Friday, November 20, 2009

The Return of "When Walloons and Flemings Collide"?

. Friday, November 20, 2009

Ingrid Robeyns says that the selection of Belgium PM Herman Van Rompuy as the first president of the E.U. is very good news for the E.U. but very bad news for Belgium:

In the last years I’ve blogged here, once in a while, on the political instability of Belgian politics, indeed perhaps even the instability of the very future of Belgium; and Van Rompuy seemed to have been the only one able to bring calm back, and at least lead a more-or-less functioning government. His professional skills and talents in making compromises in extremely difficult situations will certainly be very useful in Babylonian Europe; but who will rescue Belgium? How long will it take for the Belgian government to have a new PM, and is there anyone to be found with the same authority that Van Rompuy has been able to command? Tonight Belgium will celebrate that this little country has been able to achieve something powerful, but tomorrow it will wake up with headackes…


My previous post, also motivated by Robeyns, is here. Robeyns' previous writings here. This remains one of my favorite civil controversies. The great irony, of course, is that if this choice destabilizes Belgium it will be destabilizing the seat of the European Union. I assume this decision is strategic, but I don't know enough about the E.U. (or Belgium or Herman Van Rompuy) to really parse out the dynamics. Can readers help?

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The Return of "When Walloons and Flemings Collide"?
 

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