Vivant

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title: "Vivant" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["political-parties-supporting-universal-basic-income", "liberal-parties-in-belgium", "social-liberal-parties", "belgian-nationalism", "eurosceptic-parties-in-belgium"] description: "Social-liberal political party in Belgium" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivant" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Social-liberal political party in Belgium ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox political party"]

Field	Value
name	Vivant
logo	File:LogoVIVANT.svg
leader	Roland Duchâtelet
foundation	(as )
(as Vivant)
split	ROSSEM (BANAAN)
membership_year	1999
membership	5,000
ideology	Social liberalism
Euroscepticism
Basic income
Conservative liberalism
(German wing)
position	Centre-left
colours	Purple
seats1_title	Chamber of Representatives
seats1
seats2_title	Senate
seats2
seats3_title	Parliament of the German-speaking Community
seats3
seats4_title	European Parliament
seats4
website
country	Belgium
colorcode
::

::callout[type=note] the Belgian political party ::

| name = Vivant | native_name = | logo = File:LogoVIVANT.svg | leader = Roland Duchâtelet | chairman = | president = | secretary = | spokesperson = | foundation = (as ) (as Vivant) | split = ROSSEM (BANAAN) | dissolution = | predecessor = | headquarters = | newspaper = | youth_wing = | membership_year = 1999 | membership = 5,000 | ideology = Social liberalism Euroscepticism Basic income Conservative liberalism (German wing) | position = Centre-left | national = | international = | european = | europarl = | colours = Purple | seats1_title = Chamber of Representatives | seats1 = | seats2_title = Senate | seats2 = | seats3_title = Parliament of the German-speaking Community | seats3 = | seats4_title = European Parliament | seats4 = | website = | country = Belgium | colorcode = Vivant is a small social-liberal political party in Belgium founded by millionaire Roland Duchâtelet. In the regional elections in June 2004, the party formed a strategic alliance with the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). Both parties are founded on the principle of individualism and can be called liberal. In 2007, the party announced it would likely merge with the VLD.

Vivant is economically interventionist, 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. (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."

In the regional elections of 2004, partner VLD lost heavily, dragging Vivant with it to third place among 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 Parliament of the German community.

While vivant means "alive" or "lively" in French, as an acronym "VIVANT" stands for Voor Individuele Vrijheid en Arbeid in een Nieuwe Toekomst, ("for individual freedom and labour in a new future") in Dutch.

Elections

Vivant first took part in the federal elections for the Belgian Senate and 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

::data[format=table]

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government	1999	2004	2009	2014	2019	2024
1,228	3.33		New
2,665	7.34		2
2,684	7.16		0
3,994	10.62		0
5,807	14.81		1
5,700	14.23		1
::

Flemish Parliament

::data[format=table]

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government	1995	1999	2004
33,701	0.89		New
77,864	2.01		0
804,578	19.79		25
::

European Parliament

::data[format=table]

Election	List leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	EP Group	G.E.C.	F.E.C.	D.E.C.	Overall	1999	2004	2009	2014	2019	2024
Unclear		3.25 (#6)	2.38 (#6)	1.73 (#7)			0	−
Did not contest		0
Josef Meyer	2,417	6.25 (#6)	Did not contest	0.04		0
Andreas Meyer	3,319	8.60 (#6)	Did not contest	0.05		0
Alain Mertes	4,550	11.16 (#6)	Did not contest	0.07		0
5,281	12.16 (#4)	Did not contest	0.07		0
::

Notes

References

References

1. (2000). "Basic Income on the Agenda: Policy Objectives and Political Chances". Amsterdam University Press.
2. Nordsieck, Wolfram. (2019). "German-speaking Community/Belgium".
3. (7 May 2014). "Die Wahlen in der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft".
4. "Belgium".
5. (2000). "Basic Income on the Agenda: Policy Objectives and Political Chances". Amsterdam University Press.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::