Some random facts about Belgium
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| The Confederation of Catholic Labor Unions (CSC/ACV). | Organized in 1912, the CSC/ACV rejected the Marxist concept of "class struggle" and seeks to achieve a just social order based on Christian principles. The CSC/ACV is not formally linked to its party political counterparts, the Christian Democratic parties (CD&V and CDH) but exercises influence in their councils. The CSC/ACV is the leading union in all Flemish provinces and in Wallonia's Luxembourg province. It has almost equal strength with the socialist confederation in the Brussels area. |
| Geographic coordinates: | 50 50 N, 4 00 E |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 4.801 million (2004) |
| Greens. | The Flemish (Groen!) and Francophone (ECOLO) ecologist parties made their parliamentary breakthrough in 1981. Following significant gains in the 1999 general elections, the two Green parties joined a federal coalition cabinet for the first time in their history in Prime Minister Verhofstadt's first six-party coalition government. The parties experienced significant losses in the May 2003 election, however, with ECOLO winning only four seats in the Chamber and AGALEV failing to win any seats. They were thus excluded from the new coalition formed by returning Liberal Prime Minister Verhofstadt in 2003. Following the election, AGALEV changed its name to "Groen!." The two parties made a slight recovery in the 2007 general elections. |
| Background: | Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. The country prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy. |
Namur, Belgium