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The French Community of Belgium ( ) is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community
Flemish Community

The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:# Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemings" or the "Flemish nation" ....
 and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French
French people

French people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law....
 citizens in Belgium, it is not. The French Community of Belgium is rather not a group of people or inhabitants, but an official institution which refers to French-speaking Belgian citizens.






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The French Community of Belgium ( ) is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community
Flemish Community

The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:# Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemings" or the "Flemish nation" ....
 and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French
French people

French people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law....
 citizens in Belgium, it is not. The French Community of Belgium is rather not a group of people or inhabitants, but an official institution which refers to French-speaking Belgian citizens. As such, it is sometimes called the French-speaking Community of Belgium. The French Community of Belgium has its own parliament
Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom....
, government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
 and administration. Its official flag is also the official flag of Wallonia
Wallonia

Wallonia is the Francophone southern part of Belgium. This region makes up about 31% of the Belgian population.Since 1970, Wallonia has approximately coincided with the territory of the Walloon Region, which is a federated component of the Belgian state and provides a government and a parliament to both Wallonia and the smaller German-s...
 where 80% of its citizens live.

Alternative names


The names Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles and Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles (or purely and simply Wallonie-Bruxelles, Wallonia-Brusssels) are generally used to refer to institutions of the French Community of Belgium or more broadly to institutions which are common to the French Community of Belgium, the Walloon Region
Wallonia

Wallonia is the Francophone southern part of Belgium. This region makes up about 31% of the Belgian population.Since 1970, Wallonia has approximately coincided with the territory of the Walloon Region, which is a federated component of the Belgian state and provides a government and a parliament to both Wallonia and the smaller German-s...
 and the Commission communautaire française (COCOF, a French-speaking institution of the Brussels-Capital Region) . These two names are not mentioned in the Belgian constitution, and only in a few official legal texts, such as the "Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française fixant le code de qualité et de l'accueil" of 17 December 2003, mentioning the name "Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles", and the "Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française approuvant le programme quinquennal de promotion de la santé 2004-2008 of 30 April 2004, mentioning the name "Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles".

These names are contested by some Flemings, who feel that they may produce confusion about the differences between regional and community institutions. Some people may mistakenly interpret these names to refer to the common institutions of the Walloon Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the COCOF, whereas they in fact only refer to the institution of the "French Community of Belgium". But the name Wallonia-Brussels is more representative of the reality of Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
, which has a large majority of Francophones, and of Wallonia
Wallonia

Wallonia is the Francophone southern part of Belgium. This region makes up about 31% of the Belgian population.Since 1970, Wallonia has approximately coincided with the territory of the Walloon Region, which is a federated component of the Belgian state and provides a government and a parliament to both Wallonia and the smaller German-s...
, an almost only French-speaking Region, and also of the links between these two Regions. The two Presidents of these two Regions proposed Wallonia and Brussels would be a Federation
Federation

A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
 (because of the common language and the common interests). On the official Website, there is sometimes a combination of news concerning both the powers of the Community and of Wallonia

Comparison with "Flanders"

Another known confusion sometimes arises from the term 'Flanders
Flanders

Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied....
' which can refer to two different political institutions and concepts, being the Flemish Region
Flemish Region

The Flemish Region is one of the three official Communities and regions of Belgium of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region....
 and the Flemish Community
Flemish Community

The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:# Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemings" or the "Flemish nation" ....
. 'Flanders', though not named in the Belgian constitution either, is more widely used in official publications, because the region has passed its constitutional competencies towards the community – whereas the Walloon Region
Wallonia

Wallonia is the Francophone southern part of Belgium. This region makes up about 31% of the Belgian population.Since 1970, Wallonia has approximately coincided with the territory of the Walloon Region, which is a federated component of the Belgian state and provides a government and a parliament to both Wallonia and the smaller German-s...
 and the French Community of Belgium remain separate. On the other hand, that name 'Flanders' does not create any "exclusion" towards the other linguistic group in the Brussels-Capital Region, being the French-speakers (exclusion or denial considered by some Flemings as being implicated by the name of Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles).

List of Ministers-President of the French Community


Philippe Moureaux
Philippe Moureaux

Philippe Moureaux is a Belgium politician, Belgian Senate, mayor of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, and professor of economic history at the Universit? Libre de Bruxelles....
 (1st time) 		22 December 1981 - 9 December 1985 PS
Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)

The Socialist Party is a French language social democratic politics political party in Belgium. As of the Belgian general election, 2007, it is the second largest Francophone party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives....
Philippe Monfils 9 December 1985 - 2 February 1988 PRL
Philippe Moureaux (2nd time) 2 February - 9 May 1988 PS
Valmy Féaux 17 May 1988 - 7 January 1992 PS
Bernard Anselme 7 January 1992 - 4 May 1993 PS
Laurette Onkelinx
Laurette Onkelinx

Laurette A.J. Onkelinx is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party . She is the current Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e....
 		 4 May 1993 - 13 July 1999 PS
Hervé Hasquin 13 July 1999 - 19 July 2004 PRL
Marie Arena
Marie Arena

Marie Arena is a French language-speaking Belgium politician, member of the Francophone Socialist Party . She was the Minister-President of the French Community of Belgium from July 2004 until March 2008....
 		 19 July 2004 - 20 March 2008 PS
Rudi Demotte 20 March 2008 - incumbent PS


See also

  • Communities and regions of Belgium
  • Commission communautaire française (COCOF)


External links

  • , official website.
  • , official website (in French, with some information available in English).
  • (also )
  • , the official website of the Association of French-speaking Belgians Abroad.