Intergovernmental Relations on Immigrant Integration in Belgium

This Paper examines the features of intergovernmental relations (IGR) on immigrant integration in Belgium and investigates the dynamics that shape these features. While relying upon the general literature on intergovernmental relations to formulate hypotheses about the nature and dynamics of coordination, the paper also tests more recent hypotheses. We focus in particular on the pressures of substate claims for distinctiveness and Europeanisation to account for the features of IGR. The Belgian case-study demonstrates that more than the type of multi-level arrangement (federal versus regionalised states), the constitutional division of power for particular policies (id est, shared or exclusive) is the strongest predictor of the features of IGR on immigrant integration. While in line with classical institutionalist approaches to the study of IGR, it shows the importance of single case-studies and the study of cross-sectoral policies as immigrant integration for the study of IGR. The paper further also demonstrates that substate claims for distinctiveness clearly foster the understanding of the dynamics of IGR, albeit not in a classical way. Since most Flemish political parties can be considered sub-state nationalist, the presence of a formal SNRP is not needed to account for the higher degree of conflict and lower cooperation on immigrant integration between the federal authorities and Flanders in comparison to Wallonia. Moreover, different than for other papers in the special issue, Europeanisation constitutes a necessary and sufficient variable explaining the increase of intergovernmental interactions on immigrant integration in Belgium.