Wallonia | History and institutions
Wallonia is one of the three federal regions of Belgium, where most of the French and German speaking population of the country live today.
Population and surface area
 Stretching over 16,844 square kilometres, Wallonia occupies the southern part of the country, and accounts for more than half of the Belgian territory. Wallonia extends over 5 provinces: Brabant Wallon, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur.
The main cities are Liège, Charleroi, Mons, Namur, Tournai, Verviers, Nivelles and Mouscron.
It has a relatively dense population (203,98 inhabitants per square kilometre) of 3,435,879 inhabitants, which accounts for one third of the total Belgian population.
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History
The adjective “Walloon” is said to come from “Walha”, a word used by the Germans to define their neighbouring Gallo-Romans. The term “Wallonia” became widespread after Belgium claimed its independence in 1830. In 1932, a linguistic law affirmed the monolingualism of the Flemish and Wallonia regions (and bilingualism in Brussels).
The political entity of Wallonia was formed through the institutional reforms of 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993.
These reforms progressively transformed Belgium into a federal state, where the Wallonia Region is a federal entity with its own competencies.
Institutions
Institutional framework
The Wallonia Region has its own government. Its nine members report to a legislative body, the Wallonia Parliament, also known as Conseil Régional Wallon in the Belgian Constitution. It consists of 75 MPs, who are elected by direct universal suffrage.
These institutions chose Namur as the capital of Wallonia. The political and administrative heart of the region therefore beats in this city, which is situated between Sambre and Meuse.
Competencies of the Wallonia Region
The Wallonia Region has its own competencies, which were transferred by the federal state.
These competencies include the following:
- Economic policy and employment
- Foreign trade
- Tourism
- Applied scientific research
- Transport and public works
- Housing and regional planning
- Environment and agriculture
- Energy and water
- Subordinated powers and external relations in the aforementioned areas.
Economy
Renowned for its coal and steel, Wallonia has experienced strong industrial growth since the Middle Ages. For many years, heavy industry was the driving force behind the region's economy. Indeed, Wallonia was the birthplace of the industrial revolution on continental Europe.
Today, the economic landscape has diversified considerably, and the main economic activities in the region are now centred around the industrial basins and the university centres.
Its main transport link is the East-West axis, which stretches from the Eastern cantons to Western Hainaut through Liège, Charleroi and Mons.
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Liège, Charleroi and Mons constitute the industrial melting pots of the region's aeronautics (Liège space centre, Charleroi’s Sonaca etc.) and life science sectors (Institute of molecular biology at the University of Brussels based in Charleroi, Interdisciplinary group of applied geneproteomics in Liège, EUROGENTEC, founded as a spin-off of the University of Liège etc.).
The East-West axis of the region also focuses on telecommunications (Minerve centre in Charleroi, Multitel in Mons, Hauts-Sarts business park in Liège, etc.) and on research and technology for new materials (Materia Nova centre of excellence in Mons).
The North-South axis crosses Wallonia from Wavre to Athus, passing through Namur. It is especially renowned for the exceptional collaboration that exists between local business and its universities (Catholic university of Louvain-la-Neuve, agricultural science faculties of the university of Gembloux, faculties of Notre-Dame de la Paix university at Namur).
Finally, the southern part of the Luxembourg province has undergone considerable economic restructuring, thanks in particular to the European Development Pole (EDP). The province is also the centre for the forest industry, and plays a leading role in the agribusiness industry. The area also boasts a number of important manufacturing companies such as Spanolux (stratified flooring) and Villeroy & Boch (ceramics).
Key figures: OFI statistics
The Marshall Plan
In August 2005, the Wallonia government presented a revival plan aimed at regenerating Wallonia's economy.
This one billion euro project known as the Plan Marshall has five main objectives:
- To develop areas of competitiveness in which Wallonia has the potential to become a European and even global leader. Five priority sectors were identified:
- Aerospace and aeronautics
- Life sciences
- Transport and logistics
- Agribusiness
- Mechanical engineering
- To stimulate the creation of business opportunities by rapidly implementing exceptional measures aimed at encouraging risk-taking and promoting an entrepreneurial spirit.
- To reduce taxes on companies, notably by creating tax-free zones that combine the availability of various incentives and tax exemptions.
- To promote research and innovation in order to increase the competitiveness of our companies, making research more efficient and ensuring that it is better integrated in the economic landscape.
- To improve the skills of workers and the unemployed by strengthening the linguistic aptitudes of Wallonia citizens and by increasing the quality of education and training.
« Foccusing our Energy - Priority actions for the future of Wallonia » (Marshall Plan) |
