The N-VA was established as a centre-right party with the main objective of working towards furthering Flemish autonomy and redefining Belgium as a confederal country through gradually obtaining more powers for both Belgian communities separately with the belief that this will pave the way for eventual Flemish independence.[25] During its early years, the N-VA mostly followed the platform of the former VU by characterising itself as a big tent[26] party with Flemish nationalism as its central theme. Furthermore, it emphasized a pragmatic and non-revolutionary image (as opposed to the far-right character of the other main Flemish pro-separatist party Vlaams Belang) in order to legitimise increased Flemish autonomy. The party also espoused non-interventionalist and pro-individual freedom messages in its original platform.[27] In subsequent years, the N-VA moved to the right and adopted a distinctly conservative identity under the leadership of Bart De Wever, who succeeded the founding leader Geert Bourgeois. The party used to be pro-Europeanist,[28][29] and previously advocated deepening ties with the European Union (EU) which the N-VA regarded as an important means to give Flanders more international influence,[30] but has since shifted to a "Eurorealist" or "Eurocritical" stance by calling for democratic reform of the EU and opposing a Federal Superstate.[31][29] The party is known for its insistence on the exclusive use of Dutch, Flanders' sole official language, in dealings with government agencies.[21] The N-VA advocates economic liberalism and immediate tax reductions to stimulate the economy. It also supports stricter law and order and controlled immigration policies, with stronger measures to integrate immigrants in Flanders.[32][33]
The N-VA stems from the right-leaning faction of the People's Union (Dutch: Volksunie, VU), a Belgian political party and broad electoral alliance of Flemish nationalists from both sides of the political spectrum. Towards the end of the 20th century, with a steadily declining electorate and the majority of the party's federalist agenda implemented, friction between several wings of the People's Union emerged. In the beginning of the 1990s, Bert Anciaux became party president and led the party in an ever more progressive direction, combining the social-liberal and social democratic ideas of his iD21-movement with the regionalist course of the People's Union. These experiments were opposed by the more traditional right-wing party base. Many of the VU's more ardent national-conservative members defected to the Vlaams Blok after becoming disgruntled with direction of the party, prompting a further decline in support. Around this time, VU member Geert Bourgeois, de facto leader of the VU's traditionalist and centre-right nationalist wing, put together the so-called "Oranjehofgroep" (which would go on to become the bedrock of the N-VA) which included fellow VU members Frieda Brepoels, Eric Defoort, Ben Weyts and Bart De Wever. The Oranjehofgroep opposed the direction in which the party was being taken by Anciaux and wanted the VU to pursue a more conservative, Flemish nationalist and separatist direction, while the wing helmed by Anciaux was looking to merge the Volksunie with its progressive programme with another political party.[34]
Tension rose towards the end of the decade, as Geert Bourgeois was elected chairman by party members, in preference to the incumbent and progressive Patrik Vankrunkelsven who belonged to the iD21 wing. Factions subsequently clashed multiple times, over the future course of the party and possible support for current state reform negotiations. On 13 October 2001, the party openly split into three factions: the progressive wing around Bert Anciaux, which would later become the Spirit party; the conservative nationalist wing around Geert Bourgeois; and a centrist group opposing the imminent split. An internal referendum was held on the future course of the party. The right wing gained a substantial plurality of 47% and inherited the party infrastructure.[35] Since no faction got an absolute majority, however, the name Volksunie could no longer be used under Belgian constitutional law and the VU was dissolved. The centre-right orientated faction of the VU went on to found the N-VA while the remaining centre-left faction reorganized itself as Spirit and the centrist-liberal wing mostly folded into the Open VLD.
Foundation and the election threshold
In the autumn of 2001, the New Flemish Alliance (Dutch: Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) was officially registered. Seven members of parliament from the People's Union joined the new party. The new party council created a party manifesto and a statement of principles. The first party congress was held in May 2002, voting on a party program and permanent party structures. Geert Bourgeois was elected chairman. The N-VA initially continued some of the VU's former policies.
The party participated in elections for the first time in the 2003 federal elections, but struggled with the election threshold of 5%. This threshold was only reached in West Flanders, the constituency of Geert Bourgeois. With only one federal representative and no senator, the party lost government funding and faced irrelevance.
The cartel was briefly broken when the former right-wing liberal Jean-Marie Dedecker left the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) and entered the N-VA on behalf of the party executive. However, the party congress did not put Dedecker on the election list, instead preferring to continue the cartel with CD&V, who had strongly opposed placing him on a joint cartel list. Dedecker saw this as a vote of no confidence, and left the party after only 10 days, to form his own party, List Dedecker (LDD). Deputy leader Brepoels, who supported Dedecker, stepped down from the party board afterwards.
In the Belgian federal election of 2007 the CD&V/N-VA cartel won a major victory again, with a campaign focusing on good governance, state reform and the division of the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. The N-VA won five seats in the Chamber of Representatives and two seats in the Senate. Yves Leterme initiated coalition talks, which repeatedly stalled (see 2007–2008 Belgian government formation). On 20 March 2008, a new federal government was finally assembled. N-VA did not join this government, but gave its support pending state reform.
