Belgium Located in the heart of Europe and t

Overview of Belgium's Political and Economic Systems

Like Italy, Belgium has changed government numerous times since the end of World War II. However, the results of these changes are often that the same people are simply in different positions within the government. In this way, the government has seen a long period of continuity despite the numerous changes. Prior to 1992, the European Community Commission issued a number of warnings to Belgium for failure to comply with EC law, but the infractions pointed to the largest divisive point about Belgium: while the nation welcomes and houses indivi

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while imports were equivalent to 56 percent of the nation's GDP. Despite the tumultuous ten years leading up to 1996, the nation remains heavily dependent on its import and export partners ("Belgium Economics," 1997, n.p.). The main objective of the Belgian government has been to attain a budget deficit of three percent of GDP by the end of 1997, one of the five criteria for membership in the first-tier group of the European Monetary Union (EMU), as prescribed in the Maastrict treaty. The total budget deficit in 1995 (federal, regional plus social security) amounted to 4.5 percent of GDP, slightly below the EU average. For 1996, the federal budget projected a deficit of 2.8 percent of GDP. The social security budget and the regions/communities are expected to add a further 0.2 percent of GDP to the deficit, allowing Belgium to meet the Maastrict criteria. In May 1996, the federal government decided on a package of additional spending cuts and new revenues to keep the 1996 budget on track. The High Council for Finance has calculated that in order to maintain a budget deficit of three percent of GDP in 1997, another round of cuts will be required for the 1997 budget, and additional funds will be needed to reduce the cumulativ
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Approximate Word count = 3908
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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