BELGIUM

Belgium's electoral rules are largely fair, but in practice large parties gain better media access. Media independence is protected, but market concentration is increasing.

The country has been at the forefront of initiatives aiming to reduce discrimination, although racism is evident in everyday life.

A once-significant problem with corruption has been contained, but by no means eliminated.

Striking economic differences distinguish Belgium's Flanders and Wallonia regions.

In Flanders, unemployment has been substantially reduced, and the enterprise climate is favorable. In Wallonia, unemployment has risen, and the region has been less able to attract investment.

Corporate taxes are high, and individual taxes, while progressive are skewed toward labor income. Overspending has left high debt levels, but annual budgets are now restrained.

Generous social payments have helped control poverty in Belgium, but transfers from Flanders to the relatively poorer Wallonia region are proving increasingly controversial.

High-quality, publicly financed health care is available to most people. Family support is generous, with leave available for both parents, but women still find combining parenthood and a career to be difficult.

The mixed pension system is financially fragile, and threatens to exacerbate old-age poverty.

Belgium's traditional military aspirations are minimal.

However, the country is a transit point for traffic in drugs, weapons, people and other smuggled goods. Domestic production of synthetic drugs is growing.

Unemployment is high among the large immigrant population, and integration of religious minorities, particularly Muslims, has become less successful.

Densely populated and industrialized, Belgium is also a key European transit route, with correspondingly heavy pollution.

Environmental, research and education policies all vary across regions. The relatively rich Flanders offers an innovation-friendly, venture-capital funded environment, with Wallonia trailing.

Education spending and test scores are higher in Flanders, with lagging language proficiency in francophone regions harming job prospects.

Central strategic planning in Belgium is limited, with decision-making taking place in independent ministries.

However, coordination between ministries is necessitated by the need to reach coalition consensus. Such consensus can sometimes be fleeting, resulting in contradictory government statements.

No official RIA requirement exists. Ex-ante policy evaluation is only weakly institutionalized.

Once proposed, government-sponsored bills are generally successful. However, intra-coalition strife often keeps policy goals from reaching the proposal stage.

In the period under review, all government-sponsored bills were adopted in parliament. The Senate and Constitutional Court each hold veto powers.

A complex structure of federal, regional and local governments complicates policy implementation.

Belgium's national government has been receptive to international reform trends, but these tend to lose coherence as applied regionally.

A small country, Belgium has pushed for more EU-wide coordination on issues such as tax policy. Recent governments have not been reform pioneers.

Belgium's decentralized governing structures are based on political compromises, rather than strategic calculations, and are difficult to reform.

No significant institutional reform took place in the period under review.

Belgium's complex institutional structure and regional divide helps lead to citizens' very low level of policy interest and understanding.

Media markets split by region and language aggravate this lack of comprehensive knowledge.

Parliament has, and uses, comprehensive executive oversight powers. Party programs are often detailed, but specific to one of the two regions.