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Brussels’ magnificent Grand Place is one of the world’s most unforgettable urban ensembles. Oddly hidden, the enclosed cobblestone square is only revealed as you enter on foot from one of six narrow side alleys: Rue des Harengs is the best first approach.

The focal point is the spired 15th-century city hall, but each of the antique guildhalls (mostly 1697–1705) has a charm of its own. Most are unashamed exhibitionists, with fine baroque gables, gilded statues and elaborate guild symbols.

Alive with classic cafés, the square takes on different auras at different times. Try to visit more than once, and don’t miss looking again at night, when the scene is magically (and tastefully) illuminated.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings there’s a flower market and at various other times the square might host anything from Christmas fairs to rock concerts to the extraordinary biennial ‘flower carpet’.

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Why Belgium has diversified economy and strong financial asset position ?

The favourable impact of Belgium's recent employment reforms will support domestic demand over the next few years, while the broader euro area recovery will also strengthen exports.
However, the government debt burden remains higher than the levels of Belgium's rating peers, although it is set to gradually decline.

High levels of social transfers and government services limit spending flexibility, a challenge likely to intensify as Belgium's population ages. At the same time, Belgium's regional disparities, political labour market and wealth divisions constrain the government's ability to address the country's significant structural macroeconomic challenges.

Belgium's high economic strength reflects its robust, diverse economy with limited macroeconomic imbalances and a wealthy, skilled population with significant assets. However, the country's growth model faces medium-term challenges to maintain its competitiveness and to increase labour participation.
The economy's growth performance remains relatively weak against rating peers.

Belgium's high fiscal strength balances its high government debt that has now peaked at 106% of GDP with the debt's relative affordability, reflected in interest spending that is now just over 5% of government revenues.

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What are the performing belgian's arts ?

Music
Musical genres in Belgium range from the classical to Jazz and from the popular to hip hop. Many famous classical composers like Cesar Franck, Henri Vieuxtemps, Guillaume Lekeu and Wim Mertens were born in Belgium. Other renowned singers include pioneer Bobbejaan Schoepen, Johnny Hallyday, Maurane and Jacques Brel.

The jazz scene in Belgium is particularly lively and in recent years, it has attained international acclaim with popular bands like Octurn, Maak's Spirit, and Aka Moon. The most renowned jazz musicians in Belgium are guitarist Philip Catherine and harmonicist Toots Thielemans.

Popular bands in Belgium are Hooverphonic, Axelle Red, Vaya Con Dios, and K's Choice. The hip-hop culture in Belgium began with the rise of Starflam, CNN, a crew based in Brussels.

Literature
The existence of Belgian literature is often denied because there are only Flemish and Walloon or French and Dutch writers who just happen to be citizens of Belgium. Authors like Charles de Coster and Emile Verhaeren have written in French on various Flemish themes.

Flemish and Francophone authors have made significant contributions to literary movements like surrealism, symbolism, and magic realism. Important Flemish writers of the 19 th century were Guido Gezelle and Hendrik Conscience.

Folklore

Festivals and carnivals play a significant role in the cultural life of the Belgians and almost every city has its own traditional festival which takes months of preparation. The two big festivals in Belgium are the three-day carnival at Binche, and the Procession of the Holy Blood which is held in Bruges in May. The first big carnival at Binche is held just ahead of the Lent season. These festivals are generally colorful events which include activities like music, dance, and sporting competitions.

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Why Belgians art attract visitors of all around the world ?

The art and culture of Belgium is a medium of expression through which artists from various disciplines portray the life and traditions of the people of the country.

Belgium is essentially a heterogeneous country with diverse ethnic groups; hence there is a mix of different cultures co-existing within one nation. The arts and culture of Belgium is diverse, rich and colorful and beautifully depict the aesthetic values of the nation as a whole.

Art styles in Belgium move from realism to surrealism. Realism portrays life in its basic, realistic form while surrealism deviates from the norm. In the field of visual arts, artists from Belgium are among the best in Europe.

With a wide variety of museums like The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium boasts of some of the most remarkable collections by artists like Peter Paul Ruben and Anthony Van Dyck. Among the 15 th century artists, famous names include Hubert, Magrittte, Jan van Eyck, Quentin Matsys, Hans Memling, and Rogier van der Weyden. James Ensor was the most renowned contemporary artist of Belgium.

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WHY IS BRUSSELS BILINGUAL WHEN ONLY A MINORITY OF DUTCH SPEAKERS LIVE THERE?

