BELEXIT: to give Belgium back to the Belgians !

Belgium can legally leave the European Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union explicitly recognises the right of every Member State to withdraw. This decision is sovereign: it requires neither the authorisation of the European Commission nor that of the other Member States.

Once notification has been submitted to the European Council, negotiations begin in order to organise the withdrawal and future relations. If no agreement is reached or no extension is unanimously approved, the treaties, in principle, cease to apply after two years.

BELEXIT is therefore neither a fantasy, nor an illegal rebellion, nor a leap into the unknown. It is the perfectly lawful exercise of a right provided for by the European treaties themselves.

Belgium is no longer fully sovereign

What is the point of continuing to hold elections if elected governments must then apply rules decided elsewhere?

A considerable share of Belgium’s economic, commercial, monetary, agricultural, energy, environmental and migration policies now depends on European law. National governments change, but the main policy directions remain because they are locked into treaties that no one seriously proposes calling into question.

Traditional parties can promise whatever they want during election campaigns. Once in power, they invoke Brussels, budgetary constraints, European directives, competition or internal market rules to explain that they are unable to act.

The European Union is not Europe. Europe is a civilisation, a history and a continent composed of different peoples. The European Union is a political and technocratic construct that organises the gradual transfer of national powers to institutions that are increasingly removed from citizens.

Supporting BELEXIT does not mean opposing the peoples of Europe. It means refusing to allow Belgium to be administered like an obedient province within a supranational entity.

We want to cooperate freely with our neighbours, but we refuse to surrender our sovereignty to them.

You do not reform a prison by repainting its walls!

For years, certain parties have promised to “change Europe from within”, to “redirect the Union” or to “renegotiate the treaties”.

Yet they know that fundamental changes to the European treaties require the agreement of all Member States, each of which defends its own interests. Imagining that Belgium alone could impose a complete overhaul of the Union is either naïve or an act of electoral deception.

Others propose remaining in the Union while disobeying the rules they dislike. This strategy would lead to an endless succession of disputes, sanctions and legal crises without resolving the essential question: who should have the final say in Belgium?

As long as a country remains trapped within the European treaties, the economic, social, monetary or commercial changes it promises remain subject to the powers transferred to the Union.

It is therefore not enough to criticise Brussels. We must leave!

BELEXIT to restore democracy

The first objective of BELEXIT will be to restore the supremacy of the will of the Belgian people.

After the withdrawal, laws adopted in Belgium will no longer be neutralised by a European regulation, a directive, a Commission decision or a ruling based on the primacy of European Union law.

BELEXIT will also put an end to this sham democracy in which voters can change those in power without being able to change the policy directions imposed by the treaties.

Révolution wants to return political decision-making to the people through direct democracy and citizens’ initiative referendums. Regained sovereignty must not be confiscated by a new Belgian caste: it must truly belong to the citizens.

Leave the euro and recreate a Belgian national currency

BELEXIT must be accompanied by an organised withdrawal from the eurozone.

A currency is not merely a means of payment. It is one of the fundamental instruments of sovereignty. Whoever controls the currency influences credit, interest rates, investment, inflation and, more broadly, the entire economy.

Today, Belgium uses a currency designed for profoundly different economies. The needs of Belgian industry, SMEs, farmers and households do not necessarily coincide with those of Germany, Italy, Greece or the Netherlands. Yet a single monetary policy is imposed on everyone.

Its name, characteristics and timetable for introduction must be subject to rigorous technical preparation and democratic debate.

The transition must be organised to guarantee:

• the continuity of payments;
• the availability of cash and banking services;
• the protection of deposits;
• the payment of salaries, pensions and benefits;
• the conversion of contracts governed by Belgian law;
• the stability of the financial system;
• the fight against speculation and destabilising capital movements.

A transition period must allow for the conversion of prices, bank accounts, salaries and domestic contracts. Debts governed by foreign law or containing specific clauses will require specific legal and financial treatment. A serious BELEXIT must anticipate these difficulties instead of denying them.

Leaving the euro does not mean impoverishing Belgium. It means regaining control of the monetary instrument in order to adapt it to our real economy.

Restore the National Bank of Belgium to its true role

The National Bank of Belgium still exists, but it currently operates within the Eurosystem and participates in implementing the monetary policy defined at European level.

