Belgian Senate
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The Belgian Senate (Dutch: de Senaat, French: le Sénat) is one of the two chambers of the Belgian Federal Parliament, the other being the Chamber of Representatives.
[edit] Composition
Of the total of 71 elected senators, 40 are elected directly, 21 appointed by the Community parliaments and 10 senators are coopted. The overall distribution of seats between parties is however determined by the direct election results.
[edit] Directly-elected members
For the election of the 40 directly-elected members, the electorate is divided into two electoral colleges: a Dutch and a French electoral college. Unlike for European Parliament elections there is no German-speaking electoral college, instead the members of the German-speaking Community are a part of the French electoral college. Even though there are two electoral colleges, there are three constituencies for Senate elections: a Flemish constituency, a Wallonian constituency and the constituency of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, which comprises the Brussels Region and the surrounding part of the Flemish Region.
The voters in the Flemish constituency belong to the Dutch electoral college and the voters in the Wallonian constituency (which also includes the people living in the German-speaking Community) belong to the French electoral college, whereas the voters in Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde can choose for which electoral college they want to vote: they have the lists of both electoral colleges on one ballot.
Of the total of 40 directly-elected Senators, 25 are elected by the Dutch electoral college and 15 by the French electoral college. These numbers roughly reflect the relations between the Dutch-speakers and the French-speakers. The directly-elected Senators are always elected on the same day as the members of the Chamber of Representatives, for a term of 4 years, except if the Chambers are dissolved earlier.
[edit] Community legislatures-appointed members
A total of 21 are appointed by and from the Community parliaments: 10 by the Flemish Parliament, 10 by the Parliament of the French Community and one by the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Senator is chosen by plurality; the other Senate seats are distributed between parties using the direct election results. These Community Senators hold a double mandate.
In order to ensure that the Senate can continue to exercise its functions when the Community parliaments are dissolved (so that regional elections can be held), the Community Senators remain in office until the parliament of their Community either confirms their mandate or appoints new Community Senators.
[edit] Coopted members
A total of 10 are coopted: 6 by the already elected members of the Dutch language group and 4 by the already elected members of the French language group. These seats are distributed between parties using the direct election results. In 1893, the coopted members were included in the Constitution as a new category of Senators. It was intended to allow the Senators to elect a number of experts or representatives of representative organisations to join them, in order to enhance the quality of debate and legislation, however political parties soon started using it as a means of rewarding loyal members that weren't elected.
[edit] Members by Right
These are the children of the King, older then 18, or if there are none, the Belgian descendants of the main branch of the Royal house, who have taken the oath of office. Having reached the age of 21, the Senators by Right are in theory entitled to vote, but in practice they do not cast their vote and are even in theory not counted towards the required quorum. Therefore, to pass a valid vote, 36 of the 71 senators have to be present.
There are currently three Senators by Right: Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent.
[edit] Language groups
With the exception of the Senator appointed by the Parliament of the German-speaking Community, all Senators are divided into two language groups: a Dutch language group and a French language group; the former consists of the directly-elected members for the Dutch electoral college, the members appointed by the Flemish Parliament and the members coopted by the two aforementioned groups; the latter consists of the directly-elected members for the French electoral college, the members appointed by the Parliament of the French Community and the members coopted by the two aforementioned groups. There are 41 Senators in the Dutch language group and 29 in the French language group.
[edit] Officers
The presiding officer of the Senate, known as the President of the Senate[1], is elected by the Senate at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The President of the Senate is assisted by three Vice-Presidents, who are also elected at the beginning of each parliamentary term. The President of the Senate is customarily a member of a majority party with a great deal of political experience, while the First Vice-President is a member of the other language group. The current President of the Senate is Anne-Marie Lizin of the Parti Socialiste.
The President of the Senate presides over the plenary assembly of the Senate, guides and controls debates in the assembly, and is responsible for ensuring the democratic functioning of the Senate, for the maintenance of order and security in the assembly and for enforcing the Rules of the Senate. To this end, the he or she is given extensive powers. The President of the Senate also represents the Senate at both the national (to the other institutions) and the international level. Additionally, he or she also chairs the Bureau, which determines the order of business, supervises the administrative services of the Senate and leads the Senate's activities.
The President of the Senate, together with the President of the Chamber of Representatives, ranks immediately behind the King in the order of precedence. The senior of the two takes the second place in the order of precedence. Because the current President of the Senate is younger than her counterpart in the Chamber of Representatives, she takes the third place in the order of precedence.
The Bureau of the Senate[2] is composed of the President, the three Vice-Presidents, the floor leaders of the fractions that are represented in the standing committees and the Quaestors. Currently, the only fraction whose floor leader is not a member of the Bureau is the Ecolo Fraction, which has only two members. The Bureau leads the day-to-day activities of the Senate and convenes at least once a week in order to manage the work of the Senate. The Bureau determines the legislative agenda and the order of business in the plenary assembly and the committees, decides upon the lists of speakers, and manages the internal affairs of the Senate. A member of the Federal Government is usually invited to attend the discussions about the legislative agenda. The Bureau also assists the President in the conduct of parliamentary business. In addition, the Bureau also appoints and dismisses the staff of the Senate on the advice of the College of Quaestors.
