LES ENTITES FEDEREES DE BELGIQUE, ACTEURS DECISIONNELS AU SEIN DE L'UNION EUROPEENNE

FEDERALISM IN BELGIUM WAS A CONCESSION BY THE CENTRAL STATE IN AN EFFORT TO PACIFY RELATIONS BETWEEN COMMUNITIES. INDUCED BY AN UNRELENTING PUSH FOR AUTONOMY, RELAUNCHED BY THE ULTRA-REGIONALISTS, IT PRESENTLY FINDS ITSELF IN A PARTICULAR SITUATION VIS-A-VIS THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE FEDERATED ENTITIES ARE PRESENT IN ALL AREAS OF DECISION-MAKING OF EUROPEAN POLICY. THEY PLAY PRIMARY ROLES IN REPRESENTING THE BELGIAN STATE IN THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL IN MATTERS THAT CORRESPOND TO THEIR EXCLUSIVE AREAS OF JURISDICTION. THE EU HAS ACCEPTED THE INSTITUTIONAL EVOLUTION OF BELGIUM. IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH AN ACCEPTANCE, THE FEDERATED ENTITITES POSSESS THE RECOURSE FOR OPPOSITION: THE WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION TO WHICH THEY ALONE ARE DISPOSED BY WAY OF EXCLUSIVE JURISDICITION. IN SPITE OF COMMON INTERESTS WHICH ENSURE COPIUS ACTS OF AGREEMENT AND COOPERATION, IN EFFECT SOLIDIFYING THEIR LEGITIMATION WITHIN EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS, THEY NEVERTHELESS SHARE THE SAME IDEA OF FEDERALISM IN BELGIUM. WHEN FURTHER REFORMS OF THE STATE ARE ANNOUNCED, THEY WILL INCREASINGLY REINFORCE THE ROLE OF DECISIONAL ACTORS OF THE FEDERATED COLLECTIVITIES WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION, WHILE DEEPENING THE ASYMMETRY OF BELGIAN FEDERALISM AND MODIFYING THE "INTERFEDERAL" BALANCE.