Autonomy of the Federated Authorities

1. Autonomy of theFederated Authorities Olivier Pierre-LouveauxAdviser to Pr. F. Delpérée, Senator,Democratisation Officer at the MEDEA Institute(European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation) Building one Iraqi State Federal options

2. Autonomy Federal systems: • to guarantee the autonomy of the federated authorities, • transfer, through Constitution, a part of the central legislative power. • In Belgium, federated autonomy is characterised by principles of allocation, exclusivity and exteriority. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

3. Principle of allocation The competences of the federal and federated authorities are allocated by the Constitution and the “Institutional laws”. • Principle of exclusivity Each authority, federal or federated, has its own competences. An authority can not interfere in the exercise of competences of another. • Principle of exteriority Federated authority can deploy its competences in the internal and international order. It includes the treaty-making power. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

4. Autonomy, in Belgium, through material and geographical competences • In Belgium, territorial areas of competence of Regions and Communities are structured regarding to four linguistic regions: • Flemish-speaking region in the North, • French-speaking region in the South, • German-speaking region in the South-East, • bilingual region of Brussels-Capital in the centre. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

5. Flemish CommunityFrench CommunityGerman-speaking Community Flemish Region Walloon RegionBrussels Region Building one Iraqi State Federal options

6. The Regions • Territory of the Flemish Region = Flemish-speaking linguistic region, • Territory of Walloon Region = French and German-speaking regions, • Territory of Brussels Region = bilingual region of Brussels. • Material competences of the regions : Town and country planning, Environment, Land use and nature conservation, Water management and, partly, energy policy, Economic development, including industry, and partially also agriculture and foreign trade, Employment, Public works and traffic, Housing, Administrative supervision over provinces and municipalities. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

7. The Communities • Territorial areas of competence consist in the institutions and the individuals located in: • Dutch-speaking linguistic regions + bilingual region of Brussels (Flemish Community), • French-speaking linguistic region + bilingual region of Brussels (French Community) • German-speaking linguistic region (German-speaking Community). • In the Brussels bilingual region, the two Communities operate in parallel and independently. • Decrees apply to the Brussels inhabitants depending on the Community to which the institution, which they address to, belongs. • Material competences are : Culture and language matters, education, and assistance to people (welfare). Building one Iraqi State Federal options

8. Political autonomy of the Communities and the Regions • Communities and Regions have deliberative bodies :theirparliaments. • Until recently, federated assemblies were composed of MP from the Chamber of representatives and the Senate. • Nowadays, the communities and regional bodies are elected. • Their members are elected by universal suffrage and with a proportional system for five years. • They monitor their respective government and vote the budget. • Parliaments elect their respective Community’s and regional governments, the federated executive bodies. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

9. Composition of the federated authorities bodies • The Belgian federated bodies are diversely composed in order to properly represent the population. • Different composition mechanisms are exploited to reach a fair representation. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

10. Composition of the bodies of the Flemish community and of the Flemish region • Flemish community bodies and Flemish region bodies have merged. One Parliament and one Government are competent for both community and regional matters. • The Flemish Parliament is composed of 124 members: • 118 members directly elected in the Dutch-speaking region, • 6 members directly elected by the Brussels Region voters. (These members vote only on Community matters). • The Flemish Government is composed of • 11 members maximum, • 1 minister, at least, should be from the Brussels-Capital Region. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

11. Composition of the bodies of the Walloon Region • The Walloon Region Parliament is composed of: • 75 members, directly elected in the Walloon Region. • The Walloon Region government is composed of 9 members. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

12. Composition of the bodies of the French-Speaking Community • The French Community Parliament is not directly elected. It is composed of 94 members : • 75 members who form the Walloon Parliament, • 19 members from the French-speaking language group of the Brussels-Capital Regional Parliament. • The French Community government is composed of: • 6 members, • One at least should be from the Brussels-Capital Region. • Ministers of the French Community government can also be members of the Walloon region government or of the Brussels Region government. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

13. Composition of the bodies of the Brussels Region • The Brussels Region Parliament is composed of 89 directly elected members, divided into two language groups: • 17 members elected from the Dutch-speaking lists (Dutch-speaking language group), • 72 members elected from the French-speaking lists (French-speaking language group). • Consociational procedures are based on these language groups : • Alarm Bell Procedure, • Double majority (in each language group), required to elect the President-Minister. • The Brussels Government consists in 8 members, • 2 French-speaking ministers, • 2 Dutch-speaking ministers • 3 secretaries of State. • The decisions are taken by consensus. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

14. Composition of the bodies of the German-Speaking Community • The German-speaking Community Parliament is composed of : • Members with voting rights: 25 members directly elected from the German-speaking language region. • Members with consultative votes: Members of other legislative Assemblies • If they reside in the German-speaking Region and • If they first take the oath in German. • The German-speaking Community Government consists of 4 ministers. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

15. The linguistic autonomy of the Communities and the Regions • The Regions and the Communities are structured on the use of language. • except the Brussels Region, all are unilingual. • Language and culture are Communities matters. • The language used, either in the unilingual Dutch-speaking or French-speaking regions, is the language of the Region. It determines e.g. : • The civil service institutions’ internal language and the required language knowledge for civil servants. • The language of public communications and official documents. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

