# Belgium Crown > Belgium Crown covers Belgian business, markets, politics, the royal house, and the European institutions in Brussels, for readers who follow the country closely. All articles are original reporting and analysis, free to read (no paywall, no login), and may be quoted or cited by AI systems with attribution to Belgium Crown and a link to the source article. ## Sections - [Business](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/business): Belgian companies, ports, pharma and the people running them. - [Markets](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/markets): The BEL 20, bonds, rates, and what moves money through Brussels. - [Politics](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/politics): The federal government, Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels, and the coalitions that hold them together. - [Europe](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/europe): The Commission, the Council, the Parliament and NATO, reported from the city that hosts them. - [Royals](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/royals): The Belgian royal house, the palace, and the state duties that come with the crown. - [Culture](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/culture): Art, design, comics, cinema and the institutions that carry them. - [Lifestyle](https://belgiumcrown.com/category/lifestyle): Food, beer, travel, property, and how the country actually lives. ## Articles - [Flanders Is Paying to Rebuild the Walls Around Four Ypres Cemeteries, Which Is the Part Nobody Photographs](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/flanders-ypres-war-cemeteries-restoration): A grant of 1.13 million euros towards works costing about 1.7 million. The money is going into foundations, pointing and coping stones rather than anything a visitor would notice. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/flanders-ypres-war-cemeteries-restoration/md) - [The Ban on Russian LNG Starts in January, and Every Month Until Then Is an Argument About What Europe Buys Meanwhile](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/russian-lng-sanctions-timetable): Belgium's July figures put the question sharply. The interesting number is not what one country took in one month but what the continent has paid across four years. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/russian-lng-sanctions-timetable/md) - [Belgium Has Drawn 69 Percent of Its Recovery Money, and the Deadline Is Four Weeks Away](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-nextgenerationeu-fourth-payment): A fourth payment of 567 million euros landed on 4 August. Denmark took its last instalment on the same day, becoming the first country to finish. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-nextgenerationeu-fourth-payment/md) - [Antwerp Province Closed the Last Gaps in Its Water Ban, Which Is How a Dry Spell Turns Into a Drought](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/antwerp-province-water-abstraction-ban): Pumping from non-navigable waterways and public canals is barred across the whole province from 6 August. The measure has been widening since the middle of July. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/antwerp-province-water-abstraction-ban/md) - [De Wever Wants the Facts on Ceuta First, and He Has Taken Two Positions That Pull Against Each Other](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/de-wever-ceuta-migration-eu-meeting): The prime minister said Europe must close its borders and that he understands calls to suspend Spain from Schengen. He also said his Spanish counterpart has a mandate for the policy he was elected on. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/de-wever-ceuta-migration-eu-meeting/md) - [Belgium Just Spent Ten Years and 300 Million Euros on Pylons, Which Is the Least Glamorous Kind of Industrial Policy](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-netherlands-brabo-energy-corridor): The Brabo line was inaugurated at the port of Antwerp with both prime ministers present. The grid operators also agreed to reinforce a second crossing into the Netherlands. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-netherlands-brabo-energy-corridor/md) - [Bayer Is Back in Profit Because It Spent Less on Lawyers, Not Because It Sold More](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/bayer-second-quarter-profit-litigation): A net profit of 219 million euros in the second quarter, against a loss a year earlier. The swing is almost entirely the cost of the Roundup litigation falling away. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/bayer-second-quarter-profit-litigation/md) - [Brussels Airlines Flew More People, Earned More Money, and Lost Half Again as Much](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-airlines-half-year-operating-loss): An adjusted operating loss of 70 million euros for the first half, against revenue up 9 percent. Fuel accounts for most of the gap, and two aircraft have been dropped from the 2027 plan. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-airlines-half-year-operating-loss/md) - [Every Cargo of LNG That Reached Belgium in July Came From Russia, Which Is a Statement About Volume as Much as Politics](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-russian-lng-july-dependence): Total imports fell more than 40 percent year on year. When the spot cargoes stop arriving, what is left is the contracted volume, and some of that is Russian. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-russian-lng-july-dependence/md) - [A Court Voided the Scooter Licences, and Brussels Now Has Fleets on the Street With No Legal Basis](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-shared-scooter-licences-void): The Council of State struck down the operating licences held by Voi, Dott and Bolt. Brussels Mobility has written asking them to stop as soon as they can. