Language wars paint Flemish in poor light

There is a certain feeling of inevitability about coming back to Brussels after a month away based on the sure and certain knowledge that one will encounter further new examples of the absurdity to which the country's linguistic fanatics will sink.

Now, to the embarrassment of the government, a respected international body has added its tuppenceworth to call a halt to the excesses being carried out, in many cases by overzealous members of the Prime Minister's own party.

A report by a Swiss member of the human rights commission of the Council of Europe, Mr Dumeni Columberg, has been approved by a massive majority at the commission. It finds the rights of French speakers in Flemish communes on the periphery of Brussels are being regularly violated and calls for the withdrawal of two controversial recent edicts. The commission heard evidence from local Francophone mayors of a series of petty and no-so-petty discriminatory practices by regional authorities - refusal to accord French speakers the right to receive documents in their own language, linguistic discrimination in police recruitment, planning abuses to prevent Francophones from settling in the area, discrimination against non-Flemish speakers in the provision of social housing . . . But many feel we sank to a new low two weeks ago when Flemish police detained school buses sent to bring 50 mentally handicapped Francophone children from a Flemish commune to a special school in Wallonia. The children were left at the edge of the road as their furious parents argued with the police, who insisted on escorting an empty bus back to the linguistic border.

Meanwhile, three senators from the Prime Minister, Mr Jean-Luc Deahaene's own party are blocking legislation required by the EU to allow foreigners vote in general elections. The government is trying to enfranchise both EU and nonEU long-term residents but the dissidents are insisting on institutional guarantees of Flemish representation in the Brussels region, fearing that foreigners will all vote for Francophone parties.

The European Commission has already received a decision of the European Court of Justice condemning Belgium for non-implementation and the court will start fining the country by the day unless it gets its act together soon. That row has been put in context this week by a report from the Brussels regional authorities on the economic impact on the city of the presence of the European and other international institutions like NATO.

The figures show a continuing internationalisation of the city, whose 950,000 population consists of 30 per cent foreigners - roughly half of them EU citizens, with a further quarter Moroccan. Suggestions that colour is an issue in the voting rights controversy are vigorously rejected. In the last four years the population of non-Belgian EU citizens has increased by 6 per cent, while the Belgian numbers have dropped by 1 per cent.

Some 10 per cent of employment in the city and 13 per cent of the income generated arise from either the international institutions directly or activities related to them. In the last four years the numbers employed in these categories have increased from 55,000 to 62,000, half of them Belgians - of these some 20,000 work directly for the EU (a quarter of them Belgians), and 1,200 for NATO.

Direct and indirect employment by the institutions is expected to rise to 84,000 by 2005.

Those sectors dependent entirely on the EU include: EU diplomats - 1,544, third country diplomats - 1,684, international press - 1,705, interest groups - 2,380, law firms - 1,311, and representatives of regions and cities - 632.

An estimated further 26,000 work for sectors directly affected by the institutions' presence.

The cost of operating the institutions in 1998 is estimated at BF78.7 billion, of which some 54 per cent is spent in Belgium (half of it in Brussels). And the expenditure of the sector totally dependent on the EU is put at BF25 billion, 94 per cent of it spent in Belgium.

And they begrudge us the vote.