Belgian Ministers of State

Charles_Picqué

Charles Picqué (born 1 November 1948) is a Belgian politician. He is a former Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region.After obtaining a master's degree in economics at the Institut d'administration et de gestion at the Louvain School of Management (University of Louvain), he made his first steps in politics in the Brussels municipality of Saint-Gilles, where he has been mayor since 1985.
Deeply concerned by urban issues in general and Brussels urban issues in particular, he has devoted a large part of his political activity to promoting and defending Brussels' role and rights as a full region – at par with the two other regions of Belgium – within the institutional framework of the Belgian state.
When the government of the Brussels-Capital Region was established in 1989, he became his first Minister-President with two mandates that lasted until 1999. In July 2004, he was reappointed to the same position.
In 1999, he was appointed Special Rapporteur for the Federal Government on Policies in support of Major Cities. During his mandate as Minister of the Economy and Scientific Research – from 2000 to 2003 – he maintained this responsibility, and played a key role in introducing measures to support Belgium's large cities in coping with the specific problems typical of major urban agglomerations.
During his leadership of the Brussels-Capital Region, he has pushed strongly for urban regeneration and social cohesiveness, with a strong emphasis on the areas of the Brussels Region which face the most serious problems.
In 2007, he launched another important project, an International Development Plan for Brussels, or IDP. The initiative involves the complete renewal of ten major sites within the city, and aims to strengthen the role of Brussels as the capital of Europe and as a major European city with a strong international vocation.
In the current negotiations on institutional reform, his main priority is to defend Brussels' status as a full region, to emphasize the fundamental importance of the Brussels economy for Belgium and for the other two regions, and to promote its natural role – as Belgium's only bilingual Region – in improving ties and cohesion between the country's French and Dutch-speaking communities.
Picqué stepped down as Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region on 7 May 2013, and was replaced by Rudi Vervoort.

Patrick_Dewael

Patrick Yvonne Hugo Dewael, (Dutch: [ˈpɑtrɪg dəˈʋaːl]; born 13 October 1955) is a liberal Belgian politician. A member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, VLD), he served as Minister-President of Flanders from 1999 to 2003.
He is the nephew of the late Herman Vanderpoorten and the cousin of Marleen Vanderpoorten, who served as Minister of Education in the Flemish Government led by Dewael. He obtained a degree in law and notariat from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels. Dewael served as the President of the Chamber of Representatives from 2019 to 2020 and previously from 2008 to 2010.

Jos_Chabert

Jozef P. A. "Jos" Chabert (16 March 1933 – 9 April 2014) was a Belgian politician born in Etterbeek. He lived the majority of his live in Meise, Belgium. Chabert died on 9 April 2014 in Brussels.

Philippe_Maystadt

Philippe M.P.J. Maystadt (14 March 1948 – 7 December 2017) was a Belgian politician who served as Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Deputy Prime Minister. He was President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) from 2000 to 2011.

Willy_De_Clercq

Willy Clarisse Elvire Hector, Viscount De Clercq (8 July 1927 – 28 October 2011) was a Belgian liberal politician.
De Clercq was born in Ghent, son of Frans de Clercq. After his law and notariat studies at the University of Ghent and a scholarship at Syracuse University (Syracuse, United States), De Clerq became a lawyer at the Court of appeal in Ghent and a professor at Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Although he could have had a successful career in law, he got into politics. He was member of the Liberal youth and was elected municipal councillor and member of parliament.
De Clercq served in various coalition governments. He was secretary of state for the budget (1960–1961), deputy prime minister and minister of the budget from 1966 to 1968, deputy prime minister and Minister of Finance in 1973–1974, Minister of Finance in 1974–1977, and deputy prime minister in 1980.
De Clercq served as president of various international monetary instances and as president of the then liberal party PVV. He served for a term as a member of the European Commission (1985–1989). Moreover, he became Minister of State in 1985. From 1989 to 2004, he was a member of the European Parliament.
In 2003, he created together with other prominent European personalities the Medbridge Strategy Center, whose goal is to promote dialogue and mutual understanding between Europe and the Middle-East.He died on 28 October 2011.

Gérard_Deprez

Gérard M.J. Deprez (born 13 August 1943 in Noville, Bastogne) is a Belgian politician. He was the president of the Walloon Christian Social Party (PSC) from 1981 to 1996. In 1998 he left the PSC and founded the Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC). He was a Member of the European Parliament representing the French Community of Belgium for six terms from 1984 to 2009 and again from 2014 until 2019. He is the Delegate General of the European Democratic Party.

Leon_Delacroix

Léon Frédéric Gustave Delacroix (French pronunciation: [leɔ̃ fʁedeʁik ɡystav dəlakʁwa]; 27 December 1867 – 15 October 1929) was a Belgian statesman. Before entering politics, he was a renowned lawyer, and served as president of the Belgian Court of Cassation from 1917 to 1918. In the context of reconstruction after World War I, he was appointed the prime minister and served from 1918 to 1920. During his term, universal suffrage for men was enacted. He was also the minister of Finance from 1918 to 1920.

Achille_Van_Acker

Achille Van Acker (8 April 1898 – 10 July 1975) was a Belgian politician who served three terms as the prime minister of Belgium between 1946 and 1958. A moderate from Flanders, Van Acker was a member of the Belgian Socialist Party (PSB–BSP) and played an important role in the creation of the Belgian welfare state after World War II.