The Brussels-Capital Region has been officially bilingual since the subdivision of the country into language areas. However, Brussels is enclosed in Flanders, of which it is also the capital.

By making Brussels the capital of Flanders and establishing the Flemish Government, the Flemish Parliament and the administration there, Flanders has opted to emphasise the close relationship between Flanders and Brussels. However, Brussels is also the capital of Belgium and Europe and has consequently grown into a multicultural metropolis.

Historically speaking, Brussels is a Dutch-speaking city. From its creation in the tenth century until the eighteenth century Brussels was almost exclusively Dutch-speaking. In the nineteenth century, following the independence of Belgium, the language relations changed. Because Belgium chose French as its official language.

When Belgium was subdivided into four language areas in 1962, Brussels became officially bilingual. The bilingual area continued to be limited to the nineteen municipalities that formed the Brussels metropolitan area. In 1989, the borders of Brussels and its bilingual status were re-confirmed. This was done with a special parliamentary majority. In both chambers of the federal parliament two thirds of the MPs adopted the law with a majority in both the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking language groups.

Source: Wikipedia, theguardian, babel

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To what extent are environmental requirements enforced by regulators and to what extent are environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other pressure groups active?

The Law of 12 January 1993 regarding claims for the protection of the environment allows NGOs to lodge environmental claims. Environmental claims are not the same as class actions. However, they have been widely used, especially in the 1990s, to stop operations that are deemed to breach environmental laws.

In some areas, the national or federal enforcement agencies align their actions with the priorities and approaches set by their European counterparts, for example:

Through the European directive on Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) enforcement network.

As part of the prioritisation programmes set by the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Forum for Exchange on Information on Enforcement, under the auspices of the European Chemicals Agency.

In other areas, local municipalities can address environmental breaches under the regional environmental permit regulations, however, they are usually willing to grant grace periods or enter into settlements. Regional enforcement authorities also tend to set deadlines that companies must comply with and usually only resort to enforcement when a company does not comply despite repeated warnings. Enforcement includes: repealing or suspending permits, imposing administrative sanctions or starting criminal proceedings.

Source: Wikipedia

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What are the key pieces of Belgium’s environmental legislation and how are they implemented ?

Belgium is a country with complex institutional arrangements. This is especially true in environmental matters, because in this area, the Federal government and the Regions share responsibility for the implementation.

A large number of stakeholders and partners implement the environment policy in the country and contribute to environmental protection at national, European and international level. Therefore, cooperation is primordial between the different public environmental authorities.

In fact, the environmental policy developed by Belgium is based on the position statements given in international conventions, made binding by international treaties, materialised by operational strategies and the European legislation, finally adopted by Member States for implementation within their national framework.

This environmental policy is scientifically based: it is based on data and indicators that are regularly published in reports produced by the Federal government and by the Regions. It also undergoes various evaluation processes, for which the main instrument at the Federal level is the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

In order to strengthen this environmental policy, financial resources can be mobilised through European programmes or subsidies granted by the Federal minister.

Following the Belgian State reforms initiated in the 1980s, the regions have become almost exclusively competent for environmental matters, including granting environmental permits and ensuring permit compliance.

The federal authority remains competent for certain limited areas, for example, workers' exposure to asbestos or radioactive substances.

In each of the three regions, several diverse regulatory authorities are responsible for enforcing environmental legislation. Local municipalities also play an important role in setting the environmental agenda, especially in the area of enforcement, and add local focus.

Sources : Wikipedia, Ieep.eu, sgi-network.org

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Why nuclear power in Belgium is dangerous ?

Belgium has seven nuclear reactors generating about half of its electricity.
Belgium's first commercial nuclear power reactor began operating in 1974.

Three years after its last inspection, new microfractures have been discovered at the Tihange nuclear power plant in Belgium.

Experts using ultrasonic technology found the latest cracks on the high pressure boiler at the facility, confirmed by Belgian interior minister Jan Gambon.

Several incidents in the past few years have cast doubt on their safety.

"The cracks do not pose any danger to operations at the nuclear plants", says operator Engie-Electrabel but  the message sent to the public are not entirely reassuring.

Similar cracks have been discovered in many other nuclear reactors' vessels, including several cases in France. Some fear that the vessel would break and that of course would be a catastrophe, contaminating the soil and underground water, it would be a Belgian Fukushima.

A report last month from the body in charge of nuclear security in Belgium, recommended the distribution of iodine pills to the kingdom's entire population so that people would have them handy in case of a nuclear incident.