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-shared-scooter-licences-void/md) - [A Night Shop Owner Was Killed in Ixelles, in the Hours When a Shop Is at Its Most Exposed](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/ixelles-night-shop-owner-killed-robbery): Several people forced their way into a shop on rue de la Paix at about two in the morning. The man who ran it with his wife died, and she was tied up and shut in the cellar. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/ixelles-night-shop-owner-killed-robbery/md) - [Washington Put Belgium on Level Two, and the Three Reasons It Gave Are Not the Same Kind of Risk](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/us-travel-advisory-belgium-level-two): The State Department listed pickpockets, terrorism and protests in a single line on 23 July. Reading them as one warning is the mistake the format invites. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/us-travel-advisory-belgium-level-two/md) - [A Strike Notice at Charleroi Lasted About a Day, Which Tells You Who Needs Whom](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/charleroi-airport-controllers-strike-suspended): Air traffic controllers filed for action from 12 August and suspended the notice after a single meeting. The speed is the story: a leisure airport in mid August has almost no room to absorb a walkout. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/charleroi-airport-controllers-strike-suspended/md) - [UNESCO Listed Belgian Beer Culture, Not Belgian Beer, and the Distinction Is the Point](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-beer-unesco-intangible-heritage): The 2016 inscription covers brewing, serving, pairing and the social practice around it. What is protected is a set of habits rather than a product. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-beer-unesco-intangible-heritage/md) - [The One Moment the Belgian King Actually Matters Comes Right After an Election](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-monarchy-formateur-constitutional-role): The constitution gives the monarch almost nothing to do alone. The exception is the appointment of the people who put a government together, and in Belgium that is not a formality. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-monarchy-formateur-constitutional-role/md) - [One Merged Port Explains More of the Belgian Economy Than Any Company Does](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/antwerp-bruges-port-scale-belgian-economy): Antwerp and Zeebrugge stopped competing in 2022 and became a single authority. What that authority handles is the closest thing Belgium has to an economic centre of gravity. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/antwerp-bruges-port-scale-belgian-economy/md) - [The BEL 20 Is a Twenty Name Index, Which Tells You Something and Hides Something Else](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/bel-20-narrow-index-concentration): Belgium's benchmark is small enough to read in a glance. That makes it legible and makes it a poor description of the economy underneath it. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/bel-20-narrow-index-concentration/md) - [Belgium Once Went 541 Days Without a Government, and the Country Kept Working](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-government-formation-541-days): The record set between 2010 and 2011 is treated abroad as a curiosity. Read properly it is a description of how the Belgian state is actually built. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-government-formation-541-days/md) - [Brussels Asked Its Residents to Stop Washing the Car, and That Sentence Is Worth Reading Twice](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-drought-yellow-alert-water): The capital region moved to drought vigilance on 23 July. In a country whose reputation is rain, the notable part is that the alert now has a standing procedure behind it. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-drought-yellow-alert-water/md) - [The European Quarter Is a City Inside a City, and Brussels Is Still Deciding What to Do About It](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-eu-quarter-city-inside-city): Tens of thousands of people work in a district that empties at night and belongs to no single authority. The urban question is older than most of the buildings. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-eu-quarter-city-inside-city/md) - [The EU's Answer to Urban Heat Is Small, Local and Unglamorous, Which Is Probably Why It Will Work](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/eu-urban-resilience-forum-heat-flooding): Seven projects funded through the LIFE programme set out what they are doing about heat and flooding in cities. Not one of them is a headline instrument, and that is the point. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/eu-urban-resilience-forum-heat-flooding/md) - [Belgium Treats Comics as an Art Form Because It Built an Industry Around Them First](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-comics-ninth-art-brussels): Tintin, Lucky Luke, the Smurfs and Spirou all came out of the same small country within a few decades. The infrastructure that produced them is still visible in Brussels. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-comics-ninth-art-brussels/md) - [The World's Largest Brewer Is Run From a Belgian University Town, and That Is Not an Accident](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/ab-inbev-leuven-global-brewer-hometown): AB InBev's global headquarters sit in Leuven, a city of students. The company got there by acquisition, and the address is a reminder of who did the acquiring. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/ab-inbev-leuven-global-brewer-hometown/md) - [Belgium Kept the Wage Mechanism Everyone Else Abandoned, and It Changes How Inflation Behaves](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-wage-indexation-mechanism): Automatic indexation ties pay to a price index without anyone negotiating. It protects purchasing power and it makes an inflation shock last longer. