BELGIUM RATIFIES AMSTERDAM TREATY.

On February 5, Belgium became the 13th EU Member State to ratify the Amsterdam Treaty. Approval came in the wake of the decision to adopt the Treaty by the last piece in the Belgian federal political jigsaw (Brussels-Capital Region). France and Greece have yet to ratify the Treaty.

Ratification in Belgium has been on hold for a long time because of a blocking minority of Dutch-speakers, who sought to block the process as a reprisal against Belgian language-community problems unrelated to the EU. Dissent by one Flemish politician succeeded in breaking the...