The Belgian monarchy is largely ceremonial, although the king retains constitutional authority to mediate the process of government formation. He was particularly active in this role in 2020 as negotiations over a new government stalled. The prime minister, who is the leader of the majority party or coalition, is appointed by the monarch and approved by the legislature. In late September 2020, seven parties forged a parliamentary majority under the leadership of Alexander De Croo of the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats party, who was sworn in as prime minister in October.

Belgium’s multilayered subnational administrative units have their own governments with varying degrees of autonomy. In addition to the three main geographic divisions of French-speaking Wallonia in the south, Flemish-speaking Flanders in the north, and the bilingual Brussels capital region, there are overlapping governments for the French community, the Flemish community, and the much smaller German-speaking community. Beneath these are provincial and various local governments. In 2019, the German-speaking community launched a system of participatory democracy in which citizens are selected by lot to join a Citizens’ Council, which provides input on policy matters.

Belgium’s federal parliament consists of two houses: the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate. The 150 members of the lower house are elected directly by proportional representation. The Senate is composed of 50 members selected by community and regional parliaments, and an additional 10 members chosen by the first 50 based on the results of the Chamber of Representatives elections. Members serve five-year terms in both houses, and elections are generally free and fair.

In the May 2019 elections, establishment parties lost significant shares of support to parties on the far left and far right of the political spectrum. For example, the right-wing, nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) lost some power, taking 25 seats in the Chamber of Representatives (down 8 seats), but the far-right, separatist Flemish Interest (VB) party won 18 seats, a gain of 15. On the left, the francophone Socialist Party (PS) won 20 seats, down 3 from the previous election, while the Greens—composed of the francophone Ecolo and their Flemish-speaking counterpart Groen—won a combined 21 seats, a significant increase. The leftist Workers’ Party of Belgium (PvdA in Flemish, PTB in French) also made major gains, rising from 2 seats to 12. A total of 12 parties won seats in the lower house, and it took until September 2020 to form a new government, a delay that is not historically unusual for Belgium.

Regional elections held concurrently in May 2019 showed a similar trend, with losses by establishment parties in all parts of the country.

Despite the complexity of the political system, the electoral laws and framework are generally fair and impartially implemented.

The party system is robust but highly fragmented, with separate Flemish and francophone political parties representing various positions on the left-right spectrum.

Belgium’s coalition-based politics allow individual parties to move easily in and out of government, and there is a long record of peaceful transfers of power between rival parties at the federal level. However, the 2019 regional and federal elections showed decreasing support for establishment parties and increasing support for far-right, far-left, and green parties across the country. The increasing power of the Flemish right-wing N-VA and the far-right VB makes majority coalitions that exclude these nationalist parties increasingly difficult to assemble. The N-VA and VB became the two largest parties in Flanders after the 2019 elections, and they criticized the formation in 2020 of a federal government that lacked their participation.

The political choices of voters and candidates are generally free from undue interference.

Members of racial, ethnic, religious, and other minority groups are free to participate in national and subnational politics, and women also enjoy full political rights. In the 2019 elections, women were elected to 65 seats out of 150 in the Chamber of Representatives; this 43 percent share represented a rise of 4 percentage points from the 2014 elections. The Senate must have a minimum of 20 women senators.

In general, the larger parties incorporate members of minority groups, including in senior positions. In 2019, Belgians elected Petra De Sutter, an openly transgender member of the Groen party, as a member of the European Parliament; in 2020, De Sutter became Belgium’s deputy prime minister. In May 2021, Ihsane Haouach, who wears a hijab, was appointed as government commissioner at the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men. However, Haouach resigned her post in July after facing months of anti-Muslim harassment, including by francophone politician Georges-Louis Bouchez, who claimed that her choice to wear a headscarf represented a violation of “the neutrality of the state.”

Elected officials generally adopt and implement laws and policies without improper interference from unelected entities, though the difficulty of forming majority coalitions has sometimes disrupted governance over the past decade.

Public officials can face heavy fines and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for corruption-related offenses, and enforcement of anticorruption legislation is generally adequate. However, recent corruption scandals have drawn attention to abuses involving politicians who hold multiple positions on the boards of public and private entities, with some officials holding more than a dozen paid positions. The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), a Council of Europe (CoE) anticorruption body, has repeatedly warned about Belgium’s slow implementation of recommended anticorruption reforms.

The law provides mechanisms for the public to access government information, and these procedures generally function in practice. Legislators and other high-ranking elected officials are required by law to regularly disclose their assets as well as paid or unpaid mandates, executive functions, and occupations to the Court of Audit. Information about asset declarations is not publicly accessible, but declarations of interests are published in the official government gazette. In recent years, both GRECO and the European Commission have recommended that Belgium adopt stronger regulations governing interactions between lobbyists and high-level government officials, including members of parliament.

