Yearbook 2008
 Belgium. At the beginning of the year, talks on
government formation resumed after the June 2007 elections,
which led to a political deadlock. Finally, the parties
agreed on minor constitutional changes, which on certain
issues increased the influence of the regions at the expense
of the federal government. On March 20, nine months after
the election, five parties could form government. The
coalition included the new Prime Minister Yves Letermes
Flemish Christian Democrats CD&V, the outgoing Prime
Minister Guy Verhofstadt's Flemish Liberal VLD and three
French-speaking parties: the Socialist Party PS, Liberal MR
and the Middle Party CDH.
However, the disputes that delayed the formation of
government were no more than temporarily resolved. The
Flemish parties' demands for even more self-government for
the regions remained, and the French-speaking parties in
Wallonia continued to reject the demands. Leterme promised a
proposal for continued constitutional reforms in July, and
when no such thing existed within the appointed time, he
asked for his resignation. But King Albert rejected his
resignation, and the government remained despite a kind of
constant political crisis.
According to
Countryaah reports, the financial group Fortis, the largest bank in Belgium,
was an early victim when the global financial crisis began
to shine in September. The bank was subdivided according to
national borders into a Dutch, a Belgian and a Luxembourg
part. The Dutch part was completely nationalized, while the
other parts were sold to the French major bank BNP Parisbas
for almost EUR 15 billion. But the deal was questioned by
shareholders in Belgium, and sales grew to a scandal when
the Supreme Court in December ruled that politicians had
tried to influence the legal process that was initiated. The
result was that the government fell. Just before the turn of
the year, the five coalition parties succeeded in forming a
new government, now with CD&V's Herman Van Rompuy as prime
minister.
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