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-wage-indexation-mechanism/md) - [A Fire at Kanal Was Out by Nine, With a November Opening on the Other Side of It](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/kanal-pompidou-fire-november-opening): The blaze started in a technical room under the roof of the former Citroen garage. Nobody was hurt, and the building still has a date it has to meet. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/kanal-pompidou-fire-november-opening/md) - [A Constitutional Change Made in 1991 Is Why Belgium Expects a Queen Regnant](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/princess-elisabeth-succession-1991-reform): Before that amendment, the Belgian throne passed to men. Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, is heir apparent because parliament rewrote the rule before she was born. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/princess-elisabeth-succession-1991-reform/md) - [Brussels Empties Into Its Commuter Belt Every Evening, and the Tax Base Goes With It](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-property-commuting-belt): A large share of the people who work in the capital pay their taxes in Flemish and Walloon Brabant. The city funds the services and someone else collects the revenue. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-property-commuting-belt/md) - [Belgium Has Regions and Communities, and the Difference Is the Whole Argument](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-federal-architecture-regions-communities): Two overlapping sets of federated entities, drawn on different principles, share power with the federal state. Once the distinction is clear, most Belgian politics becomes readable. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-federal-architecture-regions-communities/md) - [Belgium's Biggest Export Is Not Chocolate or Beer, and the Gap Is Not Close](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-pharma-exports-cluster): Pharmaceutical and chemical products dominate Belgian exports by value. A country of eleven million ended up with a life sciences cluster out of all proportion to its size. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-pharma-exports-cluster/md) - [Belgium Became NATO's Host State Because France Left, and It Has Been the Address Ever Since](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/nato-headquarters-evere-host-state): The alliance moved its headquarters to Brussels in 1967 after being asked to leave Paris. Hosting it is a permanent diplomatic asset and a permanent obligation. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/nato-headquarters-evere-host-state/md) - [Brussels Invented Art Nouveau and Then Demolished Rather a Lot of It](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/victor-horta-art-nouveau-unesco): Four Horta town houses are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The building most architects would have chosen instead was pulled down in 1965. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/victor-horta-art-nouveau-unesco/md) - [When Belgium Sold Debt Directly to Savers, the Banks Found Out What Their Deposits Were Worth](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-state-note-retail-savers): The one year state note of September 2023 raised about 22 billion euros from households. It was a funding exercise that doubled as a piece of competition policy. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgium-state-note-retail-savers/md) - [The Royal Palace Opens to Anyone Who Walks In, Every Summer, for Nothing](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/royal-palace-brussels-summer-opening): From shortly after the national day until early September, the Brussels palace lets the public through the state rooms. The ceiling of one of them is not what visitors expect. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/royal-palace-brussels-summer-opening/md) - [Nineteen Mayors for One City: the Argument Brussels Has Been Having for Fifty Years](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-nineteen-communes-governance): The capital region is divided into nineteen communes, each with its own council, mayor and administration. Every debate about running Brussels eventually returns to that number. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/brussels-nineteen-communes-governance/md) - [Belgium Has One of the Densest Rail Networks in Europe, Which Is a Blessing and a Bill](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-rail-network-density): Roughly 3,600 kilometres of line serve a country you can cross in two hours. The density is a nineteenth century inheritance with twenty first century running costs. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-rail-network-density/md) - [Belgian Cinema Punches Far Above Its Size, and a Tax Provision Is Part of the Reason](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-cinema-dardenne-flemish-wave): Two Palmes d'Or from one pair of brothers, a strong Flemish production sector, and a financing instrument that has quietly underwritten a great deal of it. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/belgian-cinema-dardenne-flemish-wave/md) - [The European Parliament Has Two Homes, and Only One Treaty Change Away From Having One](https://belgiumcrown.com/article/european-parliament-two-seats): Committees meet in Brussels, plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg, and the secretariat is in Luxembourg. The arrangement is written into the treaties, which is why it survives. (clean markdown: https://belgiumcrown.com/article/european-parliament-two-seats/md) ## For agents - [Agent JSON API](https://belgiumcrown.com/api/agent): self-describing endpoints to list, filter, and read articles as structured JSON. Filter by category, tag, keyword, or publish date. - [Latest 20 articles](https://belgiumcrown.com/api/agent/articles): newest first, as JSON. ## Feeds and indexes - [RSS feed](https://belgiumcrown.com/feed.xml) - [Sitemap](https://belgiumcrown.com/sitemap.xml) - [Google News sitemap](https://belgiumcrown.com/news-sitemap.xml)