Bourgeois Government

Summary

The Bourgeois Government (Regering-Bourgeois) was the Flemish Government formed following the 2014 Flemish Parliament election. The cabinet consisted of a centre-right coalition of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V) and the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld). It had a large majority in the Flemish Parliament and the main opposition parties were the Socialist Party (sp.a), which had been part of nearly all previous governments in recent history, and the Green party.

Bourgeois Government

Cabinet of Flanders
Incumbent
Date formed25 July 2014
Date dissolved1 July 2019
People and organisations
Head of statePhilippe of Belgium
Head of governmentGeert Bourgeois
No. of ministers9
Member party  N-VA
  CD&V
  Open Vld
Status in legislatureCoalition
History
Election(s)2014
PredecessorPeeters II
SuccessorHomans
Parliamentary majority

As Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois was elected to sit in the European Parliament following the 2019 European Parliament election in Belgium, he vacated his place in the government to fellow N-VA member Liesbeth Homans, who was sworn in on 2 July 2019 to lead the interim Homans Government composed of the same parties, as a new coalition based on the 2019 Belgian regional elections had not yet been formed.

Formation edit

After the 2014 elections, N-VA and CD&V started negotiations to form a Flemish Government. However, since Open Vld was required for a Federal Government majority and they demanded to be in either both or neither government, they joined the negotiations later.

Composition edit

The Bourgeois Government consisted of the following nine ministers:

Following the 25 May 2014 election,   N-VA (43 seats),   CD&V (27 seats) and   Open Vld (19 seats) parties formed a coalition.

Flemish Government - Bourgeois 2014-2019
Party Name Function
N-VA Geert Bourgeois Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Foreign Policy and Immovable Heritage
CD&V Hilde Crevits Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Education
Open Vld Annemie Turtelboom (until April 29, 2016) Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget and Energy
Open Vld Bart Tommelein (from April 29, 2016 until November 30, 2018) Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget and Energy
Open Vld Lydia Peeters (from November 30, 2018) Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget and Energy
N-VA Liesbeth Homans Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Public Governance, Civic Integration, Housing, Equal Opportunities and Poverty Reduction
CD&V Jo Vandeurzen Flemish Minister for Welfare, Public Health and Family
Open Vld Sven Gatz (until November 30, 2018) Flemish Minister for Media, Culture, Youth and Brussels
Open Vld Sven Gatz (from November 30, 2018) Vice minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Media, Culture, Youth and Brussels
N-VA Ben Weyts Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works, the Brussels Periphery, Tourism and Animal Welfare
CD&V Joke Schauvliege (until February 5, 2019) Flemish Minister for Town and Country Planning, Environment and Nature
CD&V Koen Van den Heuvel (from February 6, 2019) Flemish Minister for Town and Country Planning, Environment and Nature
N-VA Philippe Muyters Flemish Minister for Work, Economy, Innovation, Scientific Policy and Sport

Replacements edit

  • Minister Annemie Turtelboom resigned on 29 April 2016. She was replaced by Bart Tommelein, then secretary of state in the federal Michel Government.
  • In January 2019, Bart Tommelein becomes mayor of Oostende. He was replaced by Lydia Peeters taking over the function of Minister of Finance, Budget and Energy, while minister Sven Gatz took over the position as vice minister-president for the Open Vld.
  • In February 2019, Joke Schauvliege resigned following fierce criticism of her earlier statement where she described the climate demonstrations as a "set up game". Schauvliege was replaced by Koen Van den Heuvel.