Bouchez Proposes Unified Francophone Federation for Belgium

Georges-Louis Bouchez, president of the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement (MR), has unveiled a sweeping proposal to restructure Belgium’s Francophone institutions by consolidating the powers of the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region into a single unified federation. In a major interview published June 30 by La Libre Belgique, Bouchez dismissed the current four-region model as “completely ridiculous” and argued that Brussels and Wallonia are economically interdependent and should be governed as one.

Context: Belgium’s Complex Federal Structure

Belgium has undergone six state reforms since 1970, evolving from a unitary state into one of the world’s most intricate federal systems. The current structure features three regions — Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels-Capital — alongside three linguistic communities. Since the major reform of 1988, regional governments have progressively gained power at the expense of the French Community, which was rebranded as the “Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles” in 2011 to reflect this regional anchoring.

Bouchez now proposes to reverse this decades-long trend. As L’Avenir reported, the MR leader positions himself in the tradition of Jean Gol, the late liberal statesman, advocating for a “fédéralisation francophone” that would transfer key competencies back to the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

The Proposal: What Bouchez Is Calling For

Specifically, Bouchez proposes transferring foreign trade, international representation, and economic development powers from the Walloon and Brussels regional governments to the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. The goal is to create a large, unified Francophone federation capable of wielding greater political and economic weight within Belgium.

“I am a big supporter of the Francophone federalization of competencies,” Bouchez stated, according to Brussels Today. “That means putting many more matters under the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles rather than the Walloon and Brussels regions: foreign trade, everything related to international image, even questions like economic development.”

Economic Rationale: Brussels as Wallonia’s Engine

Bouchez’s proposal is grounded in a specific economic argument. He contends that Brussels and Wallonia are inextricably linked — Wallonia serves as Brussels’ hinterland, providing land and capacity, while Brussels acts as Wallonia’s economic showcase. He noted that half of Brussels’ GDP is generated by commuters, many of whom come from Wallonia.

“Objectively, a large part of Wallonia is nothing more than the hinterland of Brussels,” Bouchez told La Libre Belgique. “And on the other hand, Brussels is ultimately the economic showcase of a Wallonia that still has land to provide, still has capacity to bring.”

He added: “I think the greatest chance for Francophones in this country is that Brussels is overwhelmingly Francophone, and we don’t exploit that enough. Walloon political leaders must understand that their engine of economic development is Brussels.”

Political Implications and Opposition

The proposal directly counters the vision of Paul Magnette, president of the Socialist Party (PS), who during the previous legislative term advocated for a four-region model that would have given Brussels equal status with Flanders and Wallonia. That project never materialized.

Bouchez’s plan would instead strengthen the Francophone political bloc vis-à-vis Flanders by consolidating Walloon and Brussels powers — a move that Flemish parties, particularly N-VA and Vlaams Belang, have historically viewed with skepticism.

The Path Forward: Constitutional Hurdles

Implementing such a reform would require a two-thirds majority in the Belgian Parliament, meaning Bouchez must secure support from opposition parties including the PS, Ecolo, PTB, and DéFI. Bouchez has already begun holding “discreet meetings” with Yvan Verougstraete, president of the centrist Les Engagés party, his coalition partner in Wallonia’s “Azur” government.

“We first need to have something decent to present to them, and then open the discussion,” Bouchez said, acknowledging the significant political challenge ahead.

What to Watch For

As debate intensifies across Belgium’s political spectrum, several key questions remain unanswered: How will Flemish parties respond to what they may perceive as a consolidation of Francophone power? Will the PS formally oppose a plan that undermines its previous four-region vision? And does Bouchez intend to push for this reform during the current legislative term, or is it a longer-term ambition?

What is clear is that Bouchez has reignited a fundamental debate about Belgium’s institutional future — one that touches on the country’s linguistic divisions, economic interdependencies, and the very structure of its federal system.