Editing Flanders (section)

==== Flemish autonomy ====
{{main|State reform in Belgium|2007–2011 Belgian political crisis|Partition of Belgium}}

After World War II, the differences between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians became clear in a number of conflicts, such as the [[Royal Question]], the question whether King Leopold III should return (which most Flemings supported but Walloons did not) and the use of Dutch in the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]]. As a result, several [[State reform in Belgium|state reforms]] took place in the second half of the 20th century, which transformed the unitary Belgium into a federal state with [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|communities, regions and language areas]]. This resulted also in the establishment of a [[Flemish Parliament]] and [[Flemish Government|Government]]. During the 1970s, all major political parties split into a Dutch and French-speaking party.

Several Flemish parties still advocate for more Flemish autonomy, some even for Flemish independence (see [[Partition of Belgium]]), 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 [[Flemish Secession hoax|spoof news broadcast]] by the Belgian Francophone public broadcasting station [[RTBF]] announced that Flanders had decided to declare independence from Belgium.

The [[Belgian federal election, 2007|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 votes as well as seats in the [[Belgian federal parliament]]. This was especially the case for [[Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams|Christian Democratic and Flemish]] and [[New Flemish Alliance]] (N-VA) (who had participated on a shared [[electoral list]]). The trend continued during the [[Belgian regional elections, 2009|2009 regional elections]], where CD&V and N-VA were the clear winners in Flanders, and N-VA became even the largest party in Flanders and Belgium during the [[Belgian federal election, 2010|2010 federal elections]], followed by the [[2010–2011 Belgian government formation|longest-ever government formation]] after which the [[Di Rupo I Government]] was formed excluding N-VA. Eight parties agreed on a [[Sixth Belgian state reform|sixth state reform]] which aim to solve the disputes between Flemings and French-speakers. However, the [[Belgian provincial and municipal elections, 2012|2012 provincial and municipal elections]] continued the trend of N-VA becoming the biggest party in Flanders.

However, sociological studies show no parallel between the rise of nationalist parties and popular support for their agenda. Instead, a recent study revealed a majority in favour of returning regional competences to the federal level.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20160124_02088008 |title=Staatshervorming richting België wint aan politieke steun |language=nl |trans-title=State reform towards Belgium is gaining political support |date=25 January 2016 |author=Peter De Lobel |work=De Standaard |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312005648/http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20160124_02088008 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>