The factors that determine the decision-making mechanisms on the regional level are twofold in nature: internal and external. We may distinguish three internal factors: 1° the councils of the regions are composed of members of the national parliament; 2° on the national level, the regional problem is not dealt with by representatives of the regions; 3° the conventional system controls the relationship between the executives and the councils of the regions. The external factors may be reduced to five: 1° the regions do not have jurisdiction for their entire territory; 2° the financing of the regions is done via a system that implies no financial responsibility and onesidedly favors the southern regions; 3° the financial burden of some decisions of the nation is imposed on the regions; 4° the distribution of authority disregards federal practice; 5° conflicts of authority are not resolved by a purely jurisdictional organ. Finally, we stress the contiguous existences·of regions and communities as substructures white the latter are the true components of the Belgian nation.