Click here for the information sheet provided at the event, regarding the linguistic situation in Brussels (EN).
Cliquez ici pour une synthèse sélective des conclusions du débat (FR)

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the proportion of Brussels residents who speak both French and Dutch as considerably declined. Those speaking English has barely increased. In the meantime, these languages have become increasingly important in terms of integration, as well as for social, economic and cultural participation, as can be seen in the number of jobs in which knowledge of two or three languages are a requirement.

In the context of the regional elections in May 2019, the Marnix Plan organised a public debate between the leaders of the political parties of Brussels (têtes de listes/lijsttrekkers). The debate took place on 26th April 2019 at the Bourse de Bruxelles with the following panel :

The debate consisted of two rounds and was structured around two main questions :

• What initiatives do you consider to be the most urgent or the most promising as a means of meeting the linguistic challenges and opportunities in Brussels ?
• What kinds of institutional reforms do you consider necessary in order to enable Brussels to meet its linguistic needs ?

In addition to the political party delegates, we also welcomed the rectors of the ULB and the VUB, Yvon Englert and Caroline Pauwels, who presented the collaborative project for the creation of a trilingual school in Brussels.