Senate (Belgium) - Qualifications

Qualifications

Article 69 of the Belgian Constitution sets forth four qualifications for senators: each senator must be at least 21 years old, must possess the Belgian nationality, must have the full enjoyment of civil and political rights, and must be resident in Belgium. A senator can only enter into office after having taken the constitutional oath of office, in either of the three official languages in Belgium: Dutch, French or German. They may also choose to take the oath in more than one language. The oath of office is as follows: "I swear to observe the Constitution". (Dutch: Ik zweer de Grondwet na te leven, French: Je jure d'observer la Constitution, German: Ich schwöre, die Verfassung zu befolgen)

Certain offices are incompatible with the office of senator. Members of a regional or community parliament who take the oath of office as a Senator, with the exception of Community Senators, automatically cease to sit in the regional or community parliament, in accordance with the Belgian Electoral Code. The same applies the other way around as well, a senator who takes the oath of office in a regional or community parliament automatically ceases to be a senator. A member of the Senate may not also be a member of the Chamber of Representatives at the same time and Representatives must give up their seats in the Chamber of Representatives in order to join the Senate.

Another important incompatibility is based on the separation of powers. A senator who is appointed as a minister ceases to sit in the Senate and is replaced for as long as they are a minister, but if that individual resigns as a minister, they may return to the Senate, in accordance with Article 50 of the Belgian Constitution. A senator cannot also be a civil servant or a member of the judiciary at the same time, however, a civil servant who is elected to the Senate is entitled to political leave and doesn't have to resign as a civil servant. It is also not possible to be a member of the Federal Parliament and a Member of the European Parliament at the same time.

The Senate does not systematically check whether any of these (or other) incompatibilities apply to its members, however, newly elected senators are informed of the most important incompatibilities at the start of their mandate and it is up to them to verify whether they are in compliance with the regulations regarding incompatibilities and, if not, to determine which office they will abandon.