 On the whole , the Belgian administrative system was very pliant and became an instrument of collaboration . In a 2007 report by a Belgian research institute , Cegesoma , a panel of historians concluded that Belgium had offered " maximum administrative collaboration " with the German occupation forces . The same report also commented on the apparently higher levels of collaboration in Flanders as part of an attempted integration into a " German @-@ Flemish New Order " . The towns of Brussels and Liège , the report added , " remained [ generally ] patriotic @-@ Belgian and decisively hostile to Germany " . The report also found that many Belgian authorities had been compliant , even active , in the deportation of Jews . 
