FEUTURE EU 28 Country Report Belgium Since 1999, successive Belgian governments have officially supported the accession talks between Turkey and the European Union (EU). Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (1999-2008) of the Flemish liberal party (VLD) used to be a moderate, though active supporter in the public debate. This positive attitude of the liberals was joined by the Belgian green parties and – to a lesser extent – Christian democrat and social democrat parties. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 692976. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein