Belgium
Belgium performs in the high-range across all four categories of the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) framework. It scores in the top 25 per cent of countries across all factors, except for Local Democracy, Freedom of Religion and Civic Engagement. Between 2019-2024, Belgium experienced a significant decline in Credible Elections. The country boasts an open and competitive export-driven economy, with trade, transport, accommodation and food services as its main sectors.
Belgium gained independence in 1830 following centuries of occupation by various powers, including Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Today, the country is characterized by its complex federal structure, including three distinct cultural and linguistic communities (French, Flemish and German). Belgium is also home to small migratory groups of Italians and Moroccans and other smaller communities, including the Roma.
Belgium’s fragmented political landscape has long complicated coalition-building, and largely driven its evolution from a centralized state into a fully-fledged federal system. Thus, its post-independence history has been prominently marked by political stalemates, followed by state reforms aiming to address underlying linguistic and regional tensions and power imbalances. A key feature of Belgium today is a split of its party systems into two largely separate subsystems—Flemish in the north and Francophone in the south—that only compete directly in the bilingual Brussels region, where both linguistic communities are represented. These divisions continue to fuel debates over confederalism, particularly amid Flemish calls for greater economic and political autonomy.
Church-state, socio-economic and linguistic and cultural identity fault lines continue to divide political positions. Beyond the linguistic and regional tensions identified above, such divides have been evident in relation to the key issues that have shaped political discourse in Belgium, such as imbalances in the labour market (such as regional disparities in employment rates), a contested migration policy, and a budget deficit exceeding limits set by the EU. The media landscape has also been a point of contention, particularly regarding preventive censorship and pressures on journalists. Despite recent measures that have strengthened the anti-discrimination legal framework, racial discrimination and the legacy of colonialism remain prominent. Recently, efforts to confront this legacy have resulted in a sizable return of Congolese artefacts, and a landmark court judgement on reparations for colonial-era forcibly separated ‘Métis’ children.
Despite Belgium’s high performance across Gender Equality indicators, gender-based violence remains a persistent problem. Recent policy responses—including the femicide law and the National Action Plan Against Gender Violence—reflect a growing institutional commitment to address this issue. In terms of LGBTQIA+ rights, Belgium was the second country in the world to recognize same-sex marriages in 2003, and banned conversion therapies in 2022. Nonetheless, members of the LBGTQIA+ community still face stigmatization.
Looking ahead, it will be important to monitor both Economic Equality and Basic Welfare, given the likely introduction of austerity measures to address the government deficit. Freedom of the Press should also be monitored in the near-term, with growing reports about preventative censorship attempts. Finally, a reportedly restrictive immigration policy should be watched for its potential impact on Social Group Equality – particularly amidst an already contested asylum reception crisis.
Last updated: June 2025
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December 2024
Court orders reparations for colonial-era child kidnappings in Congo
On 2 December, the Brussels Court of Appeal ordered the Belgian government to pay reparations to five mixed-race women born to Congolese mothers and Belgian fathers, who were forcibly taken from their families during colonial rule in then-Belgian Congo. The Court ruled that the government had a deliberate policy to "systematically search for and remove" such children, declaring the actions a crime against humanity and "an inhumane act of persecution. Now in their 70s, the women were forcibly separated from their mothers as children and placed in orphanages under a state policy. They claimed the abductions were racially motivated. This landmark case, the first in Europe, was brought before a Brussels civil court in 2021 but was dismissed, prompting the five women to file an appeal. In 2019, the Belgian government had formally apologized to approximately 20,000 victims of forced family separations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda.
Sources: Brussels Time, British Broadcasting Corporation, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International
Law ensures equal labour rights for sex workers
On 1 December, a law came into effect that grants sex workers official employment contracts and labour rights. Belgium is the first country in the world to extend these rights to sex workers. The Federal Parliament passed the law in May with the aim of combatting the abuse and exploitation of sex workers. The law extends the labour rights that apply to all official employment to the sex work industry as well, ensuring sex workers the right to maternity leave, pensions, health insurance and unemployment benefits. Employers will also have to meet certain requirements to operate their business, such as instituting strict safety protocols, background checks and providing contraceptives. The extension of labour rights to the sex-industry aims to ensure that this work is not exploitative.
Sources: Brussels Times, Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie, British Broadcasting Corporation, Euronews, Chamber of Representatives
June 2024
Belgium holds regional, federal and European Parliament elections
On 9 June, voters elected regional and federal parliaments, and Belgium’s members of the European Parliament. Right-leaning, reformist parties gained more support over the far right and far left. The right-wing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) remained the largest group in the Federal Parliament with 24 seats, followed by the Francophone liberal Reformist Movement (MR) and the far-right Vlaams Belang, both holding 20 seats. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) party dropped from twelve to seven seats. De Croo resigned but will remain as caretaker prime minister until a new coalition is formed. Voter turnout for the federal elections was 87.4 per cent, down from 88.3 per cent in 2019, with a record 12.5 per cent abstaining.
Sources: Brussels Times (1), Brussels Times (2), Euronews, Federal Public Services Home Affairs, Politico, International IDEA
September 2023
Arsonists target eight schools following sex education curriculum approval
More than a thousand people gathered in Brussels to protest a new decree, known as Evras (education for relational, emotional and sexual life), approved this month in French-speaking parts of Belgium. In parallel, there have been eight separate cases of vandalization or arson in Liège and Charleroi, which appear to be linked to the approval of the Evras programme. The decree mandates minimal two-hour sex education sessions and is estimated to impact 85,000 students in Wallonia and 25,000 students in Brussels. The decree, together with the publication of a detailed manual for instructors delivering Evras material, have been met with firm opposition by religious associations as well as civil society organisations. Members of the Coordination Council of Islamic Institutions of Belgium (CIB) have filed an appeal to annul the decree with the Constitutional Court. Education Minister Caroline Désir pointed to widespread dis- and misinformation around the programme, accusing Evras of promoting hypersexualisation of children, or encouraging young people to identify with a particular sexual orientation or gender.
Sources: Le Monde (1), Le Monde (2), RTBF (1), RTBF (2), RTBF (3), Le Point, BFM TV, Evras, The Brussels Times
August 2023
Government suspends places for single male asylum-seekers in reception facilities
The government imposed a temporary ban on the provision of shelter to single male asylum-seekers, arguing that women, children and families should be prioritised for access to shelter in overstretched reception facilities. Despite efforts to boost capacity, including the opening of new reception centres, shelters for asylum-seekers have been overwhelmed for the past two years, with arrivals of asylum-seekers expected to increase over the winter, according to the State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor. The decision has been criticised by the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner and human rights NGOs, as well as by Belgian public officials. In June, a Brussels court ruled that Belgium has violated commitments binding EU member states to guarantee asylum-seekers’ rights to an adequate standard of living and protect the applicants’ physical and mental health.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Fedasil, VRT, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, DW, EUR-Lex, Tribunal de première instance francophone de Bruxelles
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