Belgium

G

Foreign Trade

Belgium is a major trading country. It is located on the trade route from major European industrial areas to the North Sea. Additionally, it needs raw materials to supply its factories and markets to absorb its excess production. Belgium has historically tried to follow a policy of free trade, but the need for protection led it to join with Luxembourg in a customs and currency union in 1922. In 1948 a customs union was established between the two countries and Netherlands. It was extended in 1958 into an agreement for full economic integration. In 1960 the Benelux Economic Union became operative, establishing free movement of labor, capital, and services between the three countries. Belgium strongly supported further European economic integration in the EU.

In 2003 Belgium’s exports were valued at $255 billion. Principal commodities were automobiles and other vehicles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, food and food products, nonferrous metals, iron and steel, diamonds, and petroleum products. Annual imports in 2003 had a value of $235 billion. Principal commodities were machinery, chemicals, food products, petroleum and petroleum products, vehicles, rough diamonds, and clothing and accessories. Belgium’s major trading partners were Germany, France, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy.

Belgium became a member of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951. Six years later, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed two treaties creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). In 1967 the ECSC, the EEC, and Euratom merged to form the European Community, now the European Union, with headquarters in Brussels.

H

Transportation

As a center of trade, Belgium has an excellent transportation system, composed of waterways, railroad networks, and highways. The chief access to the sea for Belgian shipping is via the Schelde and Meuse estuaries, which lie within the territory of Netherlands. Antwerp, on the Schelde River, although some 84 km (52 mi) from the sea, is one of the busiest ports in Europe. Antwerp is also the transit harbor for the Rhineland and northern France. Because of their slow currents and regular flow, the rivers of Belgium are generally navigable and provide easy communication between regions. The Belgian rivers are connected by an important system of canals. The aggregate length of canals and navigable rivers totals about 1,520 km (about 940 mi).

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Supplementing the waterways is a system of 149,757 km (93,055 mi) of roads. There are 3,542 km (2,201 mi) of railroad track, which are state owned. Belgium has one of the world’s densest railroad systems. Sabena was the Belgian national airline until it filed for bankruptcy in 2001. SN Brussels Airline succeeded Sabena the following year.

I

Communications

French- and Dutch-language broadcast services are provided by the government, with costs defrayed through annual license fees on receiving sets; commercial broadcasting is also permitted. Each of the language communities regulates its own broadcasts. Many foreign broadcasts are also received. Some 30 daily newspapers are published. Newspapers appear in the Dutch, French, and German languages.

J

Tourism

Tourists come to Belgium to enjoy its picturesque cities, some of which date to the Middle Ages; its artistic treasures; and its food. Brugge (Bruges) has a medieval center and well-preserved houses along a system of canals. Ghent’s medieval core is arranged around several open squares. Visitors to Brussels flock to the Grand-Place, with its ornate Renaissance and baroque buildings, and to the city’s many museums. Antwerp, Belgium’s chief port, also has a historic center. Oostende is the most popular beach resort in Belgium, and the Ardennes region is popular with outdoor enthusiasts. Among the artistic treasures are works by Flemish painters Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Pieter Bruegel, Hieronymus Bosch, and Peter Paul Rubens. Belgium’s fine cuisine attracts gourmets. Many of the national specialties are based on seafood, including eel dishes and mussels cooked in white wine, or on foods cooked in beer. Belgian chocolates are internationally famous.

V

Government of Belgium

Belgium is a constitutional, representative, and hereditary monarchy. Succession to the throne is determined by primogeniture. The present ruler is King Albert II, who came to the throne in 1993. The Belgian constitution was promulgated in 1831 and revised in 1893, 1921, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1989, 1993, and 2001. The reforms of the 1970s and afterward gradually transformed Belgium into a federal state, giving the majority of essential governmental powers to the three regions: Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.