme I/Peeters I (2004-2009)

Government coalition 2007-2009

Government coalition 2004-2007

Following the 2004 election,    CD&V (29 seats)/   N-VA (6 seats),    SP.A/   Sociaal-Liberale Partij (25 seats) and    Open VLD (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.

• From 19 July 2004 to 26 June 2007, the Minister-President of Flanders was Yves Leterme (CD&V), leading a coalition of CD&V-N-VA, VLD-Vivant, and SP.A-Vl.Pro.
• On 26 June 2007, in the aftermath of the 2007 Belgian general elections, Yves Leterme and Inge Vervotte resigned as minister-president and minister in the Flemish Government to take their seats in the Belgian Parliament. On June 28, Kris Peeters was sworn in as new minister-president, taking over the responsibilities of Leterme, and Vanackere and Crevits replaced Vervotte and Peeters as Flemish ministers.
• On 10 October 2007 Fientje Moerman resigned due to the fallout of a hiring scandal; she was replaced as vice-minister-president by Dirk Van Mechelen and as minister by Patricia Ceysens.
• On 22 September 2008 Geert Bourgeois (N-VA) was forced to resign due to pressure by the SP.A-Vl.Pro and Open VLD coalition partners because of his party's no confidence vote in the federal government of Leterme and their lack of trust in further negotiations by the Regions regarding the state reform. His portfolio's of Administrative Affairs, Foreign Policy, Media and Tourism were taken over by minister-president Peeters.
• On December 30, 2008 Steven Vanackere resigned to become federal Minister of Civil Service and Public Enterprises. He was replaced in the Flemish Government by Veerle Heeren.

The composition at the end of the legislature:

Peeters I Flemish Government (2007-2009)
Party		Name	Function
	CD&V	Kris Peeters	Minister-President; Minister for Institutional Reform, Ports, Agriculture, Sea Fisheries and Rural Policy
	SP.A	Frank Vandenbroucke	Vice-Minister-President; Minister for Work, Education and Training
	VLD	Dirk van Mechelen	Vice-Minister-President; Minister for Finance and Budget and Town and Country Planning
	SP.A	Bert Anciaux	Minister for Culture, Youth, Sport and Brussels Affairs
	VLD	Marino Keulen	Minister for Home Affairs, Urban Policy, Housing and Civic Integration
	SP.A	Kathleen Van Brempt	Minister for Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunities
	CD&V	Hilde Crevits	Minister for Public Works, Energy, the Environment and Nature
	VLD	Patricia Ceysens	Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade
	CD&V	Veerle Heeren	Minister for Welfare, Public Health and Family

Dewael I (1999-2003)/Somers I (2003-2004)

Government coalition 1999-2003

Government coalition 2003-2004

After the regional elections of 1999, a coalition of VLD, SP, Agalev and the VU was formed with Patrick Dewael (VLD) as Minister-President.

After the federal elections of June 2003, Patrick Dewael resigned as Minister-President and went to the federal political level. He was succeeded by Bart Somers as Flemish Minister-President until the end of term in 2004. Due to changes in political parties, the coalition was different:

• Volksunie (VU) fell apart. Instead, Spirit entered the coalition
• the SP was renamed to SP.a
• Agalev was renamed to Groen!

Van den Brande IV (1995-1999)

Government coalition 1995-1999

After the regional elections of 1995 (which were the first direct elections for the Flemish Parliament), a coalition of CVP and SP was formed.

List of Flemish Minister-Presidents

Main article: List of Ministers-President of Flanders

Name	Period	Party	Comments
Rika De Backer	1974 - 1981	CVP	Only of Flemish Community
Gaston Geens	22 December 1981-21 January 1992	CVP
Luc Van den Brande	21 February 1992-1999	CVP
Patrick Dewael	13 July 1999-5 June 2003	VLD
Bart Somers	11 June 2003-20 July 2004	VLD
Yves Leterme	20 July 2004-28 June 2007	CD&V
Kris Peeters	28 June 2007-present	CD&V

Flemish government

Flemish government (without a capital G, Dutch: Vlaamse overheid) denotes the Flemish civil service. With the reform program Better Administrative Policy (Dutch: Beter Bestuurlijk Beleid), the Flemish civil service is designed to make the Flemish public administration more efficient and transparent.

The tasks of the Flemish public administration are now organised in 13 policy areas. Each policy area comprises a department and a number of (semi-) independent government agencies.

The 13 policy areas are:

• Services for the General Government Policy
• Administrative Affairs
• Foreign Affairs
• Finance and Budget
• Education and Training
• Economy, Science and Innovation
• Culture, Youth, Sport and Media
• Welfare, Public Health and Family
• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Work and Social Economy
• Mobility and Public Works
• Environment, Nature and Energy
• Town and Country Planning, Housing Policy and Immovable Heritage

See also

• Government of the Brussels-Capital Region
• Government of the French Community
• Flanders
• Flanders in Action
• Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT)
• Flemish Council for Science Policy (VRWB)
• Flemish Energy Agency
• Flemish institute for technological research (VITO)
• Flanders Interuniversity Institute of Biotechnology (VIB)
• GIMV
• Institute for the promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT)
• Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen
• Technopolis
• Politics of Flanders

External links

• Flemish government (Dutch: Vlaamse overheid), in English
• Flemish government (Dutch: Vlaamse overheid), in Dutch
• Flemish Parliament (Dutch: Vlaams Parlement)
• Flemish Government (Dutch: Vlaamse Regering)
• Composition of the Flemish Government, in English