Belgian Francophones and Flemings More Alike

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001172

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SOCI BE
SUBJECT: Belgian Francophones and Flemings More Alike
than they Thought, Poll Shows



1. Summary: Joint polling by French-language and Dutch-
language newspapers in Belgium has revealed interesting
trends in Flemish, Walloon, and Bruxellois thinking about
their fellow citizens. Some of the results were
unsurprising: Dutch-speakers were considered by most
respondents as being generally racist, industrious, and
conservative. Most of those polled from all three regions
considered French-speakers to be tolerant, indolent, and
relatively free-spirited. Respondents from each
linguistic group assessed themselves as being "modest,"
while finding speakers of the other language "arrogant."
The polls also indicated that, despite the presence of a
separatist strain among some Belgians (particularly in
Flanders),almost all Belgians want their country to
remain united and believe it will do so in the years and
decades to come. End summary

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Different priorities, Different Identities:
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2. The surveys were conducted and published jointly by "Le
Soir," the foremost French-language newspaper in Belgium
(about 97,500 readers) and by "De Standaard," one of the
major Dutch-language newspapers (about 85,000 readers),as
well as a polling company called TNS Media. The survey
included the responses of 2002 Belgians of over 15 years
of age, of which 1161 were Dutch-speakers and 841 were
French-speakers, including 193 Bruxellois. The margin of
error was 2.2 percent.


3. The surveys found many interesting variations between
the perceptions of different Belgians regarding societal
problems. Flemish Belgians thought racism was the most
pressing issue in their part of the country, whereas
francophone Belgians had their mind on one seemingly
pressing and one apparently not so vital issue. Not
surprisingly for a region where the jobless rate often is
over 25 percent, they thought unemployment was the
country's top problem. The number two top issue was
striking: the carnage on Belgium's excellent road network.
Flemings also ranked the loss of traditional values in
society as a key issue, particularly as it concerned the
decline of the family. Francophones thought this was of
little importance.


4. In terms of personal identity, Flemings were three
times more likely than their Walloon counterparts to
identify first with their own region instead of with their
country. On the other hand, more francophones described
themselves simply as "European." This was especially true
for those living in Brussels, the capital of "Europe."

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Down with the King, and Up with Federalism:
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5. Belgians from different regions disagreed somewhat
about the role of the monarchy in Belgium. Flemings were
far more likely than their Walloon counterparts to say
that the king should be limited to a purely symbolic role
and were much less inclined to consider the monarchy as a
crucial unifying tradition for Belgium. Flemings also
expressed a much stronger desire for increasing regional
autonomy than did French-speakers. The regionalist agenda
is typically more popular among Flemish politicians, some
of whom are currently calling for a regionalization of
unemployment services and other matters generally dealt
with at the federal level.

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Attitudes and Values:
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6. In terms of language skills, the Flemings are more
confident in their ability to hold their own in a
conversation in the other national language than are
Walloons by a large margin. While most Belgians on both
sides said they think speaking the other language is
important, Flemings were more likely to consider traveling
to the other side of the linguistic border to further
their language skills. A majority of Belgians from all
three regions considered English to be "more important" to
learn than the other national language.


7. In questions of personality, residents of each region
tended to view their own as "modest" and residents of
other regions as "arrogant." Walloons saw Flemings as

relatively racist, reserved, serious, hard-working, and
religious. Flemings judged Walloons to be generally lazy,
loud, ethnically tolerant, and irreligious. The survey
also identified some interesting similarities between the
regions' citizens. They all said they valued family most
in life, followed by friends, free time for recreation,
and then work. They also showed similar, moderate levels
of priority given to politics and religion.

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Looking Toward the Future:
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8. The pollsters discovered that most Belgians had a
similar level of confidence in the unity of their country
in the years to come. While the vast majority of
respondents from the three regions said they wanted
Belgium to remain united, just 70 percent thought the
country actually would exist as it currently does two
decades from now, a testament to the truly split nature of
the country and the vague uncertainty it inspires in some
of its citizens. That said, the pollsters and most
commentators have been putting the best possible face on
things. Having more than two thirds of the people say
they expected the country to exist, was much better news
than they expected.
IMBRIE