Belgium

The provincial council (conseil provincial/ provincieraad) is the deliberative body of the province. It is composed of councillors elected by direct universal suffrage for a six-year term, via the proportional representation system (next provincial elections in 2024).

The provincial authority (députation provinciale in French, except in Wallonia where it is called collège provincial, and deputatie in Dutch) is the province's governmental body and holds legislative, executive and judicial powers. It is also responsible for managing the province's daily administration.

The governor of the province (gouverneur de la province/provinciegouverneur) is the federal government's commissioner (public order, civil security, emergency planning) as well as the regional and community commissioner. He/she is a civil servant nominated by the regional government. The governor participates in provincial authority and council sessions during which he/she has the right to speak.

Brussels-Capital is not a province, but a region. It does however have special competences normally allocated to provinces.

There is no hierarchy between the federal, regional and community governments: they each have their own specific competences allocated to them by the Belgian constitution. The regions' competences are linked to the land (housing, agriculture, spatial planning, etc.), the communities' competences are more linked to the individual (education, health, culture, etc.), and the competences of the federal government are those not explicitly attributed to regions or communities by the Constitution.

The regional parliament (Parlement régional ou Parlement wallon et Parlement bruxellois/Vlaams Parlement) is the region's legislative body. Its members are elected by direct universal suffrage for five years (next regional elections in 2024). The parliament holds legislative powers, votes on the regional budget and monitors the regional government's actions.

The regional government (Gouvernement régional ou Gouvernement wallon/bruxellois) /Vlaamse regering) is the executive body and is composed of regional ministers elected by the regional parliament for a five-year mandate. It is in charge of the implementation and sanctioning of orders or laws voted by the regional parliament. The regional government also has legislative power (right of initiative).

The minister-president (Ministre-Président du Gouvernement régional ou Ministre-Président du Gouvernement wallon/bruxellois/Minister-president van de Vlaamse regering) is appointed among members of the regional government for a period of five years. He/she is responsible for the coordination of policies led by the regional government, over which he/she presides.

The community parliament (Parlement de la Communauté française et Parlement de la Communauté germanophone/Vlaams Parlement) is the legislative body of the community. It is composed of members elected by universal suffrage for five years (next elections in 2024). The community parliament has legislative powers, monitors the government of the community and votes the budget.

The government of the community (Gouvernement de la Communauté française/germanophone/Vlaamse regering) is the executive body composed of ministers appointed by the parliament for five years. It also has legislative powers (right of initiative).

The minister-president (Ministre-Président de la Communauté française/germanophone)  /Minister-president van de Vlaamse regering) is appointed for a five-year term among members of the government of the community over which he/she presides. He/she is responsible for the coordination of community policies led by the government of the community.

The Flemish community and the Flanders region have merged. Flanders has thus one parliament (Vlaams parlement) and one government (Vlaamse regering), presided over by the minister-president, all of which are competent for both community and regional matters.

For Brussels Region, the Community competences are exercised in Brussels by, on the one hand, the French and Flemish Communities and, on the other hand, by the three Community Commissions (GGC/COCOM, COCOF and VGC). The Common Community Commission (GCC/ COCOM) regulates and manages matters common to the two communities in the Brussels-Capital Region and has recently been assigned a large number of competences for matters such as health and assistance to citizens, following the sixth State reform.

Depending on the Community, it's the COCOF (Commission communautaire francophone for the French-speaking Community) and the VGC (Vlaamse gemeenschapscommissie for the Dutch-speaking Community) which are competent for the community governments. COCOF and VGC can form and fund institutions or take initiatives within the scope of community responsibilities.