Council of Ministers (Belgium)

Belgian federal executive organ

The Council of Ministers (French: Conseil des ministres; Dutch: Ministerraad) is the supreme executive organ of the Federal Government of the Kingdom of Belgium. It is a cabinet composed of the Prime Minister, who leads it, and up to fourteen senior ministers.^[1] Federal secretaries of state (junior ministers) are members of the government, but not part of the Council.^[2] The King of the Belgians historically presided over the Council, but this has not happened since 1957.^[3] The Council of Ministers formally became a permanent policy structure with the constitutional revision of 1970.^[4]

List Council of Belgium

The De Croo Government is the incumbent Federal Government of Belgium, to be led by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo from 1 October 2020.^[5]

Changes in composition

• On 21 April 2022, Sophie Wilmès took a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons. Officially she remains in office as both Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, however, in reality all her duties have been taken over by other members of the cabinet from 22 April 2022. Prime minister Alexander De Croo is the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of European Affairs, David Clarinval took over her duties as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade, and finally Mathieu Michel took over the portfolio of Federal Cultural Institutions.^[6] On 14 July 2022 Wilmès resigned definitively as a member of the De Croo government, with all her portfolios allocated to newcomer Hadja Lahbib, although David Clarinval kept the position of Deputy Prime Minister for the MR.^[7]
• On 27 June 2022, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi was replaced by Nicole de Moor, as Mahdi had been elected the new party president of CD&V.^[8]
• After a first revision of the budget after errors and a new proposal containing different errors, Secretary of State for Budget Eva De Bleeker [nl] offered her resignation on 18 November 2022 and was immediately replaced by Alexia Bertrand [nl]. Bertrand is a member of the French speaking liberals of MR, but was invited to become a party member as well for the Flemish speaking liberals of Open Vld, allowing her to take up the position.^[9]
• Vooruit announced on 17 December 2022 that Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy Meryame Kitir, who had been on sick leave already for nearly two months at that point, would not be returning and is now officially replaced by Caroline Gennez.^[10]
• On 23 April 2023, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity Sarah Schlitz resigned following a week of criticism mainly centered around the use of a personal logo in governmental projects (thus promoting herself with tax money which is forbidden), lying about having requested the logo to be used and on top of that one of her staff members compared the New Flemish Alliance with Nazism.^[11] Schlitz' party Ecolo appointed Marie-Colline Leroy as her successor and she was sworn in on 2 May 2023.^[12]
• Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned on 20 October 2023, a few days after the 2023 Brussels shooting, as it turned out an error had been made as Tunisia had asked already in 2022 to transfer the perpetrator but the dossier had not been processed.^[13]. Two days later, Open Vld appointed Paul Van Tigchelt to replace him ^[14] causing former party president Gwendolyn Rutten to announce her immediate retirement from national politics.^[15]

References

1. Article 99 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium
2. Article 104 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium
3. "Ministerraad" (in Dutch). FOD Kanselarij van de Eerste Minister. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
4. Guy Coppieters (2008). "Voorbereidend studiedossier van de archiefselectielijst" (PDF) (in Dutch). Archief van de FOD Kanselarij van de Eerste Minister. p. 143. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
5. "7 partijen hebben een inhoudelijk akkoord om samen te regeren: dit weten we daar al over". VRT (in Dutch). 2020-09-30. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
6. vrtnws.be (21 April 2022). "Sophie Wilmès (MR) stopt voorlopig als minister door ziekte man, premier De Croo neemt Buitenlandse Zaken over" [Sophie Wilmès (MR) temporarily quits as Minister due to husband's illness, Prime Minister De Croo takes over Foreign Affairs].
7. "Sophie Wilmès (MR) stopt definitief als minister van Buitenlandse Zaken door ziekte echtgenoot". VRT (in Dutch). 2022-07-14.
8. vrtnws.be (27 June 2022). "CD&V verrast met nieuwe staatssecretaris voor Asiel en Migratie: wie is Nicole de Moor?" [CD&V surprises with choice for new Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration: who is Nicole de Moor?].
9. vrtnws.be (18 November 2022). "Staatssecretaris Eva De Bleeker (Open VLD) neemt ontslag na nieuwe fouten in begroting, opvolger Alexia Bertrand stapt over van MR naar Open VLD" [Secretary of State Eva De Bleeker (Open VLD) resigns after new errors in budget, successor Alexia Bertrand comes over from MR to Open VLD].
10. vrtnws.be (17 December 2022). "Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) vervangt Meryame Kitir als minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking" [Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) replaces Meryame Kitir as minister of Development Cooperation].
11. vrtnws.be (26 April 2023). ""The situation is untenable": State Secretary Sarah Schlitz (Ecolo) resigns after fuss over use of personal logo" ["De situatie is onhoudbaar": Staatssecretaris Sarah Schlitz (Ecolo) neemt ontslag na heisa over gebruik persoonlijk logo] (in Dutch).
12. vrtnws.be (2 May 2023). "Marie-Colline Leroy (Ecolo) legt eed af als staatssecretaris voor Gelijke Kansen" [Marie-Colline Leroy (Ecolo) sworn in as State Secretary of Equal Opportunities] (in Dutch).
13. vrtnws.be (20 October 2023). "Minister van Justitie Vincent Van Quickenborne neemt ontslag in nasleep van aanslag in Brussel" [Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne resigns in aftermath of attack in Brussels] (in Dutch).
14. vrtnws.be (22 October 2023). "Voormalig OCAD-topman Paul Van Tigchelt wordt de nieuwe minister van Justitie" [Former Threat Analysis Coordinating Body-head Paul Van Tigchelt becomes new Minister of Justice] (in Dutch).
15. vrtnws.be (22 October 2023). "Oud-partijvoorzitter Gwendolyn Rutten (Open VLD) stopt met nationale politiek: "Respectloze behandeling door partijtop"" [Former party president Gwendolyn Rutten (Open VLD) stops with national politics: "Respectless treatment by head of party"] (in Dutch).