The cartel ended definitively on 24 September 2008, due to lack of progression in state reform matters and a different strategy on future negotiations. N-VA left the Flemish Government and gave up its support of Leterme at the federal level.
In December 2018, a political crisis emerged over whether to sign the Global Compact for Migration; N-VA was against this, whereas the other three parties in the federal government supported it. On 4 December 2018, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, announced that the issue would be taken to parliament for a vote.[36] On 5 December, parliament voted 106 to 36 in favor of backing the agreement.[37] Michel stated that he would endorse the pact on behalf of parliament, not on behalf of the divided government.[38] Consequently, N-VA quit the federal government; the other three parties continue as a minority government (Michel II).
During the 2019 federal elections, the party again polled in first place in the Flemish region. However, it also saw a decline in vote share for the first time, falling to 25.6% of the Flemish vote.
Foundation and ideology
The New Flemish Alliance is a relatively young political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. Being one of the successors of the People's Union (Volksunie) party which existed from 1954–2001, it is, however, based on an established political tradition. The N-VA works towards the same goal as its Volksunie predecessor: to redefine Flemish nationalism in a contemporary setting. The N-VA's leader Bart De Wever calls himself a conservative and a nationalist.[39] In its early years, the N-VA argued for a Flemish Republic as a member state of a democratic European confederation. In its initial mission statement, the party stated that the challenges of the 21st century can best be answered by strong communities and by well-developed international co-operation, a position which reflected in their tagline: "Necessary in Flanders, useful in Europe." (Dutch: Nodig in Vlaanderen, nuttig in Europa.)
Presently, the N-VA is generally characterised by political scientists and journalists as conservative,[10]conservative liberal, and economically liberal positioned within the centre-right to the right-wing of the political spectrum with Flemish issues forming the core of its policy ideas and messages.[2][40][41] In recent years the party has also been defined as moderately eurosceptic and more EU-critical compared to its early stance on a European confederation.[42]
During the N-VA's early years, a label for the political orientation for the party was difficult to find. Borrowing from its Volksunie predecessor, the N-VA was initially considered a big tent or catch-all party and a socially liberal nationalist movement that combined left- and right-wing policies. The N-VA also summed up its initial platform with the motto Evolution, not Revolution, arguing for a more pragmatic and less radical approach to Flemish nationalism. The N-VA argued that a nationalist party was needed in the Belgian Federal Parliament both to represent the Flemish people and to work with politicians from all Belgian communities to redefine Belgium as a confederal rather than a federal state by securing more autonomy and political powers for both the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium.[43] This strategy assumed that through successive transfers of powers from the federal level to both regions on the one hand, and the European Union on the other, the Belgian state will gradually become obsolete.
In its 2009 election programme, the N-VA described itself as economically liberal[33] and ecologically green. The party supported public transport, open source software, renewable energy and taxing cars by the number of kilometres driven. It wanted more aid for developing countries and more compulsory measures to require that immigrants learn Dutch. The party has generally been supportive of LGBT rights and backed same-sex marriage in Belgium.[44] It calls for measures to protect weaker members of society but also robust welfare reform and limits to welfare benefits to encourage people back into work and reduce unemployment.[33]
Within the decade of its founding, the N-VA has shifted from a big tent to a conservative party by basing some of its socio-economic policies on that of the British Conservative Party.[45][46][47][48] Political scientist Glen Duerr has described the N-VA's current position as evolving to somewhere between that of Vlaams Belang and CD&V.[49]
Since 2014, the N-VA has been described as continuing to move ideologically further to the right under the influence of Bart De Wever and Theo Francken by adopting tougher stances on immigration, integration of minorities, requirements to obtain Belgian citizenship, law and order, national security and repatriation of foreign born criminals and illegal immigrants.[50][28] In 2015, German weekly Die Zeit published a list of 39 successful radical political parties in Europe. The paper described N-VA as right-wing populist and separatist because it reduces complex political problems to territorial issues.[51][48] N-VA responded that "foreign media find the party difficult to place, so they just label us as extremists." Some commentators have attributed these shifts as a response to a revival in support for the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang.[52] In contrast to other Belgian parties, the N-VA is more critical of the cordon sanitaire placed on the Vlaams Belang party and recently has been more open to negotiating with the party (although accepting former Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang members as defectors into the N-VA still remains controversial within some ranks of the party).[53][54]
Flemish nationalism
The N-VA is part of the broader Flemish nationalist movement and describes its ideology as combining civic and cultural nationalism.[55][56] The party promotes what it calls inclusive nationalism not defined by revolutionary or racist sentiments in which newcomers can become part of the Flemish community through compulsory learning of the Dutch language, Flemish history and Western values.[57] In its current mission statement, the party claims that political divides in Belgium are not a xenophobic conflict but due to the political structure, arguing that Belgium has effectively been divided into two separate democracies since the 20th Century.[58] The N-VA believes the solution is to redefine the Belgian state as a confederal union by means of transferring powers separately to both communities with a smaller government in Brussels. The N-VA argues that Flanders should pursue more independent economic, taxation and foreign policies which it believes will lead to gradual Flemish secessionism. The party also supports a review into financial transfers from Flanders to Brussels and the Wallonia region, arguing that such a policy threatens solidarity between different linguistic groups and has been a burden on Flemish tax payers.[59]
