Belgium: a nation divided by more than two languages

On a map, Belgium looks like one country but is at least two, and arguably three, divided by language, wealth and politics.

French-speaking Wallonia makes up just over half the landmass of Belgium, but only a third of its 11m population. People from Flanders, meanwhile, account for half of the population, with Brussels — the capital, and a region itself — making up the balance.

Other than fundamental matters of state, such as income tax and defence, nearly everything is split on a regional level between the Dutch-speaking north, the French-speaking south and Brussels — a predominantly French-speaking island in a Dutch sea. But what are the main differences between Flanders and Wallonia?

Economy

In blunt terms, Flanders is richer. It contributes about 60 per cent of Belgium’s GDP of €530bn and its cities such as Antwerp — home to Europe’s third-biggest port — are the beating heart of the country’s economy.

This was not always the case. Wallonia was among the first regions in northern Europe to industrialise in the 19th century, with industries such as glass making and coal mining. By contrast, the largely agrarian Flanders fell behind.

But Flanders boomed in the postwar era, attracting much foreign investment. The Walloon economy, meanwhile, collapsed as the region’s main heavy industries faltered. Between 1980 and 2010, the number of jobs in manufacturing halved from one in four to just one in 10.

The public sector has picked up some of the slack. Wallonia and Flanders have roughly the same number of people working in the public sector, despite Flanders’ much larger population.

Flanders’ more open, vibrant economy does have a downside — it is more cyclical. “That means a worldwide slowdown will be felt more rapidly in Flanders,” says Peter Vanden Houte, an economist at ING, a financial services group. Wallonia’s economy, meanwhile, has more long-term woes.

Unemployment

The collapse of manufacturing cost a lot of jobs in Wallonia. While other industrial cities such as Manchester in the UK and Lille in France have evolved, Liège and Charleroi have struggled.

“Wallonia did have — and still has — trouble converting its economy into more modern industries,” says Mr Vanden Houte.

At 11 per cent, unemployment in Wallonia is roughly double what it is in Flanders. More worryingly, 56 per cent of jobseekers in Wallonia are long-term unemployed compared with just a third of Flanders’ unemployed, according to the European Commission. The situation is even grimmer in the region’s faded industrial cities. In both Liège and Charleroi, one in four are unemployed.

But these figures are at least going in the right direction. Unemployment in Wallonia has fallen by 1 percentage point since August last year, according to Wallonia’s statistics agency.

Education

Students from the French-speaking community scored lower in maths, reading and science than their Dutch peers, according to the OECD.

The one small positive result of this performance is that policymakers in the French-speaking regions realise reform is necessary to improve results. Walloon authorities are seen as more open to changing teaching techniques, says one analyst who declined to be quoted as education is politically toxic.

“[Change] is even more difficult in Flanders as they score so well,” he says.

Although Wallonia has well-regarded universities in Liège, Mons and Namur, the ones that are at the top of global rankings — such as Leuven and Ghent — are in Flanders.

Reform, however, is not always welcomed by the education sector. Calls by business to incorporate internships into more degrees have been fiercely resisted.

Language

While wealth plays a role, the real divide is linguistic. The majority of people in Belgium speak Dutch as their first language. Nearly 60 per cent of Dutch speakers also speak French, but barely one in five of Belgium’s francophone population can speak Dutch.

This carries over into English, crucial for business in Europe. Just over half of Flanders can speak English, compared with under 20 per cent of francophones, according to a recent study. Free language lessons formed part of the Marshall Plan — nicknamed after the US postwar aid programme for Europe — a series of reforms since 2005 aimed at kick-starting Wallonia’s economy.