Royal Charter - Belgium

Belgium

The royal decree is the equivalent in Belgium of a Royal Charter. In the period before 1958, 32 higher education institutes had been created by royal charter: these were typically engineering or technical institutions rather than universities.

However, several non-technical higher education institutions have been founded, or refounded, under royal decree:

• Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, National Fund for Scientific Research, 1928
• Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, 1938
• International Institute for Research and Education, 1982

Since the Belgian state reform of 1988-1989, competency over education was transferred to the federated entities of Belgium. Royal decrees can therefore no longer grant higher education institution status or university status.