The Senate has a College of Quaestors[3], which consists of three Senators who are in charge of Senate housekeeping. These Senators, who are know as Quaestors, are responsible for the financial management of the Senate, they have to make sure that the necessary equipment and facilities are available and they advise the Bureau on matters relating to the administration of the services of the Senate, such as human resources and logistics. The Quaestors are also members of the Bureau. The Colleges of Quaestors of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives meet regularly to settle common problems concerning the library, buildings, security, catering, etc.
The Senate is also served by a number of civil servants. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the Clerk (or Secretary-General) of the Senate, who is appointed by the assembly and heads the Senate's legislative and administrative services.[4]
[edit] Tasks
Since the elections of 21 May 1995, there has been a breakdown of powers[5] between the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, which resulted in the Senate having fewer competences than the Chamber of Representatives. Prior to that, the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate did the same parliamentary work on an equal footing.
In certain matters both the Chamber and the Senate still have equal power, which means that both Chambers must pass the exact same version of the bill. These include constitutional revisions, laws requiring a qualified majority (the so-called "community laws"), laws on the basic structure of the Belgian State, laws approving agreements of cooperation between the Federal State, the Communities and the Regions, laws on the approval of international treaties, and laws on the organisation of the judiciary, the Council of State, and the Court of Arbitration. Additionally, all bills concerning international treaties are introduced in the Senate first before moving on to the Chamber.
For all other legislation, the Chamber of Representatives takes precedence over the Senate. However, the Senate may still intervene as a chamber of consideration and reflection as it has the opportunity to, within specific time limits, examine the texts adopted by the Chamber and, if there is a reason to do so, make amendments. The Chamber may subsequently adopt or reject the amendments proposed by the Senate or make new proposals. Whatever the case, the Chamber has the final word on all "ordinary legislation". The Senate may also submit a bill it has adopted to the Chamber which can approve, reject or amend it, in this case the Chamber also has the final word.
In accordance with Article 143 of the Belgian Constitution, the Federal State, the Communities and the Regions have to observe federal loyalty. However, that does not prevent conflicts of interest. By virtue of its composition, the Senate is the assembly within which the conflicts of interest between the Federal State, the Communities and the Regions may be resolved. The Senate may decide on such conflicts by giving reasoned advice, but such decisions are not binding. In addition, the Senate has also been entrusted with the responsibility for examining how the division of competences between the various components of the federal level can be made more homogeneous.
[edit] Committees
The Senate uses committees[6] for a variety of purposes. The Senate has several standing committees, each of which has responsibility for a particular area of government (for example justice or social affairs). These standing committees examine and consider bills and legislative proposals, and may for this purpose hold hearings. A standing committee comprises 17 Senators, members are appointed using proportional representation. The chairpersons of the standing committees are also divided among the parties in accordance with the same principle of proportional representation. As a result, some standing committees are chaired by members of the opposition. There are currently seven standing committees within the Senate, one of which is charged with monitoring the Permanent Oversight Committee on the Intelligence Services.[7] The Senate can also set up special committees, advisory committees or workgroups to examine a particular bill or a specific issue (such as the workgroup on bioethics). The meetings of the committees are generally open to the public.
The Federal Parliament also includes joint committees, which include members of both the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, such as the Parliamentary Consultation Committee, which is tasked with resolving certain problems relating to legislative procedures. One of the main problems in this respect concerns the determination of the legislative procedure to be followed. Other issues concern the time limits to "evoke" and review certain bills. There are others joint committees, such as the Federal Advisory Committee on European Matters. In the latter, there are not only Senators and Representatives, but also Belgian Members of the European Parliament.
The Senate, just like the Chamber of Representatives, has the right to conduct parliamentary inquiries pursuant to article 56 of the Belgian Constitution, which provides that "Each Chamber has the right of inquiry".[8] Committees of inquiry were rarely set up until 20 years ago, and have been used increasingly in the recent past. In practice, the Senate uses the right of inquiry by creating a parliamentary committee of inquiry composed of a number of Senators. This committee can summon and hear witnesses. A parliamentary committee of inquiry can also conduct searches and seize documents. Committee meetings at which witnesses or experts are heard are public unless the committee decides otherwise. Normally, the committee is obliged to report in a given time to the plenary assembly. It can for instance suggest amending existing legislation. The plenary assembly votes on motions submitted in the committee's report.
[edit] Current composition
- See also: List of Belgian Senators
Members of the Belgian senate from 2003-2007(foreseen).
| Flemish | Walloon | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Members | Party | Members |
| SP.a | 12 | PS | 12 |
| VLD | 11 | MR | 10 |
| CD&V | 9 | CDH | 4 |
| VB | 8 | FN | 2 |
| VLOTT | 1 | Ecolo | 2 |
[edit] References
- ^ Mission and responsibilities of the President of the Senate. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
- ^ The Bureau. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
- ^ Managing Bodies. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
- ^ The Assemblies’ Services. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
- ^ Fact Sheet on the Senate. The Belgian Chamber of Representatives. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- ^ Committees and the Plenary. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
- ^ Control over Police and Intelligence Services. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
- ^ Right of Inquiry. The Belgian Senate. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
