EU: Divided Belgium wants European compromises: EUX.tv

A divided Belgium next Wednesday will take over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency from Spain. With a caretaker government in charge, Belgium is preparing to help the block find compromises between the EU's institutions over the Lisbon Treaty and between member states over rules for eurozone budget deficits. Since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in December 2009, the rotating presidency of member states in the EU involves a leadership in all government-to-government talks at the EU, except for those in the European Council, where the EU heads of state and government come together. This Council now is chaired by Herman van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister, for a 2 1/2 year period. This EUX.tv news update previews the presidency and hears from Bernard Bulcke, the spokesman for the Belgian permanent representation to the European Union. Bart De Wever, the Flemish nationalist who claimed victory in Belgium's recent national elections, has assured European Commission President José Manuel Barroso that the Belgian EU Presidency would be unaffected by ongoing government coalition talks and that a new administration would be in place "by the time real work begins". For more background: http://www.euractiv.com/en/priorities/ Distributed by Tubemogul.