Council of Ministers (Belgium)

The Council of Ministers (Dutch: Ministerraad; French: Conseil des ministres; German: Ministerrat) is the supreme executive organ of the Federal Government of the Kingdom of Belgium. It is a cabinet composed of the Prime Minister, who leads it, and up to fourteen senior ministers. Federal secretaries of state (junior ministers) are members of the government, but not part of the Council. The King of the Belgians historically presided over the Council, but this has not happened since 1957. The Council of Ministers formally became a permanent policy structure with the constitutional revision of 1970.