2023-08-18 04:48:00
The Flemish parliament is the one of the five main legislative assemblies whose recess is officially the longest. The last day of the 2022-2023 parliamentary year fell on Thursday 20 July. The opening of the new legislative year 2023-2024 will take place on September 25. Between the two deadlines, the Flemish deputies have in theory 9 weeks and 2 days of rest.
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Next comes the House of Representatives. The 150 members of this federal assembly are enjoying a break of 8 weeks and 5 days this year. According to the Constitution, the parliamentary year is supposed to open on the second Tuesday of October. But following complaints from certain political parties, such as Ecolo, it was decided to shorten the holidays. “For some years, the first plenary session following the summer break has been held on the 3rd Thursday of September. The summer break therefore ends in mid-September, when several commissions are already meeting”, informs us Michel Lecluyse, press officer.
Summer parliamentary recess ©IPM Graphics
The parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region closed its 2022-2023 year on 20 July. Its back-to-school session will be held on Monday, September 18, 2023, which makes a break of 8 weeks and 2 days. The dates of the parliamentary re-entry sessions are set by the special law of 8 August 1980. A few years ago, the legislator changed the institution’s re-entry date at the request of the Brussels parliament. The date has been brought forward to the third Monday of September, whereas it was previously scheduled for the third Wednesday of October.
The Walloon parliament and the parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) follow agendas that are linked to each other and that stick to government news. The FWB government meets on August 24 and the Federation parliament has its first plenary session on September 7. The return of the Parliament of Wallonia will take place during the plenary session which must take place on the first Wednesday of September according to article 32 of the special law on institutional reforms, i.e. 6 September. The two parliaments are both in recess for regarding 7 weeks.
However, this notion of a break should be put into perspective since parliamentary activities are not completely at a standstill. In the Flemish parliament, an Economy committee is scheduled for August 24 to discuss the cancellation of the environmental permit for the methane cracker that the chemical giant Ineos wishes to build in the port of Antwerp.
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In the Chamber, preparatory meetings are scheduled ahead of plenary sessions so that the political groups can prepare for the new year. In the Brussels parliament, a first meeting of the Extended Bureau will take place on Monday 11 September. He will, in particular, have the task of organizing the back-to-school sessions which will be held the following Monday.
Another element that will be specified by any deputy questioned on this subject: parliamentary activity is not practiced only in the corridors of parliaments. “The work of an MP is not limited to parliamentary work as such. Each Member is therefore free to work in the way that seems most appropriate to him during the period of parliamentary recess. In addition, the deputies can, if they wish, introduce throughout the period of parliamentary recess proposals for orders or resolutions or parliamentary questions”, specifies Olivier Cuvelier, from the communication service of the Brussels parliament.
“Many deputies work on the side”, underlines Benoît Piedbœuf, leader of the MR group in the Chamber and mayor of Tintigny, who recalls that parliamentarians often have several hats: mayor, president of councils, member of CA… “The period of truce in Parliament makes it possible to find time to study issues in greater depth or to work on other issues. We are also continuing our advocacy work. We continue to work on our fundamentals, whether municipal, regional or provincial”.
These holiday periods may seem long, and yet they have already been shortened. In the past, several parliaments only resumed in October. Several institutions have chosen to reduce the period during which the assemblies do not meet in order to widen the space available for legislative work.
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