The Council of Ministers (Dutch: Ministerraad; French: Conseil des ministres; German: Ministerrat) is the supreme executive organ of the Federal Government of the Kingdom of Belgium. It is a cabinet composed of the Prime Minister, who leads it, and up to fourteen senior ministers. Federal secretaries of state (junior ministers) are members of the government, but not part of the Council. The King of the Belgians historically presided over the Council, but this has not happened since 1957. The Council of Ministers formally became a permanent policy structure with the constitutional revision of 1970.
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Council of Ministers (Belgium) in the context of Rue de la Loi
The Rue de la Loi (French, pronounced [ʁy d(ə) la lwa]) or Wetstraat (Dutch, pronounced [ˈʋɛtstraːt]), meaning "Law Street", is a major street running through central and eastern Brussels, Belgium, which is famous due to the presence of several notable Belgian and European Union (EU) governmental buildings. The road runs from the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat in central Brussels to the Robert Schuman Roundabout in its European Quarter. It forms the first (westerly) part of the N3 road that runs to Aachen, Germany.
The terms Rue de la Loi in French or Wetstraat in Dutch are used metonymically for government in Belgian politics and media because the Belgian Federal Parliament building (Palace of the Nation) stands at the beginning of this street and the office of the Prime Minister is located adjacent to this building, at number 16. It is also where the Council of Ministers holds its meetings.
Council of Ministers (Belgium) in the context of Belgian government
The Federal Government of Belgium (Dutch: Federale regering [feːdəˈraːlə rəˈɣeːrɪŋ]; French: Gouvernement fédéral [ɡuvɛʁnəmɑ̃ fedeʁal]; German: Föderalregierung [fødeˈʁaːlʁeˌɡiːʁʊŋ]) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. The federal government is led by the prime minister of Belgium, and ministers lead ministries of the government. Ministers together form the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive organ of the government (equivalent to a cabinet).
Formally, executive power is vested in the king, who formally appoints the ministers. However, under the Constitution of Belgium, the king is not politically responsible for exercising his powers, but must exercise it through the ministers. The king's acts are not valid unless countersigned by a minister, and the countersigning minister assumes political responsibility for the act. Thus, in practice, the ministers do the actual day-to-day work of governing.