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Recruitment Balance in the Belgian Civil Service The Belgian civil service, which was originally established on a unified basis, has started to give greater consideration to diversity as a result of three major institutional developments. Firstly, federalisation of the state has led to new legal regulations on the recruitment and promotion of civil servants at both federal level, where access to certain positions is now subject to quotas based on language community criteria, and federated level, where the communities’and regions’civil services are now recognised as being independent. Secondly, Europeanisation of the state has led to a relaxation of nationality rules regarding access to public sector jobs. Lastly, internationalisation of society has generated new social concerns, for example concerning the representation of women in elected and public positions, the participation of non-EU foreigners in local elections and, more broadly, anti-discrimination efforts in public sector employment.