Special Acts on the Belgian Federal State Reform
The provisions on the Belgian federal state organisation can be found partially in the Belgian Constitution, partially in a number of "Special Acts".
Special acts are acts adopted by both houses of federal Parliament (Senate and House of Representatives) with a special double majority (Article 4 in fine of the Constitution):
- a majority vote in each linguistic group in each Chamber ( with the condition that the majority of the members of each group are gathered);
- the total of affirmative votes given by the two linguistic groups must equal at least two-thirds of the votes expressed.The relevant special acts in this regard are:
- the Special Act of 8 August 1980 on the Reform of the Institutions (Belgian Monitor 15 August 1980; text in Dutch - French);
- the Special Act of 12 January 1989 on the Brussels Institutions (Belgian Monitor 14 January 1989; text in Dutch - French);
- the Special Act of 16 January 1989 on the Financing of the Communities and Regions (Belgian Monitor 17 January 1989; text in Dutch - French).
Additionally, some details can be found in ordinary legislation:
- the Act of 9 August 1980 on the Reform of the Institutions (Belgian Monitor 15 August 1980; text in Dutch - French);
- the Act of 31 December 1983 on the Reform of the Institutions for the German Community (Belgian Monitor 18 January 1984; text in Dutch - French);
- the Act of 23 January 1989 on the Taxation Power Referred to in Article 110, §§ 1 and 2 of the Constitution (Belgian Monitor 24 January 1989; text in Dutch - French)