This document analyses the main rules and principles governing “the Belgian compromise” concerning language recognition and distribution of powers for linguistic policy in the first section. The second section examines current challenges to this compromise: the tension between some linguistic arrangements and the protection of human rights and national minorities; European integration, and globalization, including migratory movements and the internationalization of economic exchanges. The third section discusses some potential reforms to modernize the “Belgian compromise” in the face of these challenges.
