North America
Belgian foreign policy: bilateral relations
1/ North America/Canada: competences of the Directorate-General for Bilateral Affairs
Belgium’s bilateral relations cover the United States and Canada, in parallel with European Union Member States up to the major round of enlargement of 2004, western European countries which are not EU members (Norway, Iceland and Switzerland), and a number of European microstates (Holy See, Andorra, San Marino and Monaco).
As such, the bilateral Belgian embassies accredited in these two countries, as well as the consulates general and diplomatic consulates (New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Montréal and Toronto), fall under the remit of the Directorate-General for Bilateral Affairs.
The Directorate’s main mission is to continuously monitor events of a political and/or economic nature reported by Belgian embassies and consulates general. Based on this information, it then prepares the mission dossiers of the Minster for Foreign Affairs, members of government and senior civil servants in collaboration with the Directorates responsible for the specific subject at hand.
Since the Directorate-General for Bilateral Affairs is specialised in handling matters involving these individual countries’ relations with Belgium (so-called bilateral affairs), the scope of its remit often overlaps with regional political dossiers as well as with subject-specific dossiers managed by other Directorates. This is in particular the case for regional political issues such as those regarding Afghanistan/Pakistan, Iran, the Middle East Peace Process, the Balkan countries, relations with Eastern Europe, countries in the African Great Lakes region and Latin America. In addition, among many other things the Directorate also indirectly deals with matters related to defence, economics, trade, climate change and energy.
Specifically bilateral issues, on the other hand, cover a wide variety of topics such as Belgium’s policy approach for major international organisations and its candidacy for certain posts (United Nations, Council of Europe, OECD, IAEA, UN Human Rights Council, NATO, etc.), as well as matters related to Belgium’s commercial and economic interests in one of the countries falling under the remit of the bilateral relationship (specifically in the case of Belgian investments abroad and foreign investments in Belgium). There are also one-off cases involving political, cultural, scientific or defence matters which may only have a circumstantial link with the country in question, cases affecting Belgian tax policy such as the tax treatment of savings, and participation in bilateral conferences. The Directorate-General for Bilateral Affairs also maintains numerous contacts making it possible to efficiently deal with occasional problems and discuss broader international issues.
Reciprocally, the bilateral embassies of these countries in Belgium call on this Unit of the Directorate to participate in the various initiatives and events they organise. In this context, it is responsible for formally representing the foreign affairs administration at the various receptions held at these embassies, it meets with and informs the civil servants and embassies of these countries on the positions taken by Belgium with regard to foreign policy, and it prepares meetings of senior civil servants.
Although the Belgian federal authorities deal with political relations between Belgium and the North American countries, foreign trade promotion is a regional competence while cultural and educational matters fall under the remit of Belgium’s linguistic communities. Abroad in the field, Belgium’s efforts to attract foreign investment are handled by its embassies and consulates general, and possibly the various regions if they are represented in the country in question.
2/ Subject areas
With the exception of the United States and Canada, the vast majority of Belgium’s relations with the countries in the region are determined by Belgium’s European interests.
Regarding the Unites States and Canada
Belgium closely follows and contributes to the transatlantic dialogue which regularly brings together the European Union and the United States or Canada. This is done through official and non-official summits of heads of state and ongoing discussions on dossiers involving politics, economics and commercial concerns, justice and domestic affairs. Such discussions are critical for all parties as they bring together groups of countries with a shared cultural and historic base and, once varying points of view have been harmonised, they can serve to significantly impact world affairs through major multilateral initiatives. Topics can range from regional political problems such as the Middle East Peace Process, relations between the West and Iran and adopting a coherent approach as regards Afghanistan and Pakistan, to relations with the two new behemoths of the 21st century, China and India. Specific subject areas being dealt with cover all contemporary issues and include climate change, energy security, human rights, disarmament, and relations with neighbouring countries.
Lastly, as Belgium has a long tradition of working with countries in the Great Lakes area of Africa and as it has widely-recognised expertise in dealing with that part of the continent, it is worthwhile mentioning the influence it can wield in shaping North American policies aimed at that region.
