<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 07 September 2009 - Volume 02<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="mailto:lowlands@lowlands-l.net">lowlands@lowlands-l.net</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a></span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
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===========================================<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc.</span> <span class="go"><<a href="mailto:roger.thijs@euro-support.be">roger.thijs@euro-support.be</a>></span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="gI">LL-L "Language politics" 2009.09.05 (02) [EN]<br><br></span><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="im">
<div><font size="2">>
From: <span style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc.</span> <span><<a href="mailto:roger.thijs@euro-support.be" target="_blank">roger.thijs@euro-support.be</a>></span><br>> Subject: LL-L Language
Politics</font></div>
</div><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="2">> .... One of the traditional political events, the first Sunday
of September, since about 30 years, is a hiking/biking tour in the ring of
Flemish municipalities around Brussels:<br>> </font><a href="http://www.de-gordel.be/" target="_blank"><font size="2">http://www.de-gordel.be/</font></a><div class="im"><br><font size="2">> </font><a href="http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/edu/gordel.pdf" target="_blank"><font size="2">http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/edu/gordel.pdf</font></a><font size="2"> (5
Mb)<br>> Last year the French started with a, still modest, counter-event, at
the very same day, at the inside of the borders of the Brussels region:<br>>
</font><a href="http://www.la-bretelle.be/" target="_blank"><font size="2">http://www.la-bretelle.be/</font></a><br><font size="2">> It is better
they focus on that and stop spreading pushpins on the Flemish biking
routes.<br>> "<strong>Gordel</strong>" in Dutch = belt ("riem" in my
Limburgish)<br>> "<strong>Bretelle</strong>(s)" in French = suspenders
("pertelle" in my Limburgish)<br>> "Bretelle" is a kind of a carnival
opposite to "gordel".<br>> The political opposite term to the Flemish
"gordel", encircling and containing the Brussels belly, is
"<strong>carcan</strong>", straitjacket, in French.<br>> More official terms
are "<strong>rand</strong>" in Dutch and "<strong>périphérie</strong>" in
French. Often these terms are used restrictively to just 6 Flemish villages
around Brussels, with a protection status (called "faciliteiten" "facilités")
for the French speakers.</font></div></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The Flemish "<strong>Gordel</strong>" event (<strong>29th</strong> year) at
the outside around Brussels got <strong>68000</strong> participants, including
French-speakers (liking the well-organized event, without supporting the
political goals).</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/1.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/1.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/2.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/2.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The French "<strong>Bretelle</strong>" counter-event (<strong>2d</strong>
year) on the very same day at the inside of the borders of Brussels got
<strong>200</strong> participants.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/bret.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/bret.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A recurring action point each year (less hot than last year) is the split
of the <strong>BHV-district</strong>.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The BHV (<strong>Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde</strong>) district is as well a
judicial district as also an electoral district.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">It overlaps as well the bilingual Brussels capital region
(<strong>B</strong>) as also the unilingual Dutch (& Brabantish)
language area (<strong>HV</strong>) around Brussels in the West of the province
of Flemish Brabant.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A reason for demanding the split from the Flemish site is to stop the
French-language expansion of Brussels. Also new Flemish electoral law turned
maintening the district BHV unconstitutional.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A reason for refusing the split from the French site is their fear that the
language protection in the 6 "randgemeenten", municipalities outside the border
of Brussels, with facilities for the French risks to be jeopardized.
They also fear that breaking all bridges along regional borders will easy a
complete split of this kingdom.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Negotiations failed last year since the Flemish were demanding, while the
French had noting to ask for, so no decent compromise was possible.
The exchange they asked for, a cession of territory from Flanders to
Brussels, was not accepable for the Flemish.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A new word in "Belgian Dutch" is "<strong>Maddens doctrine</strong>"</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">It got its name from an article in De Standaard from the 3d
of March.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/maddens.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.euro-support.be/tmp/gordel/maddens.pdf</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Maddens proposes to smoke out the French budgetwise and keep the
<strong>BHV-issue</strong> in the refrigerator, till the squeezed French are
forced to the negotiation table, with something to ask for from their
side.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddens-doctrine" target="_blank">http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddens-doctrine</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">and <a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Maddens" target="_blank">http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Maddens</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Regards,</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Roger</div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
•
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