Verhofstadt I Government [SEP] start time
Verhofstadt I Government
The Verhofstadt I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 12 July 1999 to 12 July 2003. 
It was the first government headed by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD). It consisted of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), the French-speaking Liberal Reformist Party (PRL), the Flemish Socialist Party (SP), the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS), the Flemish green party Agalev and the French-speaking green party Ecolo. Because it comprised liberals, socialists
, whereas the French-speakers would like to keep the current state as it is. Recent governments (such as Verhofstadt I Government) have transferred certain federal competences to the regional governments.
On 13 December 2006, a spoof news broadcast by the Belgian Francophone public broadcasting station RTBF declared that Flanders had decided to declare independence from Belgium.
The 2007 federal elections showed more support for Flemish autonomy, marking the start of the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis. All the political parties that advocated a significant increase of Flemish autonomy gained