View source for Vivant

{{Short description|Social-liberal political party in Belgium}}
{{About|the Belgian political party|other uses|Vivants (disambiguation){{!}}Vivant (disambiguation)}}
{{Update|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Vivant
| native_name      = 
| logo             = File:LogoVIVANT.svg
| leader           = [[Roland Duchâtelet]]
| chairman         = 
| president        = 
| secretary        = 
| spokesperson     = 
| foundation       = {{Start date|1995}} {{small|(as {{Ill|BANAAN|nl|Beter Alternatieven Nastreven Als Apathisch Nietsdoen}})}}<br />{{Start date|1998}} {{small|(as Vivant)}}
| split            = [[ROSSEM]] (BANAAN)
| dissolution      = 
| predecessor      = 
| headquarters     = 
| newspaper        = 
| youth_wing       = 
| membership_year  = 1999
| membership       = 5,000<ref>{{cite book |title=Basic Income on the Agenda: Policy Objectives and Political Chances |first1=Robert |last1=van der Veen |first2=Loek |last2=Groot |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |chapter=The VIVANT Experiment in Belgium |first3=Yannick |last3=Vanderborght |location=Amsterdam |year=2000 |isbn=9053564616 |page=277}}</ref>
| ideology         = {{Nowrap|[[Social liberalism]]<ref name="Nordsieck">{{cite web|url=http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/dg.html|title=German-speaking Community/Belgium|website=Parties and Elections in Europe|first=Wolfram|last=Nordsieck|date=2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530235619/http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/dg.html|archive-date=30 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="VRT">{{cite web|url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/de/2014/05/07/die_wahlen_in_derdeutschsprachigengemeinschaft-1-1960401/ |title=Die Wahlen in der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft |date=7 May 2014 |website=[[VRT (broadcaster)|VRT]]}}</ref><br>[[Euroscepticism]]<ref name="Nordsieck"/><br />[[Basic income guarantee|Basic income]]<br />[[Conservative liberalism]]<br /><small>(German wing)</small><ref name="VRT"/>}}
| position         = [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://europeelects.eu/european-union/belgium/|title=Belgium|website=[[Europe Elects]]|access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref>
| national         = 
| international    = 
| european         = 
| europarl         = 
| colours         = Purple
<!-- Values obtained from Wikidata; to edit, see https://www.wikidata.org/ -->
| seats1_title     = [[Belgian Chamber of Representatives|Chamber of Representatives]]
| seats1           = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-lower-house}}
| seats2_title     = [[Belgian Senate|Senate]]
| seats2           = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-upper-house}}
| seats3_title     = [[Parliament of the German-speaking Community]]
| seats3           = {{Composition bar|3|25|hex={{Political party data|color}}}}
| seats4_title     = [[European Parliament]]
| seats4           = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|EP}}
| website          = {{Political party data|website}}
| country          = Belgium
| colorcode        = {{Political party data|color}}
}}
'''Vivant''' is a small [[Social liberalism|social-liberal]] [[Political parties in Belgium|political party]] in [[Belgium]]<ref name="Nordsieck"/> founded by millionaire [[Roland Duchâtelet]]. In the [[2004 Belgian regional elections|regional elections]] in June 2004, the party formed a strategic [[electoral alliance|alliance]] with the [[Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten|Flemish Liberals and Democrats]] (VLD). Both parties are founded on the principle of [[individualism]] and can be called [[Liberalism in Belgium|liberal]]. In 2007, the party announced it would likely merge with the VLD.

Vivant is [[economic interventionism|economically interventionist]],<ref name="yannick">{{cite book |title=Basic Income on the Agenda: Policy Objectives and Political Chances |first1=Robert |last1=van der Veen |first2=Loek |last2=Groot |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |chapter=The VIVANT Experiment in Belgium |first3=Yannick |last3=Vanderborght |location=Amsterdam |year=2000 |isbn=9053564616 |page=278}}</ref> advocating a [[basic income guarantee]] for all citizens. Vivant considers the basic income as an inalienable part of the legal [[minimum wage]] (approximately half of it for full-time employment). In order to tax goods more evenly, wherever they are manufactured in order to respond to automatisation, [[globalization]] and an [[ageing population]], Vivant proposes to shift taxes from labour to final [[consumption tax|consumption]]. (All taxes in the chain of production are an inclusive part of the price paid by the consumers and could be considered as a consumption tax, each tax in each stage with its specific side effects.) 

Vivant also proposes a [[flat tax]] on income in two steps, 0% on to 1350 Euro and 50% from there. The [[VLD]] doesn't support all of these measures. Vivant also has [[direct democracy]] as one of its key points. The main goal of the party and its universal income proposal, is a creation of an extensive welfare system. The party seeks a "more effective struggle against poverty and exclusion, the end of stigmatizing controls on beneficiaries, and an effective way of suppressing unemployment traps."<ref name="yannick"/>

In the regional elections of 2004, partner VLD lost heavily, dragging Vivant with it to third place among [[Flanders|Flemish]] political parties. Although interest in Vivant increased during the elections, the party remained a marginal force in Belgian politics. Vivant is particularly strong in the [[German-speaking community of Belgium]], where it won 7.3% and two representatives in the [[2004 Belgian regional elections#Parliament of the German Community|Parliament of the German community]].

