Yves Leterme is starting today a new stage of his political career as Belgium's first minister. Leterme had previously been the country's first minister and minister for foreign affairs, as well as minister-president of Flanders. The new first minister was the consensus candidate and has substituted Herman van Rompuy, who was elected president of the European Council on November 19.

In his investiture speech, Leterme said he is ready to put an end to "institutional discussions that paralyse the optimal functioning of the country", and announced he expects an agreement on Belgium's territorial reforms by the spring of 2010. The Belgian federation is on the verge of a structural crisis ever since last elections. Leterme won at polls, but the outcome resulted in a political standstill due to the lack of a government accord between Flemish and Walloon parties.

Decentralisation of the country and autonomy of the communities remain the key issue. Flemish parties, including Leterme's Christian democrats CD& V, the largest party in Flanders, are in favour of reinforcing Flemish self-government, particularly regarding its financing system. But francophone parties are reluctant to further transfer of powers and seek to secure a mechanism granting solidarity on financing matters between Flanders and Wallonia.

Even though Leterme has been appointed as first minister, the preparatory tasks related to the negotiations on the state reform have been delegated to Jean-Luc Dehaene, who is also a former chief of the Belgian government. He will make a first proposal and will be in charge of leading the discussions with party representatives.

Leterme I & II
The Flemish politician has now the chance to show he can be a consensus candidate in spite of his pro-Flemish leanings. He will have to fight against the stereotypes he was labeled with during his first time in office -from March to December 2008. Leterme won the elections in June 2007, but was unable to form a government with Flemish and Walloon parties until March 2008. He was also unable of solving issues such as the institutional reforms and the division of the Brussels-Hal-Vilvoorde constituency. Last but not least, the Francophone community considered him a "radical" and an "agitator".

Further information:

• lesoir.be: Programme minimum pour Yves Leterme
• flandersnews.be: PM Yves Leterme sworn in
• Le Point: Réforme de l'État belge : Yves Leterme veut un accord au printemps 2010
• Nationalia: El nou primer ministre de Bèlgica reprendrà les negociacions sobre la reforma de l'Estat. Dossier Pobles i nacions d'avui: Flandes.

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