Furthermore, Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prohibits the European Central Bank and national central banks from directly granting credit to public authorities or directly purchasing their debt instruments.

After BELEXIT, Révolution wants to restore the National Bank of Belgium’s control over national monetary policy.

This financing could notably concern:

• hospitals;
• schools;
• public housing;
• transport infrastructure;
• energy independence;
• research;
• reindustrialisation;
• investments necessary for the country’s security and sovereignty.

This will not involve creating unlimited amounts of money or financing just any election-driven expenditure. Uncontrolled money creation would cause inflation and destroy purchasing power.

Zero-interest financing must therefore be reserved for productive and strategic investments, subject to limits, independent assessment and permanent public oversight.

Yet it is absurd for a State to have to borrow at interest from financial markets to build a hospital or modernise essential infrastructure when it could prudently mobilise its own monetary institution.

Money must once again become a tool serving the community, rather than a means of enslaving peoples through perpetual debt.

Protect savings and purchasing power

Leaving the euro can only succeed if it protects citizens.

Belgians must not pay the price of regaining monetary sovereignty. Institutions must adapt to the sovereign decision of the people, rather than the people being forced to make sacrifices to protect the privileges of finance.

Restore a Belgian economic and industrial policy

The European Union has elevated competition to the status of dogma. It has placed economies with very different wages, tax systems and productive structures in permanent competition.

This logic has encouraged relocations, social dumping, economic concentration and dependence on foreign supply chains.

With BELEXIT, Belgium will be able to implement a genuine industrial strategy:

• targeted support for companies producing in Belgium;
• national preference in public procurement, in compliance with future agreements;
• protection of strategic sectors;
• fighting speculative relocations;
• relocating essential production;
• an energy policy based on Belgian interests;
• control of foreign shareholdings in sensitive infrastructure;
• support for farmers and SMEs;
• restoring targeted barriers against social and environmental dumping.

A Belgium open to the world, but subservient to no one

BELEXIT means neither isolation nor closure.

Belgium will continue to trade with European countries. French, German or Dutch companies have no interest in giving up the Belgian market, just as Belgian companies have no interest in abandoning their European customers.

Leaving the Union must therefore be accompanied by the negotiation of cooperation and trade agreements with our neighbours. But these agreements will be concluded by a sovereign State according to its own interests, rather than imposed within a framework where trade policy is largely conducted at European level.

Belgium must also diversify its partnerships. The world is not limited to Washington or Brussels. New economic powers are emerging and building alternative commercial, financial and diplomatic networks.

Révolution proposes exploring a strategic partnership with the BRICS countries without placing Belgium under a new form of dependence.

Make Antwerp a gateway for BRICS products into Europe

Belgium’s geographical position is an exceptional asset. Located at the heart of Europe’s major economic routes, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges has logistics infrastructure capable of connecting global maritime flows with the continent’s principal markets.

This strategy could be based on:

• bilateral or multilateral trade agreements;
• port and railway investments;
• the creation of specialised logistics platforms;
• industrial partnerships;
• secure payment mechanisms;
• the establishment of processing and distribution companies in Belgium;
• developing relations with ports and companies in partner countries.

The objective is not to transform Belgium into a mere transit zone. Value must be created on our territory through logistics, processing, assembly, quality control, financial services, insurance, innovation and employment.

Antwerp could become one of the major crossroads between Western Europe and emerging economies. This ambition is incompatible with a trade policy entirely confined within priorities decided by the European institutions.

Belgium must be able to negotiate directly with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and the other BRICS partners while defending its interests, companies and workers.

Cooperate with the BRICS without replacing one form of control with another

Révolution rejects Belgium’s automatic alignment with foreign geopolitical interests. This applies to the European Union, but also to every other power.

Closer relations with the BRICS must therefore be based on several principles:

• reciprocal sovereignty;
• non-interference;
• balanced trade;
• protection of Belgian strategic sectors;
• respect for our health and safety standards;
• technology transfers whenever possible;
• job creation in Belgium;
• refusal of excessive dependence on any single country.

BELEXIT must enable a free, multipolar and pragmatic international policy. Belgium must speak with everyone while taking orders from no one!

The cost of the European Union is not limited to Belgium’s contribution

Defenders of the Union often reply that Belgium also receives European funding.

But where does this money come from? It comes from States, citizens and companies. The European Union does not magically create wealth: it collects, redistributes and attaches conditions to these funds before using them to strengthen its own political power.

