The End of Belgium?

While the EU is continuing on its path toward more integration, various regions in several of its member states are demanding more autonomy. This evolution seems most pronounced in Belgium, which is going through a political crisis that may eventually lead to its break-up. This seminar will provide background for the current crisis, and will analyze its causes and the consequences for Belgium and the rest of the EU.

Christophe Crombez is a specialist of EU politics and business-government relations in Europe. His research focuses on EU institutions, the institutions' impact on EU policies under alternative procedural arrangements, EU institutional reform, lobbying in the EU, and electoral laws and their consequences for voter representation, party politics and government formation. Crombez has been visiting professor at the Forum on Contemporary Europe since 1999. Furthermore, he is professor of political economy and strategy at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He has been teaching in Leuven's economics department since 1994. Crombez obtained a B.A. (Licentiaat) in Applied Economics from the University of Leuven in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Business, Political Economics, from Stanford University in 1994.