Ursula von der Leyen’s fondest childhood memories are of growing up in her ‘beautiful’ Tervuren. The European Commission president regularly breathes the fresh air, jogging with bodyguards in the forest near her former home. But will Flanders now force Tervuren to disappear, merging with a neighbouring small town?
Having spent the first thirteen years of her life in ‘beautiful’ Tervuren, von der Leyen returns frequently for fresher air than stuffy Brussels.
Living and breathing the spirit of Europe, von der Leyen traveled to the European school by day but played with local Tervuren children on her return. Last summer, she even shared Tervuren’s beauty with her commissioners, organising a College seminar.
Tervuren, like many Flemish communes, may no longer exist when von der Leyen’s mandate ends in 2029. There were 2,739 municipalities when Belgium won its independence from the Netherlands in 1831. That number has decreased to 581 municipalities today, notably with a great culling in 1977 of communes from 2,359 to 596.
Following Belgium’s regional elections in June, the Flemish nationalist N-VA now wants to cut Flanders’ 300 communes, obliging Tervuren’s 23,077 inhabitants, and other communes under 40,000, to merge.
Politics f-word fusion
Tervuren residents feel betrayed by decisions being made over their heads. No merger plans were presented by the N-VA before the June elections.
Tervurenaars are not in favour of a ‘fusie’—an f-word, N-VA mayor Marc Charlier told the town council last year when plans for an expensive merger study sneaked out.
Charlier has the thankless duty of investigating further, especially if Flanders obliges towns under 40,000 to merge. “We should first do our homework before making statements for or against,” Charlier said.
Town hall then stated the public would be “closely involved” at every stage, albeit with no talk of holding a referendum.
The only option appears to be Overijse, which has 25,970 residents. Neither Tervuren’s Flemish nor Kraainem’s and Wezembeek-Oppem’s mainly French-speaking politicians are considering fusing with each other. On the other hand, a merger with Overijse wouldn’t overly threaten the chances of Tervuren’s Flemish politicians.
Politically, there’s a good match for the Flemish nationalist N-VA, which provides, or helps provide, the mayor in both Tervuren and Overijse.
Both communes traditionally have similar core 20% N-VA vote shares at federal, Flemish, and European elections in June. Groen and Flemish Catholics, too, are currently in a coalition with the N-VA in both communes.
Tervuren’s N-VA also profits from up to 10% more support in October, thanks to Vlaams Belang, which doesn’t normally stand in Tervuren’s town council elections.
With a combined population of 47,047, the new mayor of Tervuren and Overijse would then earn €110,380 per year—a decent income, especially as Belgian local politicians often enjoy second daytime jobs.
Given the electoral realities, the final decision likely depends less on Tervuren’s 14,164 registered voters. Certainly not part of the decision is Tervuren’s sizeable community of 44% non-Belgians, who do not even have representation on the town council.
The decisive factor will be coalition politics after the Sunday, October 13 elections and whether Groen once again chooses a Flemish nationalist (N-VA) mayor, or opts for the liberal (OpenVLD) or Catholic (CD&V).
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Flanders’ Extravagant Cycle Bridge
Read also: Flanders’ Extravagant Cycle Bridge Almost Ready, writes Dafydd ab Iago
Flanders’ Extravagant Cycle Bridge bridge, weighing in at 290 tons, is now expected to be placed over the weekend of 21-22 September.
And it could be officially opened towards the end of October, once all works are completed.
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More local news from Tervuren+ is available at https://www.bravenews.eu/tervuren. Tervuren+ is also available as a no-chat WhatsApp News Channel at: https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaH6eCYFsn0pXGVLF22r or via Facebook at https://facebook.com/tervurenplus.
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