Notes on Belgium

Do not use the French versions of names of towns in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Use the three anglicised forms Ostend, Ghent and Antwerp (known to Frenchspeakers as Anvers) and the Dutch forms for other towns: Mechelen not Malines, Leuven not Louvain (but NB: Louvain-la-Neuve is French-speaking), Kortrijk not Courtrai, Ieper not Ypres. The one exception is Brugge, which takes the French name Bruges in English.


Use French names for towns in Wallonia: Mons not Bergen, Liège not Luik.

If in doubt, make sure the map you consult is an official Belgian bilingual one (maps produced by outsiders — Britannica, Times Atlas — are unreliable on this point) or see the index in the Brussels telephone directory, which refers the reader from the ‘wrong’ to the ‘right’ version for each town.

Bilingual Bruxelles/Brussel is always Brussels in English. Many of the 19 local authorities (FR communes, NL gemeenten) (and all streets) in the Brussels region also have a French and a Dutch name, both equally correct, but most English-speakers use the French version. The same applies to a few Walloon towns with special bilingual status, such as Enghien/Edingen, Mouscron/Moeskroen and Comines/Komen.

In the footer of Commission letters, include both forms: Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200. Note however that the local authorities immediately outside the Brussels region, though mostly de facto bilingual, are all in Flanders and hence officially Dutch-speaking, so use Sint-Genesius-Rode not Rhode-Saint-Genèse, and Vilvoorde not Vilvorde, to avoid offending political sensibilities. For similar reasons the fiercely disputed area Frenchspeakers call les Fourons and Dutch-speakers Voeren is perhaps best rendered in an English text as Fourons/Voeren or Voeren/Fourons.

The people who live in Flanders are Flemings, their institutions are Flemish and they speak Dutch (NOT Flemish). The people who live in Wallonia (except the Germanspeaking Belgians) are Walloons, their institutions are Walloon and they speak French.

But note that not all French-speakers in Belgium are Walloons. In particular, Brussels is not in Wallonia. So anything referring to Belgian French-speakers as a whole must be described in English not as Walloon but as French-speaking (or, in certain contexts, just French).

Government.

Belgium is a federal kingdom of unique complexity. It comprises three regions:
• the Flemish Region,
• the Walloon Region, and
• Brussels Capital Region

and three language communities:
• the Flemish Community,
• the French Community (not French-speaking), and
• the German-speaking Community (not German).

The Flemish Region covers the north of the country down to a line running across the country just south of Brussels, but not including the Brussels Region (which forms an enclave), while the Walloon Region covers the whole of the south of the country (including the German-speaking area). The regions may also be referred to informally as Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels Region (to distinguish it from Ville de Bruxelles/Stad Brussel, which is only one of 19 local authorities in the region).

The Flemish Community covers Flanders, plus Brussels (for Dutch-speaking cultural matters); the French Community covers Wallonia minus the German-speaking area, plus Brussels (for French-speaking cultural matters); and the German-speaking Community covers the small German-speaking part of the country.

The regions exercise powers in a wide range of areas, while the communities are primarily responsible for education and cultural matters. Under the Constitution each region and community has an executive accountable to a parliament. However, all the responsibilities of the Flemish Region have been transferred to the Community, so there is only one Flemish Government and one Flemish Parliament, both based in Brussels.

The executives of the other two regions are the Walloon Government, based in Namur, and the Brussels Regional Government. The leaders of all three executives wish to be described in English (unfortunately) as Minister-President. Meanwhile, the French Community — based in Brussels and entirely separate from the Walloon Government in Namur — has handed over some of its responsibilities to the Region. The Germanspeaking Community, with its seat in Eupen, has fewer powers than the other two.

At federal level, the Belgian Government retains such pan-Belgian functions as foreign affairs, defence, macroeconomic policy and rail transport. In a Belgian context it may be referred to as the federal government. The monarch’s official title is ‘King of the Belgians, Prince of Belgium’. In addition, the state comprises three regions and three language communities. These overlap in part.

Political parties, universities.

There are no major bilingual political parties in Belgium. Note too that all the major parties have changed their names in recent years, making identification less obvious in some cases. It is probably best to give the original name or use the initials plus an English description, e.g. the Mouvement réformateur or MR (the French-speaking Liberal Party), the SP.A (the Flemish Socialist Party), the Centre Démocrate Humaniste or CDH (the French-speaking Christian Democrat Party). For full details of the parties see the Wikipedia entry.

"Notes on Belgium" in: English Style Guide, A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission. European Commission, Directorate-General for Translation, Revised Fifth Edition, 19 October 2007 (PDF)