The Parliament of Wallonia (, ), or the Walloon Parliament (, ) in the decrees, is the legislative body of

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, one of the three self-governing regions of

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 ...

(the other two being

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and 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 ...

). The parliament building, the former Hospice Saint-Gilles, is situated in

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

, the capital of Wallonia, at the symbolic confluence of the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

and the

Sambre The Sambre () is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne department. ...

, the two main rivers of the most inhabited parts of Wallonia, the '' Sillon industriel''. On the other side of the Meuse, facing the Parliament, is the ''

Élysette The Élysette (, ''Little Élysée''; ) is the executive seat of the Government of Wallonia. It houses the office of the Minister-President of Wallonia, and is located in Namur, Namur province, Belgium. History Built in 1877 by master-t ...

'', the seat of the

Government of Wallonia The Government of Wallonia (, ) or Walloon Government (, ) is the executive branch of Wallonia and one of the List of governments in Belgium, six governments in Belgium. It is located in Namur (city), Namur, where the Parliament of Wallonia is ...

History and names

A 1974 law on the temporary creation of regions installed a Walloon Regional Council (alongside a Flemish Regional Council), which were both abolished in 1977. At the creation of the first (permanent) regional assemblies in 1980 ( second state reform), the body was also called "Walloon Regional Council" (''Conseil régional wallon''). Its members were the national representatives and senators elected in the Walloon Region, who thus by law held two offices simultaneously. The fourth state reform (1993), transformed Belgium into a federal state and changed the "Walloon Regional Council" (''Conseil régional wallon'') into the "Council of the Walloon Region" (''Conseil de la Région wallonne''), which was directly elected for the first time on 21 May 1995. Shortly before these elections, in April 1995, the Council adopted a resolution to use the terms "Walloon Parliament" (''Parlement wallon'') and "Walloon deputies" (''députés wallons''). A 2005 constitutional amendment revised the official terminology for all community and regional councils into community and regional parliaments, changing the "Council of the Walloon Region" into the "Walloon Parliament" (''Parlement wallon''). In 2015, the Parliament opted to use the term "Parliament of Wallonia" (''Parlement de Wallonie'') instead of "Walloon Parliament".

Composition

All members of the Parliament of Wallonia are also members of the Parliament of the French Community, except for German-speaking members, who represent the German-speaking population and are advisory members of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. The parliament exercises several functions: * It discusses and passes decrees, and they can take initiatives to draw them up. After this, decrees are sanctioned and promulgated by the Walloon Government. * It controls the Walloon Government. Control is exercised via the vote. * It ratifies the international treaties linked to its powers.

Compositions

2024–2029 (current)

2019–2024

2014–2019

This is the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 2014 regional election.

2009–2014

This is the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 2009 regional election. The PS, Ecolo and CDH formed together a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

2004–2009

This was the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 2004 regional election. The PS and CDH formed together a

1999–2004

This was the composition of the Walloon Parliament following the 1999 regional election. The PS, Ecolo and PRL formed together a

. 1995–1999 1999–2004 2004–2009 2009–2014 2014–2019 2019–2024 2024–present

Constituencies

The Walloon Parliament is the only Belgian parliament which still uses arrondissement-based constituencies. The federal Chamber of Representatives and the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

both merged theirs into larger province-based constituencies. A January 2018 law merged both Luxembourg constituencies and reformed the Hainaut constituencies (* = boundaries changed), following a successful challenge by Ecolo to the Constitutional Court that constituencies with too few seats are unrepresentative.

References

External links

* {{coord, 50, 27, 50.31, N, 4, 52, 24.64, E, display=title 1980 establishments in Belgium Politics of Wallonia Namur (city) Walloon