Center Harmel

The first Walloon National congress had decided for the federalism in 1945. Five deputies PSC, relatively hostile with this step, whose three Flemings Théo Lefèvre, Gerard Van de Daele, Alphonsus Verbist and two Walloons Jean Duvieusart and Pierre Kofferschlager (representing makes of it the German minority in the Province of Liege) supported the private bill of Pierre Harmel deposited with the Room in order to create a Research center for the national solution of the problems social, political and legal in Walloon regions and Flemish (it is Pierre Nothomb which had required that plural be used).

A unanimous vote

This proposal will be voted on May 3rd 1948. The " Center" will carry the name of Center Harmel of the name of its initiator Pierre Harmel who devienda Prime Minister in the Sixties and composed of 18 members of Parliament and 24 extra-parlmementaires named by the Parliament. It is subdivided in 4 sections: demographic, economic, moral and cultural, legal policy and administrative. Among the opponents oin finds however François Van Belle, important figure of the Walloon movement.

It is created for two years, but its existence is extended until December 1953. The closing session takes place on October 25th 1955 and a final report is presented on April 25th 1958 in the parliamentary Documents .

Conclusions of the Center

From the point of view of demography , noting a Walloon handicap, the Center proposes a system of Family benefits decentralized.

As regards economy , the Center puts forward measures against the Structural unemployment in Flanders as well as the development of new industries in this area and the support of the companies in Wallonia.

In the cultural field the Center estimates that there exists only one Walloon cultural community and a Flemish community and that there is no cultural community of Brussels. He thinks that the teaching of the Histoire of Belgium must be based on the two great areas by taking account of the large currents of civilization.

In political matters , Jean Van Crombrugge, one of the Walloon rapporteurs proposes to fix the linguistic Frontière definitively by a referendum in the lawsuits (Mouscron, Enghien and Fourons). The idea was also to make each province homogeneous in the field of the language.

Work of the Center was followed little by the press and the political parties played only one secondary part there.

However, in particular in the question of the linguistic Frontière the proposals of the Center will have effects on parliamentary works, just as some other proposals outlining a kind of federalism timid by the creation of a Flemish cultural Conseil and of a Walloon cultural Conseil following the example Vlaaams Economisch Verbond and Walloon Economic council which existed since longer.

See too

Bibliography and sources

parliamentary Documents, Room of the representatives n° 940, session 1957-1958
MP Herremans, the Center Harmel , weekly Mail of the CRISP, December 1961
Undermined Alzemberg Karny and Lili Rochette-Russian, Center Harmel , article of the Encyclopédie of the Walloon Movement, IJD, Charleroi, 2000, Volume I, pp. 241-242.
Meynaud, ladrière and Perin, the political decision in Belgium , CRISP Brussels, 1965.

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