Belgium: a twofold constitutional identity with no room for minority rights

This paper focuses on the particularities of the Belgian system, which does not resemble any other federal model. It points out that the Belgian system is to a much larger extent than that of any other deeply divided state, the result of political tensions and contradictory projects. The result is a state of two peoples, with different identities, that agreed on a constitutional compromise on the basis of parity. This means that the core of the Belgian state and the basis of its functioning at all levels are the two largest linguistic communities. Moreover, it is argued that the Belgian system structurally excludes the possibility to protect linguistic minorities. Belgian federalism is not based on the equality among its territorial sub-units, but rather on that of its two main linguistic groups. In practice, the system (with the exception of the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital) results in a sum of strictly homogeneous sub-units, in which the elevation of collective linguistic goals over individual linguistic rights results in the weakening of the latter.