Coremans-De Vriendt law

It is seen as a landmark in the history of the Flemish Movement and of linguistic equality in Belgium.

The law decreed equal validity for legal texts written in both French and Dutch, as well as decreeing bilingual signage in Flanders.

[1] As a result, parliamentary debates could be held in both languages and henceforth all laws were voted, passed and published in legally equivalent French and Dutch versions.

[2] The law followed a period of greater official acceptance of Dutch, starting in around 1886 when coins became bilingual.

[3] The law's passing, along with the introduction of universal male suffrage (but with plural voting) in 1893, caused the Flemish Movement to enter a "third stage" of mass-membership - facilitated also by the major electoral reform of 1899.