Join us for a comprehensive analysis with the Belgian expert Ivan De Vadder​, who will outline for us possible scenarios on how, once again, we are going to piece out this Belgian, Regional and European puzzle after the 2024 Elections.

2024 is an important election year in Belgium. On June 9 we will elect the Belgian, Brussels, Flemish, Walloon and European parliamentarians, and on October 13 there will be municipal and provincial council elections. These elections are now subject to the "paradox of democracy". According to this paradox, over the years, politicians have done everything they can to allow as many citizens as possible to participate: women were admitted in 1948, EU citizens and migrants are allowed to vote, and in 2023 the age limit has even been lowered to 16 years, although only for the European parliamentary elections.

Now that the group of citizens who have been the opportunity to vote has become as large as it possible could, the citizens themselves are threatening to drop out, even in an electoral system with mandatory vote.

Moreover, in Flanders, this compulsory attendance will disappear in October 2024 at the local elections. That may be the biggest political experiment in years. Do we know who will drop out? What will be the consequences of that political experiment? And aren't elections the ultimate means for citizens to express themselves politically and adjust policy? Who no longer wants to seize that opportunity, and thus risks no longer having any influence on their political future?