Belgium

In a speech held in Brussels on Thursday, the Federal Prime Minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) laid out his government's foreign policy vision to the diplomatic corps. Mr De Wever stressed the need for international cooperation to respond to a rapidly changing global landscape.

Mr De Wever, told diplomats that conflicts, economic instability and the rise of protectionism are challenging Europe and the whole world.

The Belgian PM once again condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stating that it is a direct attack on European values. Mr De Wever reaffirmed Belgium’s unwavering support for Kyiv.

However, conflicts are not confined to Europe and Mr De Wever also addressed the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, alongside ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Congo and Myanmar. Beyond war zones, organised crime and irregular migration pose additional major threats to stability in Europe, the Belgian Prime Minister said.

On the economic front, Mr De Wever warned against protectionism and argued that free and fair trade is the only sustainable route to innovation and prosperity. He went on to criticise what he sees as inefficiencies within the European single market and warned that without reform and deeper integration, Europe risks long-term economic decline.

Action taken by Belgium

Mr De Wever told diplomats that Belgium is taking firm action. The Federal Government has increased defence spending to meet NATO’s 2% of GDP target. Furthermore, Belgium is pushing for better coordination of defence resources within the EU. The Belgian Prime Minister also called on our allies to continue strengthening Europe’s collective security capabilities.

"Belgium is open for business, but closed for crime"

Mr De Wever went on to detail his government's “MAKE 2030” plan to revitalise Belgian industry. The plan focuses on reducing regulation, establishing a healthy labour market and increasing competitiveness. Its aim halt industrial decline and position Belgium as a competitive player in global markets.

De Wever concluded by stressing Belgium is “open for business but closed for crime.” The federal government aims to attract inward investment and also crack down on organised crime and terrorism.

To achieve these aims, Belgian diplomats will need to forge strong partnerships around the world. To this end the Sablon Diplomatic Circle has been launched. Based in Brussels, it is designed to bring to together diplomatic representatives from across the globe.

The bourgeois will rather dismantle Brussels's democracy than allow proletarians to have a modicum of power. We need mass protests and strikes against any attempt at annexation of any part of Brussels by Flanders.

Video games have grown into an industry with billions of customers worth hundreds of billions of euros. During this time, a specific business practice in the industry has been slowly emerging that is not only an assault on basic consumer rights but is destroying the medium itself.

An increasing number of publishers are selling video games that are required to connect through the internet to the game publisher, or "phone home" to function. While this is not a problem in itself, when support ends for these types of games, very often publishers simply sever the connection necessary for the game to function, proceed to destroy all working copies of the game, and implement extensive measures to prevent the customer from repairing the game in any way.

This practice is effectively robbing customers of their purchases and makes restoration impossible. Besides being an affront on consumer rights, video games themselves are unique creative works. Like film, or music, one cannot be simply substituted with another. By destroying them, it represents a creative loss for everyone involved and erases history in ways not possible in other mediums.

Existing laws and consumer agencies are ill-prepared to protect customers against this practice. The ability for a company to destroy an item it has already sold to the customer long after the fact is not something that normally occurs in other industries. With license agreements required to simply run the game, many existing consumer protections are circumvented. This practice challenges the concept of ownership itself, where the customer is left with nothing after "buying" a game.

• European Citizens' Initiative

https://www.stopkillinggames.com/faq

Giant FAQ on The European Initiative to Stop Destroying Games!

Europeans can save gaming!

https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkxly_O-3JxyBULIT283l5A1KOhnNsWC3Bj

Remember, what's the alternative?

Place to sign EU petition:

https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home

An interesting video about Carat Duchatelet, a luxury coach builder from Liège with apparently loads of history.

Flemish socialist party Vooruit is calling on Flemish public broadcaster VRT to push for an investigation into the televoting system within the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), the organiser of the Eurovision Song Contest. That the Israeli contestant received 12 points from the Belgian public, while the expert jury gave none, raises questions about manipulation – just like in Spain.

**There is a high risk that the payback effects the Belgian government is counting on to reduce its budget deficit have been greatly overestimated, according to the Court of Audit. Opposition parties criticized the government for failing to keep its most important promise. ** The government expects to see a return of 7.9 billion euros from boosting the employment rate, but it is overestimating both the size of the group and the yield per person employed. That is according to the Court of Audit's opinion on the budget, which was submitted to members of parliament on Friday.

The government expects to create nearly 300,000 additional jobs by the end of the legislative term, yielding 30,000 euros per person. However, according to the Court of Audit, the group has been defined too broadly, leading to an overestimation.

'Unsubstantiated objective'

Furthermore, the Court of Audit states that it is "highly uncertain" that the government will achieve the additional employment targets set each year. The figures are not based on detailed calculations but rather "an unsubstantiated objective."

"The government can no longer hide. It has simply failed.”

The Court of Audit also lacks sufficient information to assess the realism of projected revenues or expenditures for other measures, including some tax measures and expenditures outside the defense budget that the government wants to count toward the NATO spending target of 2 per cent of GDP.

