Belgium of the European Union and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the European Parliament. Belgium shares borders with France (), Germany (), Luxembourg () and the Netherlands (). Its total surface, including water area, is 30,528 square kilometres from which land area alone 30,278 km. It lies between latitudes 49°30 and 51°30 N, and longitudes 2°33 and 6°24 E. Belgium has three main geographical regions; the coastal plain in the northwest and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin, and the Ardennes uplands in the southeast to the Hercynian orogenic belt. The Paris Basin reaches a small fourth
Law of Belgium Law of Belgium The Belgian Law (; ) is very similar to that of neighbouring France, as a result of Belgium having adopted the Napoleonic code which governs French society. It also derives from the Constitution of Belgium and the European Convention on Human Rights. Due to a series of state reforms in Belgium, the country has been transformed from a unitary to a federal state. Consequently, in addition to the federal level, the communities and regions have legislative authority in certain matters. Federal legislation is called a "law" whereas regional legislation is called a "decree" ("decreet, décret"), except for