Among the different linguistic communities of Belgium the Dutch speaking and the French speaking communities are in a co-dominant position at federal level, even if the French speaking one is numerically in a minority. In order to protect the interest of both groups the Constitution establishes a number of procedures such as laws to be voted with a double majority, i.e. a general majority and a majority in each linguistic group,the parity in the Council of Ministers (Article 99), in the judicial bodies as well as in the highest administrations and the so called "alarm-bell procedure" (Article 54). Both communities are also considered as co-dominant in the region of Brussels-capital, where the Dutch speaking one is in a numerical minority and the executive level in based on quasi-parity. Only the German speaking community is generally recognised as a national minority.