Broken promise

The opposition parties did not hold back in their criticism of the government's budget and its prime minister, Bart De Wever. “Bart De Wever has turned out not to be the responsible accountant he has always claimed to be, but rather a true amateur. The Court of Audit completely demolished his budget,” said Stefaan Van Hecke, leader of the Groen parliamentary faction.

"A balanced budget was this government's most important promise. And that promise was already broken after 100 days,” said Alexia Bertrand and Vincent Van Quickenborne of the Open VLD party. The PS called the report “deadly” for the government. "The conclusion is unequivocal: the budget does not add up," said faction leader Pierre-Yves Dermagne. "The government can no longer hide. It has simply failed.”

As much as 25% to 35% of all Brussels office space is vacant. Millions of square metres are unused, with buildings often even lit up looking like 'zombie buildings' from the outside.

...

A prominent Brussels real estate broker, speaking on condition of anonymity, offered a more blunt take: “In large building deals in Brussels, the usual players gather around the table — there’s the smart money, and then there’s the Régie des Bâtiments.”

The court of first instance in Brussels has condemned the Flemish government for failing to adequately protect the wild hamster, reported environmental organisations Dryade and Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen (Bird Protection Flanders). The government must now take measures, including providing a required minimum area of suitable habitat and a sufficiently large hamster population.

Guess making jokes about being convicted for stalking and harassing women is profitable in Flanders.

In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws on April 14, 2025, Belgium’s Defense Minister, Theo Francken, formally proposed that future F-35 fighter jets ordered by Belgium be assembled in Italy rather than in the United States. The minister also revealed that he had already made the request to his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto.

The article also goes into more detail of what's already been delivered under the program, the underperforming economic returns for Belgium, the bookkeeping shenanigans to take on more debt, and more.

cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/34045

Dr. Pepper is my guilty pleasure, but mostly due to the cost nowadays. I can't justify spending €5/l on soda when off-brand coke zero is less than a tenth of that. Any suggestions?

So this is a concept that was running on reddit for a long time, I've even taken part in some other fediverse instances.

Feel free to share what you are doing, going trough or thinking about.

I have been busy this past week trying to de-USA as much as I can, moving things to EU-based services, buying only EU made products.

Gotten tickets for pukkelpop 2025 which is going to be my first festival since Covid hit us.

Hope we can get this community a bit more active in talk, I mainly see reposted articles from newssite.

Unite my fellow belgians!

De crisis in de landbouw is het gevolg van een businessmodel waarin enkele multinationals boeren én natuur in een wurggreep houden, schrijven verschillende wetenschappers in een gezamenlijk opiniestuk. Ze roepen op tot een transparanter beleid dat níét gericht is op winst en speculatie.

Belgian homeware retailer CASA has filed for bankruptcy, putting 544 jobs at risk and leading to the closure of 63 stores, its headquarters, and its distribution centre in Olen.

The company, struggling with financial difficulties for years, cited mounting debt and an unfavourable retail market as key reasons for its collapse. Efforts to restructure and secure new investors failed to produce a viable solution.

CASA, which operates in eight European countries with over 2,200 employees, had been under judicial protection since October 2024. However, negotiations with creditors and potential buyers did not lead to a rescue plan. The protection period was set to end on 12 March.

Despite discussions with 12 potential investors, no agreement was reached for a takeover or financial injection. CASA had previously attempted to stabilise its business by closing loss-making stores and reorganising its headquarters, but continued market pressures made recovery impossible.

Closed stores

The case has now been submitted to the commercial court in Turnhout, which will determine the future of the company’s assets and employees. For now, all Belgian stores remain closed.

The fate of CASA’s international stores remains uncertain, as outcomes will depend on local laws and financial conditions in each country.

The cultural events in the article are:

• Bright Festival, Brussels, 13-15 February

• Opening night at M HKA celebrates their spring season stars on 13 February followed by The End is a New Beginning, the work of Hugo Roelandt on 14 February

• The renowned Polish Unsound Festival makes its Belgian debut at Bozar from 14-15 February

• ON/OFF: A new hands-on tech adventure at Technopolis

In its second year, the annual gathering is the only international art fair devoted entirely to the medium. The 2025 edition will feature works by more than 200 artists around the globe, with a particular focus on contemporary Norwegian makers.

The show runs from January 23 to 26.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/28945692

Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241229092244/https://www.npr.org/2024/12/29/g-s1-40289/belgium-will-ban-sales-of-disposable-e-cigarettes

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2024%2F12%2F29%2Fg-s1-40289%2Fbelgium-will-ban-sales-of-disposable-e-cigarettes

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/49680051

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O69108/reliquary-unknown/

A German friend of mine who has never been to Belgium is coming over soon. Which sites do you consider must-see regardless of a person's interest in music/history/culture/...

Name a few sites you would love to share!

Thanks

Come help me if you can ! https://canvas.fediverse.events/#x=461&y=441&zoom=10&tu=https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.catbox.moe%2F858atk.png&tw=60&tx=440&ty=412&ts=ONE_TO_ONE