Brussels - A group of three "wise men" tasked with finding a formula for ending Belgium's inter-ethnic tensions completed their task on Friday by proposing that a group of 12 wise men hammer out the details, the Belgian monarchy announced Friday. Meeting Belgium's King Albert II at his Brussels residence, the trio proposed that "six French-speaking delegates and six Dutch-speaking delegates" launch a dialogue "from scratch and with no taboos or preconditions" on Belgium's future, the palace announced.
The dialogue should be "serious and credible" and should "end in a profound and balanced reform of the state, leading to a re-balancing of the institutional centre of gravity, especially in giving more autonomy, competences and increased responsibilities" to the country's squabbling regions, the statement said.
Belgium is a federal state, its power split between the federal government and the regions of Wallonia (French-speaking), Flanders (Dutch-speaking), Brussels (officially bilingual but predominantly French-speaking), and the German border provinces (German-speaking).
Since Belgium was founded in 1830, the French- and Dutch-speaking communities have been at odds over the rights of their respective languages. In recent years, the debate has been embittered by the growing economic imbalance between the regions, with Flanders one of Europe's wealthiest regions, and Wallonia one of its poorest.
Ahead of elections in June 2007, Dutch-speaking politicians promised to stop a perceived flow of social welfare from Flanders to Wallonia by reforming the state to give more power to the regions.
They also promised to split the Brussels electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV), half of which is technically in Flanders but which is dominated by French-speaking politicians.
But after the election, they failed to find enough support among French-speaking parties to form a government. After over a year of uncertainty, the king in July nominated three top politicians to debate the issue while the government turned to economic questions.
However, the trio's proposals are unlikely to resolve matters. In their view, the negotiations should not question "interpersonal solidarity" - the Belgian euphemism for social-security payments.
And they said that the question of BHV should be dealt with by the creation of "another, broader negotiating framework" - leaving the 12 free to hand on the issue to a yet larger body of wise men.
