Article 67 [Seats]
(1) Without prejudice to Article 72, the Senate is made up
of seventy-one senators, of whom:
1) twenty-five senators elected in conformity with Article
61, by the Dutch electoral college;
2) fifteen senators elected in conformity with Article 61,
by the French electoral college;
3) ten senators appointed by and within the Council of the
Flemish Community, named the Flemish Council;
4) ten senators appointed by and within the Council of the
French Community;
5) one senator appointed by and within the Council of the
German-speaking Community;
6) six senators appointed by the senators referred to in 1)
and 3);
7) four senators appointed by the senators referred to in 2)
and 4).
(2.1) At least one of the senators referred to in
Paragraph (1)(1,3,6) is to be legally resident, on the day of his
election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital.
(2.2) At least six of the senators referred to in
Paragraph (1)(2,4,7) are to be legally resident, on the day of
their election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital. If
four or fewer of the senators referred to in Paragraph (1)(2) are
not legally resident, on the day of their election, in the bilingual
Region of Brussels-Capital, at least two of the senators referred
to in Paragraph (1)(4) must be legally resident, on the day of
their election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital.
Article 68 [Group Balance]
(1.1) The total number of senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(1,2,3,4,6,7) is shared within each linguistic
group on the basis of the electoral figure of the lists obtained at
the moment of the election of the senators referred to in Article
67 (1)(1,2) according to the system of proportional
representation that is determined by law.
(1.2) For the designation of the senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(3,4), only the lists can be taken into
consideration on which at least one senator referred to in
Article 67 (1)(1,2) is elected and from the moment that a
sufficient number of members elected on this list sit, according
to the case, on the Council of the Flemish Community or the
Council of the French Community.
(1.3) For the designation of the senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(6,7) only the lists can be taken into
consideration on which at least one senator referred to in
Article 67 (1)(1,2) is elected.
(2) For the election of the senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(1,2), the ballot is obligatory and secret.
Voting takes place at the commune, except for cases determined
by law.
(3.1) For the election of senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(1,2), the law determines the electoral
circumscriptions and the composition of the electoral colleges; it
also determines the conditions which must be met in order to be
an elector, as well as those for the carrying out of electoral
operations.
(3.2) The law determines the designation of the senators referred
to in Article 67 (1)(3,5) with the exception of the terms
stipulated by a law adopted by the majority provided for in
Article 4, last paragraph, which are determined by decree
by the Community Councils, each one for matters of its concern.
This decree must be adopted by a two-third majority of the votes
expressed, on condition that the majority of the members of the
Council concerned are present.
(3.3) The senator referred to in Article 67 (1)(5) is appointed
by the Council of the German-speaking Community with absolute
majority of the votes expressed.
(3.4) The law determines the appointment of the senators referred
to in Article 67 (1)(6,7).
Article 69 [Eligibility]
In order to be elected or appointed as a senator one must:
1) be Belgian;
2) enjoy civil and political rights;
3) have completed the age of twenty-one;
4) be legally resident in Belgium.
Article 70 [Term]
(1) The senators referred to in Article 67 (1)(1,2) are
elected for four years. The senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(6,7) are appointed for four years. The
Senate is entirely renewed every four years.
(2) The election of the senators referred to in
Article 67 (1)(1,2) coincides with the election for the House
of Representatives.
Article 71 [Compensation]
(1) Senators do not receive a salary.
(2) They do, however, have the right to be compensated for any
disbursement; this compensation is fixed at four thousand francs
per year.
(3) They also have the right to free travel on all the means of
communication operated or contracted out by the State.
(4) The law determines the means of transport that they can use
free of charge apart from those mentioned above.
Article 72 [King's Descendants]
The King's children or, in the absence of children, the Belgian
descendants of the branch of the royal family called on to reign,
are senators by right at the age of eighteen. They are only
entitled to a seat and vote at the age of twenty-one. They are not
taken into account for the determination of the quorum of
attendance.
Article 73 [Sessions]
Any assembly of the Senate that takes place outside the time of the
session of the House of Representatives, is automatically void.