Source: Wikipedia, express.live, The economist

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How reacts Belgium in front of migration?

Belgium is often overlooked as a country of immigration because of its size and its less known history of immigration. Yet over the last three decades Belgium has become a permanent country of settlement for many different types of migrants.

A new front line in the European migrant crisis has opened up.

The flow of migrants in Belgium has been a small fraction of the more than 1 million of those who entered Europe in 2015 and it is growing.

Migrants detained in Belgium are immediately sent to the last European country they were in before arriving in Belgium, or if they have no documentation given the opportunity to claim asylum and released.

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Belgium has an excellent transport and he is accessible and efficient. There are train, tram, metro and bus system, which makes connections easier between different transport types.

Belgium's location at the center of western Europe means international transport links and Belgian public transport are typically good.

Three regional operators manage the network: De Lijn (Flanders), TEC (Wallonia) and STIB (Brussels). For beach vacations, along the Belgian coast runs the world’s longest tram route, De Kusttram providing easy access to the entire coastline from the French and Dutch borders.

The MOBIB-card is like the NAVIGO in France and has replaced old magnetic cards and paper tickets, and are available for purchase at any local railway station. The card costs EUR 5 and lasts five years, and travellers can load on any kind of ticket or season pass. Children under six years travel free while 6–12 year olds can travel free under some adult passes.

In 2017, the Hi Belgium Pass was introduced by Brussels Airlines, Brussels Airport, SNCB and various tourist offices, which combines a return flight, unlimited public train transport and two tourist activities for EUR 149.

Belgium is the railway crossroads of Europe, with trains entering Brussels from all over the continent. Brussels Gare du Midi is the terminus for several international trains, including Eurostar coming from London and Paris, TGV trains from France and Thalys, connecting France, the Netherlands and Germany to Belgium. Alternatively, the conventional EuroCity trains is available to most European cities. Bookings for the high-speed train services can be made online or at the station.

The Brussels-Capital region also runs a shared taxi service called “Collecto” from 11pm to 6am for EUR 5–6 per person.

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Sport in Belgium plays an important role in the society. 13% of the Belgian population is involved in sport.

There are a lot of popular sport like badminton, table tennis, basketball, judo, hockey or athletics.

The most popular are football with the 4 famous club: RCS Anderletch, FC Bruges, l’union st gilloise and le standard de liège and cycling.

The Belgian Football Association is the governing body of football in Belgium. She was founded in 1895 and was one of the founding members of the FIFA in 1904.

Cycling is governed by the Royal Belgian Cycling League. The best Belgian cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, has won the Tour de France.

At the Olympic Games, Belgium has won four gold medals for road cycling.

Belgium is one of the most sports-oriented countries in the world. As of the 2010 statistics, Belgium has 17,000 sports club with about 1.35 million members. This means that roughly 13% of Belgians is in one way or another involved in sports.
Traditionally, Belgians played crossage which is the ancient ancestor of golf. It is a team sport where the goal is to get the wooden ball through a series of goals with as little number of strokes as possible.
What makes it interesting is the opposing team can knock your ball away from the goal thus making you spend more strokes.

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Topic 1: Geographical location and borders

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Topic 1: Geographical location and borders

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Belgium is a federal state located in Europe. Belgium is bordering the North Sea. Belgium shares borders with France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Belgium comprises the regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. Belgium has an area of 30.528 square kilometers.

Belgium has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west, the central plateau, and the Ardennes uplands in the south-east. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by dikes or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The second geographical region, the central plateau, lies further inland. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small gorges.

The third geographical region, called the Ardennes, is more rugged than the first two. It is a thickly forested plateau, very rocky and not very good for farming, which extends into northern France and in Germany where it is named Eifel. This is where much of Belgium's wildlife can be found. Belgium's highest point, the Signal de Botrange is located in this region at only 694 metres (2,277 ft). Belgium has relatively few natural lakes, and none of any great size.

Because of its high population density and location in the centre of Western Europe, Belgium faces serious environmental problems. A 2003 report suggested that the water in Belgium's rivers was of the lowest quality in Europe, and bottom of the 122 countries studied. The environment is exposed to intense pressures from human activities: urbanization, dense transportation network, industry, extensive animal breeding and crop cultivation; air and water pollution also have repercussions for neighboring countries; uncertainties regarding federal and regional responsibilities (now resolved) have slowed progress in tackling environmental challenges.