Share your views: What language do you speak in Brussels?

Officially Dutch (Flemish) and French as Brussels is the capital of the whole of Belgium uniting these two (most spoken) language groups.
Nevertheless, the main language spoken in daily life Brussels is French. Well, at least in the "Belgian" daily life of the city.
In the Brussels' world of the EU-institutions English seems to be gaining a lot of ground (see also a recent article in the Economist about English in Brussels - http://economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9512531 : "Only grand meetings boast interpreters. At lower levels, it turns out, when you put officials from Berlin, Bratislava, Bucharest and Budapest in the same room, English is by far the easiest option.").
So, speaking English might be sufficient to find a job and work in the EU environment, however, for many Belgian jobs also Dutch remains indispensable, but this requirement can often not be fulfilled by the Belgians with French as mother tongue (The Economist: "“Like it or not, the real economic power in Brussels is Flemish (...)”.
Do also the 'EU27' foreigners in Brussels realize this? Even when you are working in the EU environment, were you required to speak Dutch? Or if not mandatory, are you personally interested in learning Dutch as it is one of the official languages of your host country? For newcomers: do you see Dutch as an obstruction to come to Brussels? How do you prepare for it (or not at all)?
Share your views!

I've always been trying to avoid studying French (for one or other reason...)and just lately I realised how damn important it is if I want to work in, as u call it, "the EU environemnt". The problem turns out even more relevant for Brussels... Personally, I consider French, and not Flemish, a barrier for me coming to Brussels. I definitely prefer learning Flemish than French. Just recently I've been applying for an internship and French was required - so I had to put off several offers. I found out Dutch was a plus in Amsterdam and the Hague but not in Brussels - it seems French there is the true monopolist.
However, it really is a question of where one is applying and for what position, the language requirements vary according to the tasks in the job description. I applied and got accepted for an internship position in Brussels with employers - Belgian French native speakers - although I don't know French and the language was required in the offer.
So it turns out, if French can be "dealt with" at the job level, I'm sure it's inevitable for the daily life in Brussels, for good or bad

For any job in Belgium life Franch and Dutch is required and to me it is more than logical as there is more than one official language in this country!
In daily life in Brussels it seems that you can handle everything using only French but even here I sometimes have to speak to Ministries or officials and they tend to speak Dutch, as do a lot of the Brussels police stuff.
For my work I have to use both languages at a same level.
People working for the EU instituions often don't realise that there is more to speak than French or English. They ignore Dutch completely.
If you live in Belgium you should try and integrate youself the best you can so it is more than fair to learn both of the country's languages!

You can "get by" speaking just French and/or English. But you really get ahead when you add at least passive understanding of Dutch and maybe one more extra European languages.

As I often overheard french speaking people mocking at the Dutch language or even despising it, I decided, even if I am French, to speak Dutch everywhere in Brussels. I only switch to French when the person to whom I am speaking really doesn't understand Dutch.

Franglais

Try to learn french and/or dutch and meet the locals. An always rewarding experience.
Lonely Planet.

We people of Brussels love Europe, you should love us!
An indigenous

And don't worry about "your" french. We're in Belgium, not in Paris!

Quelle délicate attention Efflamm. Je parle sept langues, dont le néerlandais dans sa variante flamande. Tout dépend du contexte. Je déplore l'arrogance d'une certaine bourgeoisie bruxelloise francophone. Mais attention à ne pas faire le jeu du nationalisme soft de la Flandre* et ses velléités d'annexion de Bruxelles. En l'occurrence, les victimes potentielles ne sont pas les Flamands mais la population bruxelloise, qui n'en a rien à cirer de ces fantasmes ethniques d'un autre âge.
Quant à l'anglais, dans ce jeu de dupes communautariste, sa promotion et son usage ne sont pas aussi innocents qu'ils n'en ont l'air...
Mais bon, dans ce grand "brol" qu'est Bruxelles, on s'est toujours accommodé d'un certain flou linguistique. C'est en quelques sorte dans l'ordre des choses...
* remarquez que je dis "la Flandre" et non pas "les Flamands". Je voudrais n'insulter personne, à commencer pas les Bruxellois flamands.

Anyway, I speak french, italian, english, spanish, dutch, portuguese. This is post-modern Brussels. This is Europe!