The real question is to measure everything Belgium loses by surrendering its right to decide for itself:

• the constraints imposed on its budgets;
• the inability to conduct an independent monetary policy;
• the effects of organised competition between workers;
• the consequences of trade agreements;
• the cost of unsuitable standards;
• relocations;
• the loss of control over essential sectors;
• the weakening of democracy.

A concrete plan to implement BELEXIT

Révolution proposes an orderly and democratic approach.

1. Obtain a clear popular mandate

BELEXIT must be presented unambiguously to voters. Révolution will not seek power only to hide its project behind opaque negotiations.

The decision must be based on an explicit democratic mandate, supplemented, if Belgium’s constitutional framework is adapted for this purpose, by a national public consultation organised under conditions guaranteeing pluralistic information.

2. Prepare the transition immediately

A national team must bring together legal experts, economists, monetary specialists, industrialists, workers’ representatives, customs experts, diplomats and cybersecurity officials.

In particular, it will prepare:

• the new monetary legislation;
• the security of the banking system;
• the conversion of contracts;
• the management of borders and customs;
• the continuity of supplies;
• future trade agreements;
• the status of Belgian citizens residing in the Union and European citizens residing in Belgium;
• ongoing European programmes;
• reciprocal financial commitments;
• the protection of exporting companies.

3. Notify the withdrawal on the basis of Article 50

Belgium will officially notify the European Council of its decision. This notification will open the negotiation period provided for by the treaty.

Belgium will not have to ask for permission to leave. It will negotiate the practical arrangements for its departure and its future relations with the Union.

4. Negotiate firmly without abandoning the principle of withdrawal

Negotiations must cover citizens’ rights, trade, transport, police and judicial cooperation, scientific programmes, pensions, financial commitments and the continuity of trade.

But the withdrawal cannot be used as a bargaining chip. The Belgian government must negotiate the terms of BELEXIT, not its existence.

5. Gradually introduce the new currency

The monetary transition must be carefully planned, with a public timetable, IT security, a dual-display period and guarantees for individuals and companies.

6. Restore the primacy of Belgian law

At the end of the withdrawal process, useful European rules may temporarily be retained in Belgian law in order to avoid a legal vacuum. They will then be democratically reviewed, retained, amended or repealed.

BELEXIT does not mean erasing every rule overnight. It means returning to Belgians the right to decide which rules should apply in their own country.

7. Conclude new international agreements

Belgium will negotiate balanced agreements with the European Union, its neighbouring States, the BRICS countries and other international partners.

Brexit does not condemn BELEXIT

Opponents of BELEXIT will inevitably cite the British example.

But Brexit does not prove that leaving the Union is impossible. It demonstrates precisely the opposite: a State can activate Article 50, legally leave the Union and reclaim transferred powers.

The difficulties experienced by the United Kingdom must be studied with clear-sightedness. Some arose from the conditions of the negotiations, others from domestic political choices, the international economic context or the absence of a sufficiently coherent strategy.

Révolution does not propose blindly copying the United Kingdom. We must learn from its experience, anticipate the risks and prepare BELEXIT even before the official notification.

To those who spread fear, we respond with determination

We will be told that Belgium is too small.

Yet European States that do not belong to the European Union trade, innovate, negotiate and maintain a high standard of living. A country’s size does not determine its freedom. What matters is the quality of its institutions, infrastructure, workforce, industry and strategy.

Belgium possesses considerable assets:

• an exceptional geographical location;
• the Port of Antwerp-Bruges;
• high-performance logistics infrastructure;
• a skilled workforce;
• a dense network of SMEs;
• industrial, chemical, pharmaceutical and technological sectors;
• a central position between several major European economies;
• Brussels, an international and diplomatic capital.

BELEXIT is not a retreat: it is a liberation

Révolution wants a Belgium that is free, sovereign and open to the world.

Traditional parties have surrendered our sovereignty piece by piece. They have accepted that fundamental decisions should be taken by institutions that Belgian citizens can neither directly remove nor effectively control. They then tell the people that no alternative exists.

Révolution says otherwise.

The European Union is not inevitable.

The euro is not irreversible.

Dependence is not our destiny.

BELEXIT is the necessary condition for restoring Belgium’s political, monetary, economic and diplomatic freedom.