Comments on: On the Independence of Flanders

By: Death of Nation-States « Samuel J. Scott

Death of Nation-States « Samuel J. Scott — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:58:13 +0000

[...] friend once joked, without the north, southern Italy would turn into a Catholic Pakistan. As reader DJ noted, now more than ever, regions of todayâ��s states are trying to maximize the economic benefits of [...]

By: Erik van Luxzenburg

Erik van Luxzenburg — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:10:19 +0000

Flanders independent or becoming part of the Netherlands. Highly debated in the Low Countries. We (Dutch) would welcome the Flemish brothers very much. They (the Flemish population) prefers even Belgium above joining the Dutch.

But independence becomes more and more a reality

By: Chirol

Chirol — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:20:59 +0000

I don’t think size is a real issue for Belgium splitting. Europe has other tiny states like Lichtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Luxembourg so it’s not a big deal.

By: Hans

Hans — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:24:18 +0000

Other than a few fringe groups, Flemish separatists would not be interested in merging with the Netherlands. It’d be like Scotland merging with Ireland after its independence.

The main drivers for Flemish independence are a different culture (Germanic vs Romance) and different economic policies (right-wing free markets vs a rigid socialist welfare state). For example, there’s a Flemish consensus to cap the length of time that the unemployed are eligible for welfare benefits (currently, it’s indefinite) but this is blocked by the Francophone parties. Belgium’s ridiculous hard-line Anti-American stance in the run-up to the Iraq War was similarly supported only by the Francophone south as a way to suck up to France.
Also, the current political system makes for many centrifugal forces: there are no federal parties and no federal elections. Both regions elect their own federal representatives, there’s no “presidential election” like in the US where candidates compete nationally. So politicians pander only to their constituents in their own region, which means they’re free to take a radical stance against the other region. This has polarized the political debate; nothing gets done on a federal level because of the constant bickering between the regions.

As for the argument that Belgium is too small to split up into two countries, this is irrelevant in the European framework of an ever-expanding EU. If the most liberal parts of Massachusetts were to form a country with the most redneck counties in, say, Tennessee, without the shared American culture, that country would not survive for long either, no matter how small it was.

By: Chirol

Chirol — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:38:38 +0000

That I’m not sure on. I do know however that many people are in favor of independence and tired of subsidizing the poorer and “lazy” French part.

Interestingly, in my conversations with a French friend, she noted that France would NOT be interested in the French speaking part of Belgium. Again, this is just one person talking, but I was surprised.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:28:27 +0000

I wonder how the Belgian Flemish get along with their cousins in the Netherlands? Are they potentially interested in merging with them, or do they really want their independence?

By: dj

dj — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:58:16 +0000

The recent string of posts you guys have done on this topic has got me thinking.

I see the trend as being peoples desires for the benefits of Globalization in a Economic sense. However they don’t want the associated Social consequences that comes with open borders and free trade. So they seek a more autonomous and localized political situation within the framework of a continental economic organization (the EU).

This way they can, on the local level, protect their culture and way of life without having to make the compromises associated with a larger nation state. An autonomous region that has an economy not based on migrant labor can separate itself from regions that do.