Carhire Belgium Reviews

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). The city has been a major center of international politics for the last 60 years. Its importance grew significantly when it became the host for many of the institutions of the EU as well as of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The city is also the home of the Belgian monarchy and their current king Albert II.

The city has approximately 1 million inhabitants. The official languages in the city are French and Dutch. The immigrant communities together with the growing number of other Europeans living there made the city very diverse. The city swell during the last 50 years due to the constant influx of immigrants, students, expatriates and people employed in the bureaucratic apparatus. The biggest groups of foreigners came from France, Morocco, Turkey, French speaking Africans

The European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Council and the European Parliament are situated in Brussels. These institutions employ more than 30,000 employees and represent the highest concentration of such in Europe. Therefore, Brussels is considered the de facto capital of the EU. The popularity of this notion is mostly promoted by the mass media. Most often you can see Brussels used as a synonym of the European Union officials or authority.

Most of the European Union buildings are situated in the so-called European Quarter of Brussels. The substantial growth of the EU and the growing importance of the city within the political machine of the organization called for reconstruction of this district. The plans for rebuilding it aim for more efficient use of space as well as new buildings instead of other smaller ones. The main headquarter of NATO is situated in the Harem municipality which is also part of the city of Brussels.

Recently, there have been a lot of discussions about the status of Brussels. Belgium is organized as a federal system between the Dutch speaking Flanders and the French speaking Wallonia. The country has three official languages- French, Dutch and German. It has been long considered “the laboratory of Europe” because of it diversity. In recent years there have been a lot of tensions between the two parts of the country. The situation was made worse by the financial crisis which highlighted even more the big differences between the two parts. This coupled with a couple of unsuccessful attempts to form a government has made the situation worse.

Here, Brussels is an even more interesting case. It is inside Flanders but is predominantly French speaking. Some have proposed that the city of Brussels receives a special status as the European capital district and be under the jurisdiction of the EU, not Flanders or Wallonia. Others have suggested that the city became a separate city state. This new state could become an official capital of the European Union and become financially viable.

Most popular car rental agencies in Brussels are Hertz, Avis, Europcar and Sixt car.