• Wallonia

    Wallonia, or the Walloon Region, is a federal region with legislative power, which has specific bodies and remits within the Belgian Federal State. Founded in 1970, its institutions were properly established in 1980. Since then, the State reforms of 1988, 1993, 2001 and 2014 have continued to increase its autonomy and extend its mandate.
  • French Community of Belgium

    With authority in the French-speaking region and the bilingual Brussels-Capital region, the French Community of Belgium (named the “Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles”) is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. It has authority in the fields of Education, Culture, Sport, Youth Assistance, Scientific Research and Legal Advice Centres.


  • German-Speaking Community of Belgium

    The youngest federal entity in Belgium, the German-Speaking Community of Belgium is an integral part of Wallonia, just like the French and Flemish communities. It has two separate parts: the Eupen region in the north, which extends to the Netherlands and comprises the municipalities of Kelmis, Lontzen, Raeren and Eupen and Belgian Eifel in the south, which joins the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and comprises the municipalities of Bütgen-bach, Büllingen, Amel, Saint-Vith and Burg-Reuland. The German-Speaking Community of Belgium has political autonomy, within the framework of the community remit.
  • Provinces

    Wallonia has five provinces: Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur. The provinces are subordinate local authorities: they execute certain decisions that are made by the regional authority, in particular in terms of authority over the municipalities and their budgets. They also have their own remits over provincial matters, such as education, culture, social assistance and heritage.
  • Municipalities

    Wallonia has 262 municipalities, including nine that are located in the German-speaking region (German-Speaking Community of Belgium). The municipalities execute the decisions made by the various levels of power, but also have their own decision-making powers pertaining to matters of municipal interest. The municipalities are free to take initiatives provided that the matter is not excluded from their remit by the constitution, a law or a decree.
  • Federal state

    Since 1993, Belgium has been a federal state. The sixth state reform confers authority to the federal state in numerous fields, such as foreign affairs, national defence, justice, finance, social security, and a large share of public health and domestic affairs. The federal authorities comprise a Government, a Parliament, federal public services (SPF) and public-planning services (SPP).
  • Europe

    The remits of the European Union (EU) are defined in the European treaties. They comprise exclusive remits (customs union, establishing rules regarding competition, monetary policy, etc.), shared remits (internal market, social policy, agriculture and fishing, etc.), supporting remits (industry, culture, tourism, etc.) and specific remits.