The King Versus the People: Lessons from a Belgian Referendum

The aim of this chapter is to reflect on the role referendums might play when it comes to national and European legitimacy and decision-making processes, by looking at these issues through the unusual prism of the only referendum ever held in Belgium, on King’s Leopold III right to rule in 1950 (the question royale). Belgium is founded upon a consensual political system which allows, with some caveats, to draw parallels with the EU, a polity that is held together by the consensus built among the Member States. The way in which the question royale played out in an ethnically divided Belgium seems to offer some insights into the polarising effects of EU-related referendums. Moreover, the unconstitutional nature of the Belgian 1950 referendum allows to highlight what has been referred to as the legitimacy clash between exercising direct democracy at a Member State level and the Union’s consensual decision-making processes.