Migration
The party calls for more strict immigration policies and reforms to asylum laws on its platform, proritizing knowledge-based immigration on a points system similar to the Canadian model and including a compulsory "integration contract" for immigrants to learn Dutch and undergo a values and social skills test before receiving Belgian citizenship. It also argues that dual nationals should be stripped of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism and other serious crimes and for the removal of illegal immigrants. The party also established a new government position of Minister for Integration in the Flemish Government after becoming the largest party in the Flemish Parliament.[60][61] In Federal politics, N-VA MP Theo Francken who served as Belgium's Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration sought to tighten laws on family migration and was noted for overseeing a record deportation of illegal immigrants and foreigners with criminal backgrounds.[62] This policy made him the most popular politician[63] The party has also recently become critical of multiculturalism, arguing that it prevents inclusiveness and social cohesion among the population, and has accused French-speaking parties of pushing mass immigration and multicultural policies onto Flanders through Belgian state politics.[64] In 2018, the party opposed the UN Global Compact for Migration and subsequently withdrew its participation in the Belgian government in protest of its passing.[36] Some commentators have attributed these shifts as a response to a revival in support for the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang, which also campaigned against the Migration Compact.[65] The N-VA also supports increased spending and resources for the police and border forces, as well as more resources for counter-terrorism and national security efforts.[66]
However, the N-VA voted at European level against the foundations of the European Green Deal, namely against an extension of the European Union Emissions Trading System to more sectors and against a European carbon border tax.[67] At the Flemish level, the N-VA and the Flemish government are in favor of a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030, while the EU is calling for a 47% reduction, an objective for which Brussels and Wallonia do commit.[68]
Foreign policy
In terms of foreign policy, the N-VA's stance on the European Union began as strongly pro-European in character (which it regarded as an important means of gaining legitimacy for Flemish nationalism on an international stage); in 2010, the party called for "an ever stronger and more united Europe." However, the party has since moved in a Eurocritical direction and takes a more critical stance on European integration by no longer endorsing a European confederation, calling for less EU interference at national decision making levels and for the right for member states to maintain their own cultural identity, more democratic reform of the EU and arguing that economically unstable nations should leave the Eurozone.[28][29][45] The party is critical of the EU's stance on illegal immigration (in particular its handling of the migrant crisis) and the role played by NGOs in picking up migrants. The N-VA argues that the EU should emulate the Australian model of border protection to reinforce its external border and work with nations outside of Europe to stem the flow of illegal migrants arriving by sea.[69]
The N-VA supports continued Belgian participation in NATO and for military cooperation between European states.[70]
Other policies
On economic policy, the N-VA calls for reduced national debts and balanced budget in the Flemish and Federal Parliaments. It has generally advocated for free-market policies and limits on certain government spending. It also supports increased trade and business investment for Flanders.[71]
In the federal elections in 2003, N-VA received 3.1% of the votes, but won only one seat in the federal parliament. In February 2004, they formed an electoral alliance (cartel) with the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). The cartel won the elections for the Flemish Parliament. The N-VA received a total of 6 seats. However, on 21 September 2008 the N-VA lost its faith in the federal government and the following day minister Geert Bourgeois resigned. In a press conference he confirmed the end of the CD&V/N-VA cartel.
In the regional elections of 11 June 2009, N-VA (now on its own after the split of the cartel with CD&V) won an unexpected 13% of the votes, making them the winner of the elections along with their former cartel partner. In the 2009 European elections held on the same day, the N-VA had one MEP elected.
In the 2010 federal elections, N-VA became the largest party of Flanders and of Belgium altogether.
In the 2019 federal elections, the party remained in first place in the Chamber of Representatives, European Parliament and Flemish Parliament, but saw a decline of their vote share for the first time, obtaining 16.03% of the votes in the Federal Parliament. With a decline of 24.7 percent of their votes compared to 2014, the N-VA suffered the biggest election defeat of any Flemish government party in the last fifty years.[74] The decline in votes was in part due to a sudden upsurge in support for the Flemish Interest.
The six biggest Flemish political parties and their results for the House of Representatives (Kamer). From 1978 to 2014, in percentages of the total vote in Belgium.
^Dandoy, Régis (2013). "Belgium". In Dandoy, Régis; Schakel, Arjan (eds.). Regional and National Elections in Western Europe: Territoriality of the Vote in Thirteen Countries. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 54. ISBN978-1-137-02544-9.
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