16. Mechanisms have however been established to protect linguistic minorities in unilingual regions. • So-called “linguistic facilities”, in some municipalities, allow : • the inhabitants to communicate with the public authorities in another language than the language of the region. • The official recognition of nursery and primary schools in minority language. • Decrees of Communities regarding language matters do not apply in these municipalities. • In the officially bilingual Brussels Region, the regulation of the use of languages is extremely detailed (namely for local municipalities) to insure a real bilingualism. • The Brussels regional authority is in charge of its own civil service institutions and of the municipalities administrative supervision, including the supervision of the language laws. • There is no agreement, within the Brussels government, regarding a certain degree of tolerance of unilingualism or not. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

17. The financial autonomy of the Communities and the Regions • “The sharing of the financial power is the logical consequence of the constitutional recognition of two orders of autonomous government” (J. Anastopoulos). • Financial federalism brings the equilibrium in the federal organisation. • Why to distribute the competences if the means are centralised? • Why to keep some competences at federal level if the means are distributed? • Financial federalism is multiform : • autonomy in collecting the taxes, • autonomy in the use of the financial means, • mixed formulas… Building one Iraqi State Federal options

18. What to do when one or several federated entities do not participate to the financial growth? • Does a federal organisation imply financial solidarity between the levels of power? • Equalisation, a financial mechanism to transfer revenue between authorities in a federation, could be developed. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

19. In Germany, a system of equalisation (Länderfinanzausgleich) allows : • all the Länder to get similar financial means • whatever their own wealth. • This system is based on transfers, • from the federal authority to the Länder, and • between the Länder directly. • In Canada, equalisation is • based on a formula determining the standard capacity to generate fiscal resources, • the difference between the standard and the real capacity is compensated by the federal authority. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

20. Belgian mixed financiering regimes • In Belgium, the Constitution establishes the general principle concerning the granting of financial means to the political authorities. • The federal government, the Communities and the Regions can collect taxes. • Complementary financiering regimes are detailed by institutional laws. • The federated authorities get fiscal autonomy rather than financial autonomy. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

21. The own federated taxes • The federated authorities own fiscal autonomy • in the framework of their spheres of competences, • material and • geographical or personal. • But, priority is given to the federal tax system: • The federal government can determine the field where federated authorities can not collect taxes. • It can limit or suppress existing federated taxes. • Reason of this exception to the fiscal autonomy : • Protecting mechanism for the federal State vis-à-vis the other levels of power. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

22. The transferred taxes to the federated authorities • Taxes, firstly considered as federal taxes, have been transferred to the federated authorities. • The regional legislators possess exclusive competence in this area. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

23. The joint taxes • A part of the product of taxes collected by the federal authorities is awarded to the federated authorities. • These taxes are a substantial part of the federated authorities means. • The objects of these taxes, their bases, their rates and their exonerations are determined by an institutional law. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

24. Horizontal equalisation • In addition, a solidarity mechanism has been established between the Belgian Regions. • There is no solidarity mechanism between the Belgian Communities. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

25. Autonomy and Security • Sustainable peace, security sector reform as well as programmes of disarmament, demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-combatants (DDR) are often intertwined. • “Demobilizing combatants is the single most important factor determining the success of peace operations. Without demobilization, civil wars cannot be brought to an end and other critical goals - such as democratization, justice and development - have little chance for success.” Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, UN 2004 • All aspects of post-conflict reconstruction should be attentive to the DDR dimension. • political reform through political reintegration, • strengthening of federal, federated and local institutions, • development perspectives. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

26. Constant commitment of all parties in the DDR programmes and their ownership of the security sector reform can guarantee sustainable peace. • Communities should therefore be fully involved. • What could be, in this framework, the answer given by a federative system? Building one Iraqi State Federal options

27. Usually, the security sector is ruled by the federal authority. • The reason is double : • The sustainability of the federal unity could be challenged by the allocation of security sector competence to federated authorities. • Disagreements could indeed rapidly turn violent. • Security sector is considered as a main part of sovereignty. • The renunciation of that sector by redistribution of competences could mean the end of the State. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

28. But, the security sector (police and armed forces) should not be unconcerned by the federal organisation. • The cooperative and the consociational mechanisms are, in this field, of utmost significance and utility. • The participation of all the communities in the security sector policy-making is essential. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

29. In Belgium, the police organisation is established at two levels: federal and local. • As the Constitution states, the public force organisation, especially the national defence, is a federal competence. • Communities and Regions get thus no specific responsibilities about security and maintenance of law and order. • But, the army and the federal police do not remain completely unexposed to the federal principle. • Their institutions and their general staff are organised on a repartition of positions respecting the linguistic communities’ balance, • Battalions can be composed in a unilingual manner • The subsidiary principle: if a security matter exceeds the local police capacities, it is dealt by the federal police. Building one Iraqi State Federal options

30. The Iraqi Constitution articulates the security sector around two principles : • Federal authorities get exclusive authorities “in formulating and executing national security policy, including establishing and managing armed force”, • “Regional government shall be responsible for (…) the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as police, security forces, and guards of the region”. • It thus seems that a geographical division of security competences has been established. • Constitutional and legal precisions on that matter could be helpful in order to avoid confusion and to foster the necessary cooperation. • Moreover, the viability of such system dividing the security sector between federal and federated authorities should be called into question in regards to the above comments. Building one Iraqi State Federal options