Language Groups
With the exception of the Senator appointed by the Parliament of the German-speaking Community, all Senators are divided into two language groups: a Dutch language group and a French language group; the former consists of the directly elected members for the Dutch electoral college, the members appointed by the Flemish Parliament and the members co-opted by the two aforementioned groups; the latter consists of the directly elected members for the French electoral college, the members appointed by the Parliament of the French Community and the members co-opted by the two aforementioned groups. There are 41 Senators in the Dutch language group and 29 in the French language group. Just like the German-speaking Community Senator, the Senators by Right are not part of either language group either.
Article 67 of the Belgian Constitution also determines that at least one of the senators in the Dutch language group must be resident in the Brussels-Capital Region on the date of their election, as well as six of the senators in the French language group.
Read more about this topic: Senate (Belgium)
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