Jozef P. A. "Jos" Chabert (16 March 1933 – 9 April 2014) was a Belgian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

born in

Etterbeek Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...

. He lived the majority of his live in

Meise Meise () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of Meise proper and Wolvertem (a ''deelgemeente''), and several smaller villages like Sint-Brixius-Rode, Oppem, ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Chabert died on 9 April 2014 in Brussels.

Political career

Chabert was 24 years Minister, among others, Belgian Minister of Culture, Transport and Public Works: * 1973 – 1974 Minister of Culture * 1974 – 1980 Minister of Transport * 1980 – 1981 Minister of Openbare Werken Chabert began his political career in 1965 as Alderman in Meise. He began his political career as a councillor and

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in 1965. In 1968 he was elected Member of Parliament. In 1973 he was appointed Minister of Dutch and Flemish cultural affairs in the Belgian Government Leburton. Barely a year later he became Minister of Transport, Communications & Energy. A position he would eventually carry six years. It is in this era of policy making, Chabert realised his greatest achievements. He is the founder of the speed limit to 120 kilometres per hour, the alcohol limit to 0.8‰ and the mandatory seat belt. Afterwards he was still Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works. From 1974, he is known for "Route Chabert" imposing flights departing from Brussels National Airport to avoid the area of Meise where he used to live. The deviation still exists, affecting the health and security of hundred of thousand of people living in Brussels. Early 1982 Chabert disappeared from the federal government scene, looking for another challenge. He became Belgian representative at the

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and later Belgian Commissioner General for World Expo in

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. At the end of the 80s, Chabert returned to politics. He stood in the front row when the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

was held over the baptismal font. He was a long-time Minister for the Budget, Economy and Finance. In 1999 he became Minister of Public Works & Transport. Since the Christian Democrats (CD&V) at that time from the Flemish and federal government were barred due to the dioxin crisis, Chabert was for five years the only

CD&V Christian Democratic and Flemish (, ; CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism ( ACV) and trade associations ( UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party w ...

-minister in

, unique.

Honours

* Minister of State, by Royal Decree. * Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown. * Grand Officer in the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

. * Knight Grand Cross in the

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. * Knight Grand Cross in the

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. * Knight Grand Cross in the

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. * Grand Officer in the

Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg The Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (French: ''Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg'') is an order of merit of Luxembourg, instituted on 23 January 1961 by Grand Duchess Charlotte. Grand Master (order), Grand Master of the ...

References

External links

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Jos Chabert
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

Archives of Jos Chabert
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
1933 births 2014 deaths Ministers of state of Belgium Politicians from Brussels Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 21st-century Belgian politicians Presidents of the European Committee of the Regions {{UN-bio-stub