比利時「布魯塞爾－哈爾－維爾沃德」選區分割與權力分享

The Split-Up of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde Electoral District and Power-Sharing in Belgium

布魯塞爾－哈爾－維爾沃德是個選舉區與司法管轄區，位處於法蘭德斯地區，同時包含有布魯塞爾首都雙語區的19個自治區，及法蘭德斯勃蘭邦特省哈爾－維爾沃德的35個自治區。布魯塞爾－哈爾－維爾沃德，是比利時唯一橫跨不同地區與語言區的選區，住在那裡的居民在聯邦國會及歐洲議會選舉可投票給雙語區的候選人，也可選擇投給荷語區的候選人。這種特殊選區與地位，使布魯塞爾－哈爾－維爾沃德自1960年代起，常成為荷、法語族群衝突的焦點。自2002年選舉法修正後，布魯塞爾－哈爾－維爾沃德成為唯一不是以省為疆界的選區。在2003年的憲法法庭判決，新的選舉法所分割的選區其立論是站不住腳的，既不對稱也不平等，最後被宣告違憲必須予以修正。本文除了透過歷史研究剖析布魯塞爾－哈爾－維爾沃德選區爭議的背景與發展，也透過政治菁英的協商與權力分享，分析選區分割爭議最後是如何予以解決。研究發現在制度方面達成兩項成果：選區分割與國家免於裂解；在政策方面達成協議：包括公共財務強化、退休年齡往後延長、健保與失業福利金縮減給付等幾項成果。最後，筆者發現縱貫性研究時間長短不同，會影響權力分享研究的結論。

Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV) is an electoral and judicial district, consisting of the municipalities of the Brussels Capital Region and the province of Flemish Brabant (Halle-Vilvoorde) in the Flemish Region. BHV is therefore the only electoral district in Belgium that overlaps different regions and language areas. As a result, residents of BHV can vote for both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking parties in the Federal and European elections, not only in the bilingual districts, but also in the monolingual Dutch constituencies. This means French-speaking candidates from Brussels can run for the Federal Parliament on party lists in the monolingual Dutch-speaking area. The heterogeneous composition of the district has made BHV a point of contention between the linguistic communities since the 1960s. BHV is the only district where the provincial constituency does not apply to the federal elections, as since 2002 the country's other electoral districts coincide with the provincial borders. In 2003 the Constitutional Court judged that the current division of Belgium into constituencies was indefensible because of the asymmetry and inequality between the provincial constituencies and those in Flemish Brabant and Brussels. In this article we describe the background and development of splitting up the BHV electoral district. This paper also presents an analysis on how to solve the dispute regarding the boundaries of the BHV electoral district through bargaining and power-sharing of political elites. It finds that the results of the system agreements: a BHV constituency split and no breakup of Belgium; and various policy agreements in a public finances consolidation, a rise in the retirement age, cuts in health care and in unemployment benefits, etc. We argue that the length of longitudinal research will affect the conclusions of the power-sharing study.