7pm-9.30pm - Welcoming dinner cocktail at Egmont Palace offered by the Presidents of the Court of Arbitration to all the participants and their partners

9.45am-11.30am - Official opening of the XIIth Congress
- Opening of the meeting by Mr Michel Melchior, President of the Court of Arbitration of Belgium
- Welcoming speech by Mr Armand De Decker, President of the Senate of Belgium
- Speech by Mr Johan Vande Lanotte, Deputy Prime Minister
- Thirty years of the Conference. Speech by Mr Ludwig Adamovich, President of the Constitutional Court of Austria
- Opening speech by Mr Michel Melchior, President of the Court of Arbitration of Belgium

11.30am - Aperitif in the Mirror Gallery

12.00pm - Lunch at Egmont Palace and in the Orangery of Egmont Palace

2pm-4.30pm - First session
Chairmanship: Mr. Marek Safjan, President of the Constitutional Court of Poland
- General reports
General reporters:
Mr Michel Melchior, President of the Court of Arbitration of Belgium and
Mr André Alen, Judge with the Court of Arbitration of Belgium
- The place of the European Court of Human Rights in the European Constitutional landscape by Mr Luzius Wildhaber, President of the European Court of Human Rights

10am-12.30pm - Second session
Chairmanship: Mr José Manuel Cardoso da Costa, President of the Constitutional Tribunal of Portugal
Continuation of the discussions

2.30pm-4.30pm - Third session
Chairmanship: Mr Marat Baglay, President of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation
- Report of the Court of Justice of the European Communities by Mr Melchior Wathelet, Judge with the Court of Justice of the European Communities
- Continuation of the discussions

5pm - Reception of the participants and their partners by HRH Prince Philip of Belgium at the Royal Palace in Brussels

6.30pm - Visit to the exhibition "The Brueghel Company or the Art of Painting from Father to Son" - Museum of Ancient Art in Brussels, followed by a dinner offered by the Presidents of the Court of Arbitration of Belgium to the participants and their partners

10am-12.30pm - Official closing meeting of the XIIth Congress
Chairmanship: Mr Michel Melchior, President of the Court of Arbitration of Belgium
- Continuation of the discussions
- Presentation of the general conclusions by Mr Paul Martens, Judge with the Court of Arbitration of Belgium

9am-5.30pm - Daytrip in the Province of Hainaut
Bus tour of the old part of Tournai. The centre of Tournai bears witness to the town's glorious past. Listed by UNESCO as part of the world heritage, the Belfry and Notre Dame Cathedral dominate the city. On the renovated Grand Place, the Cloth Hall illustrates the full splendour of the Renaissance. The trip also takes in the churches of Saint-Quentin and Saint-Jacques, the Romanesque and Gothic houses, and the extraordinary Pont des Trous.
Visit to the Museum of Decorative Arts. Tournai acquired its artistic fame in the 18th century with its magnificent collection of porcelain. This will be an opportunity to admire the local products and to place them in the context of European porcelain.
Lunch was served in the old seminary of Choiseul.
The afternoon was devoted to a visit to the Château of Seneffe. The château was built between 1763 and 1768 by the master builder Benoît Dewez, official architect of the Austrian Netherlands, and was commissioned by Julien Depestre, Count of Seneffe and Turnhout. The château is at the centre of a remarkable 18th-century complex comprising outbuildings, an orangery, a small neoclassical theatre, an icehouse and a French garden situated in 22 hectares of grounds. The château, which has been converted into a Silver Museum of the French Community, accommodates the European silver collection of Claude and Juliette D'Allemagne.

Mrs Axelle de Schaetzen, an art history graduate, has accompanied the participants on the visits and excursions.

8.30am - Bruges, European City of Culture 2002
Daytrip to Bruges, European City of Culture 2002.
Walk through Bruges, starting from the old Beguine convent, founded in the 13th century by Margaret of Constantinople. Walk along the Minnewater, which has inspired so many Romantic writers of the 19th century, and a visit to St. John's Hospital. Tour of the Memling Museum, whose reputation is already well established. The programme also takes in the Notre Dame Church, the Groenerij, the fish market, the Grand Place and the Belfry.
Lunch in a typical restaurant.
The afternoon was devoted to a tour of the Burg and the magnificent exhibition dedicated to Van Eyck and the Flemish Primitives, staged as part of the Bruges 2002 festivities at the Groeninghe Museum.

9.30am - Visit to the Palace of Charles de Lorraine
The Palace of Charles de Lorraine, governor of the Low Countries, was converted into a museum of 18th century culture.
The palace provides an overview of intellectual life in that century. It contains five exhibitions, each focusing on a particular aspect: the life of Charles de Lorraine, scientific instruments, cartography, music and the art of cuisine.
Lunch at the Museum of Musical Instruments, which offers a splendid view of Brussels.
Free afternoon.

9.30am - Brussels at its cosiest
Visit to the famous Delvaux Tannery at the Arsenal.
Lunch at the Mess, one of the best-known restaurants of Brussels.
Visit to the Chinese Pavilion in Laeken and the Japanese Tower.