Freedom of the press is guaranteed by the constitution and generally respected by the government. Belgians have access to numerous public and private media outlets that present a range of views. Internet access is unrestricted. While online harassment cases are generally rare, the CoE issued several alerts about the online harassment of journalists during 2021. Some law enforcement actions affecting journalists have raised concerns in recent years. In May, police searched the home of journalist Dirk Selis after he published an investigative report on alleged political interference in COVID-19 vaccine allocation processes in Limburg. The Flemish Association of Journalists (VVJ) condemned the search as illegal and announced plans to address the incident with both political and judicial officials.

More than half of the country’s population identifies as Roman Catholic. Freedom of religion is generally protected, but members of minority religious groups have complained of discrimination and harassment. A ban on the partial or total covering of the face in public locations, which is understood to target Muslims, has been in effect since 2011. The rise of nationalist and far-right parties in Flanders has contributed to the normalization of anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Several high-profile anti-Muslim incidents occurred during 2021. In May, a court ordered a Brussels-based public transport company to pay €51,000 ($60,700) in damages to a woman who was denied a job because she wears a hijab. The court found that preventing individuals from wearing religious symbols in the workplace constitutes discrimination and disproportionately affects women. In the wake of Ihsane Haouach’s July resignation as government commissioner at the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men, media reports alleged that she had resigned due to ties with the Muslim Brotherhood; Haouach denied having any such links and said the reports were part of a smear campaign.

The government does not restrict academic freedom. Schools are free from political indoctrination, and there are no significant impediments to scholarly research or discussion.

Private discussion is open and vibrant, and freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution, though there are laws banning incitement to hatred and other such offenses, which occasionally lead to prosecutions, fines, and jail terms.

Freedom of assembly is protected by law and generally respected in practice.

Freedom of association is guaranteed by the constitution, and nongovernmental organizations operate without undue restrictions.

Workers at companies that employ more than 50 people have the right to organize and join unions and to bargain collectively. Employers found guilty of firing workers because of union activities are required to reinstate the workers or pay an indemnity.

The judiciary is independent by law and in practice, and court rulings are duly enforced by other state entities.

The judicial process generally guarantees a fair trial, and the authorities typically observe safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention. Extraordinary security measures adopted in the period surrounding terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016 have eased significantly in the years since, though a 2017 legal change increased the maximum length of detention in police custody without a judicial order from 24 to 48 hours.

Although conditions in prisons and detention centers meet most international standards, the facilities continue to suffer from overcrowding and other problematic living conditions.

Antidiscrimination legislation prohibits bias and acts of hatred and incitement based on categories including gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and sexual orientation. Nevertheless, some groups, including immigrants, Belgians of African descent, and Romany residents, continue to face a degree of discrimination in practice.

In 2019, UN experts stated that racial discrimination is institutionally endemic in Belgium and called for recognition of the country’s history of human rights abuses during its colonial rule over what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following debates prompted by the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, King Philippe expressed regrets over Belgian colonial rule. Although politicians have gradually become aware of the need for critical discussion about the country’s past, the rising influence of hard-right nationalist parties in Flanders has been accompanied by racism and xenophobia.

In 2020, the death of a young adult of Moroccan descent after a police chase in Brussels resulted in brief riots and prompted discussion of police discrimination against Belgians with racial or ethnic minority backgrounds who reside in areas of high poverty. The Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities (UNIA), Belgium’s state antidiscrimination agency, has received hundreds of complaints of police mistreatment and abuse of migrants and members of ethnic and racial minority groups in recent years.

Despite robust legal protections for the rights of LGBT+ people, such individuals sometimes face instances of violence and discrimination in practice. In March 2021, a man was killed in a homophobic attack committed by three teenagers, who were quickly arrested.

The law provides for freedom of domestic movement and foreign travel, and the government upholds these rights in practice. The authorities introduced travel restrictions in January 2021 in response to the spread of COVID-19, but the rules were eased over the course of the year as vaccination rates rose.

The legal framework supports property rights, and commercial activity is regulated without arbitrary interference.

There are few significant restrictions on personal social freedoms. Belgium legalized same-sex marriage in 2003, and in 2006 same-sex couples gained the right to adopt children.

Immigration has increased in recent years, but non–European Union immigrants and their Belgian-born children remain poorly integrated into the labor market.

Despite government efforts to combat the problem, Belgium remains a destination country for human trafficking, particularly for sexual exploitation and domestic labor; victims generally originate in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.