比利時憲政體制改革之初探：第七次修憲方向與政府組成新型態

A Preliminary Study on the Reform of the Belgian Constitutional System: the Direction of the Seventh Constitutional Amendment and the New Type of Government Formation

2019年比利時聯邦議會改選後，新政府的籌組如前幾屆一樣困難重重，如果包含聯邦議會改選前的半年看守政府，有長達662天沒有民選合法的多數政府。2020年10月新政府成立後，兩位負責制度改革的部長規劃：蒐集執政七黨、電子平台系統及公民委員會的制度改革意見，致力達成未來國家改革協議，以便於在2024年時投票。
荷語右翼分離傾向的政黨「新法蘭德斯聯盟」，長期倡議要將比利時聯邦制改為邦聯制；而法語社會黨堅決反對改變，並希望加強所有比利時人的社會安全與內部團結。比利時的荷、法語族群整體意識型態偏好依舊南轅北轍，憲法提供少數族群擁有否決權，以及沒有針對全國性議題的公投機制。因此，比利時的第七次修憲，究竟是各政黨為贏得下次選舉及獲取更多權位，所提出的改革願景與宣傳口號？還是在政府運作失能，以及國家財政面臨破產之虞，所不得不進行的一種政治改革？不同政黨、族群對於國家改革藍圖是否有共識？是否有落實的可行性？如果體制內的改革有其困難，是否可能採非革命、體制外的方式進行？假如比利時因未面臨迫切瓦解危機或其他種種因素而沒有憲改可能性，那麼選後新聯邦政府又將如何組成，是否會出現某種聯合的特色或新型態？本文將針對上述問題，作嘗試性的初探研究。

After the 2019 Belgian federal elections, the formation of a new government was as difficult as in previous terms. If we include the caretaker government for the six months prior to the elections, there was a period of 662 days without a democratically elected majority government. After the formation of the Federal Government in October 2020, two ministers responsible for institutional reforms planned to collect opinions on reforming the system from the seven ruling parties, electronic platform systems, and the Citizens' Committee. They aimed to reach agreement on a future reform of the state that could be voted on in 2024.
The Flemish rightwing separatist N-VA party has long been advocating for transferring Belgian federal system into a confederal one. On the other hand, the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) strongly opposes it and hopes to strengthen social security and solidarity between all Belgians. The Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities still have divergent ideological preferences. The constitution provides minorities with the right to veto, and Belgium does not have a mechanism for national referendums. Therefore, the question arises: Is the seventh constitutional amendment in Belgium a vision and slogan for reform proposed by political parties to win the next elections and gain more power? Or is it a political reform necessitated by the government's dysfunction and the country's unsustainable finances? Is there a consensus among different political parties and communities regarding the state reform plan? Is there feasibility for its implementation? When reforms in legalism may be difficult, is it possible to carry out them through an extra-legal way? Without the possibility of having a constitutional reform in Belgium due to various factors, what are the characteristics of the new Federal Government after next year’s elections? This article will make a preliminary study on the above questions.