After unsuccessful attempts to form Liberal-Socialist and tripartite cabinets, another center-left cabinet was made. It was the first cabinet headed by Flemish Christian-Democratjean-Luc Dehaene. Not commanding a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the constitutional reform agenda was referred to a community-to-community dialogue which resulted in an overall constitutional reform agreement concluded in the fall. Not much action was taken on the budget deficit, and the cabinet's reliance on new taxes led to tension inside the coalition, with the CVP insisting on additional spending cuts. Labor and management reached agreement on a 1993-94 national inter-industry accord for the private sector. The cabinet decided to abolish conscription, and the armed farces were involved in UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions in ex-Yugoslavia and Somalia. In Parliament, there was a large majority in favor of the Maastricht Treaty.

The end of the Cold War, technological changes and social-cultural evolution have brought about the end of the mass army. In most of the countries where there still exists a conscription system, i.e. almost everywhere in continental Europe, the debate on the end of the draft is now open. Among these nations, Belgium was the first to decide to adopt an all-volunteer force (AVF). It is also the country where the transition to an AVF will be the quickest. The article first describes the content of the present reform of the Belgian military organization (the so-called Delcroix plan) and its various aspects. It then analyzes its structural and internal causes.

Agalev and Ecolo (the green parties in Flanders and Wallonia) consented to supporting the institutional reform of Belgium. Product-policy will be assigned to the federal government. Ecotaxes, fiscal instruments that fit in a product policy, are introduced. Three criteria are defined: 1) the primary goal is to bring about a change of behaviour, 2) the revenues are allocated towards environmental policy and 3) alternative products should be available. Whoever wants to know society, must try to change it. The enormous resistance of industry cannot only be explained by economic considerations. Much more, it is a matter of pure power: who has something to say about what. But resistance and desinformaton also came from consumers' organisations, thewritten press in its comments and even from some 'environmental scientists'. Authors wonder what farces will be unleashed when the discussion on 'reducing consumption ' starts.

In January 1990, the Parti Réformateur Libéral (PRL) inaugurated a brand new management, called "bicephalism ": instead of the traditional presidentialsystem, one "ticket" with a president (Antoine Duquesne) and a vice-president (Daniel Ducarme) was commissioned to ensure the leadership of the party. The bicephalism was only the result of a tricky internal compromise, stemming from the discontent following the return of the party in the opposition (May 1988) and strengthened after the defeat at the European polls (fune 1989). The "two-headed" system wanted to restore the credibility and to reinforce the cohesion of the PRL. In fact, this genuine political "curiosity" mainly revealed the structural and ideological deficiency which made its coming possible. Its ultimate defeat - at the 24 November 1991 polls - caused itsfalling down. The bicephalism was bound to an identity problem of the french Belgian liberalism but also some features of the experience refer to a more general crisis of the values carried by the old traditional political movements.