Belgium, The ultimate balancing country
MEPS Kathleen Van Brempt and Saïd El Khadraoui
Trying to explain the Belgian political situation to a non-Belgian sometimes feels like explaining metaphysics to a 14-year old. They do not care, they do not want to know and they certainly do not understand. In fact, even explaining it to Belgians themselves is sometimes a hard thing to do. Still, we will make an effort on this page. This is not because we want to bore you to kingdom come, but because we think the Belgian presidency might very well be the right presidency at the right moment.
Belgium is the ultimate balancing country and it shows. Sitting between the north and the south of Europe, we became masters in getting the best out of everything without combining it with the worst. It shows in our every day life, in our culture and in the way we think, speak and even in the way we eat. Unfortunately, from time to time it also shows in our national politics, as we have proven recently. What other country's government would fall over an institutional problem that can only be described as minor? Well, ours has, and in retrospect it was all the blame of a sudden outburst of very 'un-Belgian' politics. "This can be solved in no time", somebody shouted, and that was the start of the longest negotiating period in Belgian history. Yes, we have had these outbreaks before, and we tend to learn from them. We become better masters in balance, in living apart together, and in getting somewhere even though the directions differ.
The Belgian presidency might very well face the same difficulties Belgians do with their politics. The European challenges are enormous and will not be solved by bold statements alone. How to solve the financial crisis? How to manage economic as well as the social issues? How to be sure that our environment becomes cleaner while keeping our roads busy and our factories full? How to master poverty and unemployment, while focusing on economic growth? How to restrict the financial markets while keeping them competitive? How to be sure nobody is left behind or crushed in the mill of every day life?
Today, we see that Europe stands at an important crossroads for all these questions. Contrary to what you might think after reading these words, Belgium is not the answer. In fact, Europe is. Because it is larger than boundaries and stronger than the words we tend to use. Europe is 500 million people with different views and hopes: the European presidency, Belgium, cannot forget that for a minute (and we hope won't). But to make sure this doesn't happen, maybe Belgium IS the right thing to happen. Maybe, in using the balancing force of Belgium, Europe will succeed in combining all these challenges and at the same time in not forgetting Europe was made for those who live in it. Every single second.