In its meeting on 3 July 2009, the Flemish Government agreed in principle with (i) the bill accepting the Agreement establishing the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), drawn up in Geneva on 13 February 1969 and (ii) the bill accepting the Agreement establishing the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), drawn up in Geneva on 10 May 1973. Minister-president Kris Peeters and minister Patricia Ceysens asked the Flemish Foreign Affairs Council (SARiV) for advice. The SARiV subsequently contacted the VRWB, and both strategic advisory councils agreed to work on a joint advisory report.
Both agreements are mixed treaties in the Belgian legal sense, where the competences lie with the Belgian Federal government as well as with the Communities and Regions. This means that the Flemish Parliament, as well as the parliaments of the other Communities and Regions, has to agree with these treaties before they can be ratified.
The SARiV and the VRWB strongly endorse both bills, and they furthermore urge the Flemish government to agree to close this as soon as possible. Both councils point to the expected economical and scientific return of both organizations, their ties with the Flemish competences, the ViA-project of the Flemish government, the Flemish policy priorities and the importance of European collaboration on science and technology. According to the SARiV and the VRWB it is important for Flanders that Belgium becomes a full member of the EMBC and the EMBL, with voting rights.