Economist.com Cities Guide: Brussels Briefing - April 2006

News this month

Crime and punishment

The fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy at Brussels Central station on April 12th sparked an uproar over crime and racial tensions. The boy, Joe Van Holsbeeck, was stabbed by two allegedly north African youths after he refused to hand over his MP3-player. The attackers escaped (though they were caught on surveillance cameras), and Van Holsbeeck died that evening. Guy Verhofstadt, the prime minister, promised that the "senseless murder" would not go unpunished; Godfried Danneels, a Catholic cardinal, used a sermon to chide bystanders for failing to help Van Holsbeeck; and members of Vlaams Belang, a Flemish separatist party (formerly Vlaams Blok), used the death to argue that the real racism threatening Belgium is not discrimination against immigrants, but north African youths who harass and attack young Belgians. The parents of the murdered boy issued a statement on April 15th condemning the "partisan and isolated initiatives" that exploited the killing. A non-partisan march against violence is planned for April 23rd.

Crime is certain to be a key issue in the run up to local government elections in October. Vlaams Belang has already launched a campaign accusing the government of letting Belgian cities slip into lawlessness. In April politicians faced not only the controversy over Van Holsbeeck's death, but an embarrassing disclosure about a public prosecutor in Oudenaarde, about 70km west of Brussels. It emerged that Herman Daens, the prosecutor, was intending to not pursue minor offences in court. He had circulated a note meant to reduce paperwork for police, who would no longer have to write detailed reports of shoplifting and other such crimes. Laurette Onkelinx, the justice minister, and Patrick Dewael, the interior minister, quickly assured the public that this apparent tolerance of petty crime did not mean that crimes in general go unpunished.

Getting hitched

After a lengthy courtship, executives from the city's two passenger airlines, SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express, announced in March that the companies would merge. SN Brussels Airlines was created in 2002 from the ashes of Sabena, Belgium's defunct national airline. SN Brussels still operates some long-haul flights, notably to Africa, but the airline has been forced to cut many routes and now flies mainly within Europe. Virgin Express was founded by Richard Branson, a British entrepreneur, in 1996 as a low-cost, regional airline, but has struggled to compete with its rivals in Brussels.

SN Brussels and Virgin Express have long co-operated on routes, and last year came under the ownership of SN Airholding. When the companies are merged, explained Neil Burrows, the chief executive of Virgin Express, the carrier will aim to become the "undisputed and sustainable number one in Brussels". Led by Mr Burrows, the new carrier will keep European routes as the core of its operations and may expand service to Africa and the north Atlantic. The carrier's new brand name will be announced by the end of the summer, and the airline will be operational by April 2007.

Fine for growth

Drivers beware-a new system of fines for driving offences came into effect on April 1st. While the old system made a distinction between serious and minor offences, the new one uses a four-tier scale of misdemeanours. Drivers will now have to cough up €50 ($62) for not using a seatbelt or failing to indicate a turn, €100 for such offences as using a mobile phone while driving, and €150 for ignoring a red light or endangering a cyclist or pedestrian. Offenders guilty of even more dangerous behaviour, such as a U-turn on a motorway, must appear in court. The scale of fines for speeding offences has also been revised.

Fines have become a reliable source of income for Belgium's government. Didier Reynders, the finance minister, recently disclosed that income from fines has climbed dramatically, from €240m in 2003, to €266m in 2004 and almost €300m in 2005.

More rules

Brussels airport has introduced a new set of health and safety rules. As of April 14th, passengers may not check a bag that weighs more than 32kg. Previously, each airline set its own weight limit, often allowing travellers to check luggage weighing well above 35kg. Now Brussels International Airport Company (BIAC), the airport's operator, requires any passenger carrying a single item heavier than 32kg to redistribute the weight over more than one bag. The measure aims to protect baggage handlers from back injuries. April 14th also saw the introduction of another rule: smoking is now prohibited anywhere in the airport, including its restaurants, bars and lounges, and even the staircases and hallways used only by staff.

Follow the Monnaie

Work has begun on a luxury hotel that will rise from a derelict site in central Brussels. The block behind the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, the city's opera house, had been an eyesore for more than a decade. The site's buildings had decayed, with only some areas available for use (most recently by the opera house as rehearsal space and offices). Plans for redevelopment were complicated by the need to preserve the site's neo-classical façades.

But this is all set to change. La Mondiale, a developer that is part of the Strukton Groep, a Dutch construction company, will transform the dilapidated site into an eponymous complex. La Mondiale will include a 150-room hotel, The Dominican, and 22 apartments. The four-star hotel-part of the Carlton Hotel Collection, which owns hotels in the Netherlands and Britain-is scheduled to open by October 2007.

Catch if you can

April 2006

Museum of Japanese Art

From March 22nd 2006

This spring the new Museum of Japanese Art opens its doors, displaying the state collection of classical Japanese art, mainly from the Edo period (1600-1868). The museum is actually a belated legacy of King Leopold II, who ruled Belgium from 1865 to 1909. He developed a taste for the exotic at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition, and built the Japanese Tower and the Chinese Pavilion in Brussels soon thereafter. The buildings were designed by Alexandre Marcel, a Parisian architect, and constructed by specialists from Yokohama and Shanghai. Both have housed thematic collections for years. The new museum sits in the once-derelict building between the two-an annex that Leopold intended to be a "restaurant de luxe".

Museum of Japanese Art, avenue Van Praet 44, 1020 Brussels. Tel: +32 (0)2-268-1608. Open: Tues-Fri 9.30am-5pm; Sat-Sun 10am-5pm. See the museum's website.

More from the Brussels cultural calendar