While ''vivant'' means "alive" or "lively" in [[French language|French]], as an acronym "VIVANT" stands for '''V'''oor '''I'''ndividuele '''V'''rijheid en '''A'''rbeid in een '''N'''ieuwe '''T'''oekomst, ("for individual freedom and labour in a new future") in [[Dutch language|Dutch]].

==Elections==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2025}}
Vivant first took part in the federal elections for the [[Belgian Senate]] and [[Belgian Chamber of Representatives|Chamber of Representatives]] in 1999, but obtained no seats. The 2003 elections were no different. In 2004 there were elections of the [[European Parliament]] and the Belgian regional parliaments, where Vivant took part in a list-cartel with the VLD, but none of Vivant's candidates were elected. In 2006, [[Nele Lijnen]] became a co-opted member of the Senate.

==Election results==
===Parliament of the German-speaking Community===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Election
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/−
! Government
|-
! [[1999 Belgian regional elections|1999]]
| 1,228
| 3.33
| {{Composition bar|0|25|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| New
| {{no|Extra-parliamentary}}
|-
! [[2004 Belgian regional elections|2004]]
| 2,665
| 7.34
| {{Composition bar|2|25|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{increase}} 2
| {{no|Opposition}}
|-
! [[2009 Belgian regional elections|2009]]
| 2,684
| 7.16
| {{Composition bar|2|25|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| {{no|Opposition}}
|-
! [[2014 Belgian regional elections|2014]]
| 3,994
| 10.62
| {{Composition bar|2|25|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| {{no|Opposition}}
|-
! [[2019 Belgian regional elections|2019]]
| 5,807
| 14.81
| {{Composition bar|3|25|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{increase}} 1
| {{no|Opposition}}
|-
! [[2024 Belgian regional elections|2024]]
| 5,700
| 14.23
| {{Composition bar|4|25|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{increase}} 1
| {{no|Opposition}}
|}

===Flemish Parliament===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Election
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/−
! Government
|-
! [[1995 Belgian regional elections|1995]]{{efn|Ran as BANAAN.}}
| 33,701
| 0.89
| {{Composition bar|0|117|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| New
| {{no|Extra-parliamentary}}
|-
! [[1999 Belgian regional elections|1999]]
| 77,864
| 2.01
| {{Composition bar|0|117|hex= {{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| {{no|Extra-parliamentary}}
|-
! [[2004 Belgian regional elections|2004]]{{efn|Ran as part of the [[Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats|Open VLD]] coalition.}}
| 804,578
| 19.79
| {{Composition bar|25|117|hex= {{party color|Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats}}}}
| {{increase}} 25
| {{yes|Coalition}}
|}

===European Parliament===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan=2| Election
! rowspan=2| List leader
! rowspan=2| Votes
! colspan=5| %
! rowspan=2| Seats
! rowspan=2| +/−
! rowspan=2| EP Group
|-
! {{abbr|G.E.C.|German electoral college}}
! {{abbr|F.E.C.|French electoral college}}
! {{abbr|D.E.C.|Dutch electoral college}}
! Overall
|-
!  [[1999 European Parliament election in Belgium|1999]]
| ''Unclear''
| {{formatnum:{{#expr: 1198 + 55133 + 67107 }}|en}} 
| 3.25 (#6)
| 2.38 (#6)
| 1.73 (#7)
| {{#expr: floor ((1198 + 55133 + 67107) / 6186242*10000)/100 }}
| {{Composition bar|0|25|hex={{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| rowspan=6| −
|-
! [[2004 European Parliament election in Belgium|2004]]
| colspan=6| ''Did not contest''
| {{Composition bar|0|24|hex={{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
|-
! [[2009 European Parliament election in Belgium|2009]]
| Josef Meyer
| 2,417
| 6.25 (#6)
| colspan=2| ''Did not contest''
| 0.04
| {{Composition bar|0|22|hex={{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
|-
! [[2014 European Parliament election in Belgium|2014]]
| Andreas Meyer
| 3,319
| 8.60 (#6)
| colspan=2| ''Did not contest''
| 0.05
| {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
|-
! [[2019 European Parliament election in Belgium|2019]]
| rowspan=2| Alain Mertes
| 4,550
| 11.16 (#6)
| colspan=2| ''Did not contest''
| 0.07
| {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
|-
! [[2024 European Parliament election in Belgium|2024]]
| 5,281
| 12.16 (#4)
| colspan=2| ''Did not contest''
| 0.07
| {{Composition bar|0|22|hex={{party color|Vivant}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
|}

==See also==
*[[List of liberal parties]]
*[[Liberalism in Belgium]]

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" />
== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://vivant-ostbelgien.org/ Vivant] official site
* http://www.vivanteurope.org/doc/THEME/th29_2_en.pdf

{{Belgian political parties}}
{{Basic income}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Political parties supporting universal basic income]]
[[Category:Liberal parties in Belgium]]
[[Category:Social liberal parties]]
[[Category:Belgian nationalism]]
[[Category:Eurosceptic parties in Belgium]]