Belgium is a complex country and many authorities have jurisdiction The Federal government is in charge of emergency planning. It can activate a federal stage emergency planning in which case the Federal Minister of the Interior has exceptional authority and can coordinate the emergency activities. As announced at a press conference on Thursday 12 March 2020, at about 10 pm, this federal stage has been activated ...
The Covid-19 outbreak is not only a huge challenge for health care, but also has enormous consequences for the economy. Different sectors (such as the hospitality, tourism and transport sectors and many others) will not be able to overcome the difficult times that we are currently facing without public support. Many Member States have already adopted exceptional aid measures and many more will follow, but public support for undertakings must still comply with the EU State aid rules ...
The Corona crisis is not only a huge challenge for health care, but also the consequences for the economy will be enormous. Different sectors (such as the hospitality sector and the transport sector) will not be able to overcome the difficult times we are currently facing without public support ...
Background The ‘ball’ in this case started ‘rolling’ when Rothschild presented his MetaBirkins collection at Art Basel Miami in December 2021 and began selling it through NFT platforms like OpenSea. The collection consisted of 100 NFTs with digital images of Hermès Birkin bags in various designs. The starting price for one copy was 0.1 ETH (about $450 at the time). The artist was said to have soon sold more than $1 million worth of digital handbags ...
The European Commission (“EC”) is collecting data and feedback from stakeholders about the European Union’s (“EU”) current rules on packaging and packaging waste. Based on these insights, it will propose an amendment to the current rules that aim to ensure a properly functioning market for packaging recycling and diminishing packaging waste ...
Updated on 8 January 2024.Food law is extensively harmonized throughout the EU, but national law still has a role to play. In this short article, we look at three developments in Belgian food law that have taken place in 2023: the amendments to the Food Safety Agency’s administrative fining regime, the introduction of nutrivigilance, and the announced revision of the food hygiene legislation.1 ...
Due to the dramatic increase in Covid-19 infection numbers, there were calls – once again – to postpone the social elections that are scheduled for the period between 16 and 29 November 2020. However, on 27 October 2020, the social partners reached an agreement not to do so, but to extend the opportunities for voting electronically or by post so that the elections can take place in Covid-proof circumstances ...
On 28 May 2022, the Belgian law transposing EU Directive 2019/2161 into the Code of Economic Law (CEL) entered into force (the “Omnibus Act”). The Omnibus Act aims to modernise consumer protection given the increasing development of e-commerce. In addition to new transparency obligations for online marketplaces, the Omnibus Act has new general information obligations, and new unfair commercial practices and obligations for price reduction announcements that apply to all retailers ...
The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (‘ICC’) has issued a revised version of its Arbitration Rules. The 2021 Rules enter into force on 1 January 2021 and aim to make arbitration even more efficient, flexible and transparent ...
In the aftermath of some highly-publicised social dumping cases in the media, the Flemish government has proposed a zero tolerance policy for bogus posting set-ups involving illegal employment, especially if they involve exploitation and “smart” contractor chain constructions. To achieve this aim, the Flemish government has adjusted some already existing chain liability schemes and is seeking to introduce, amongst other things, a duty of care obligation for certain contractors ...
On Friday 4 June 2021, a new Ministerial Decree was published in the Belgian State Gazette that includes new provisions regarding telework. For the time being, telework remains compulsory and employers remain obliged to register their non-teleworkable positions with the National Social Security Office (NSSO) and to provide workers whose presence at the workplace is needed with a certificate confirming this fact ...
In the context of a dispute between a Turkish agent and a Belgian principal, the Commercial Court of Ghent (Belgium) referred a request to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) concerning the legal protection of a Turkish agent under Belgian/EU law. The agent and principal had expressly agreed that their agency agreement was subject to Belgian law ...
On 18 January 2023, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) reimposed a fine of EUR 859,310 on three undertakings of the Caudalie group for imposing retail prices and restricting active and passive sales ...
In its priorities note for 2023, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) listed the pharmaceutical and health care sector as one of it major interests. It noted that “in the coming months, the BCA will also devote additional attention and resources to the continued consolidation in the hospital sector ...
Over the last 4 years, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) has increasingly scrutinised anticompetitive restraints in vertical agreements and assessed these restraints under Article IV.1 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law and Article 101 TFEU ...
On 7 April 2023, the Belgian Cour de Cassation reversed its long standing case law and decided that (from now on) disputes concerning the termination of exclusive distribution agreements are eligible to be settled by arbitration. 1. The legal background The Belgian Economic Code (previously known as the 1961 Distributorship Act – the “Act”) provides special protection against the unwarranted termination of an exclusive distribution agreement ...
In its recent judgment of 21 December 2016, the Tournai Commercial Court (‘Court’) declared it did not have jurisdiction to deal with a dispute concerning the termination of an exclusive distributorship that the parties had agreed to submit to arbitration. This judgment was based on the new definition of arbitrability in the Belgian Judicial Code, which entered into force in 2013, and marks a new era for the arbitrability of Belgian distributorship law disputes ...
Both the Belgian legislator and government have played an active role in 2023 when it comes to pharma legislation, which has led to a number of changes in the legal framework. In this article, we look back and discuss five noteworthy developments in Belgian pharma law. 1 ...
As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the social partners have decided to suspend the current social election procedure and postpone the continuation of this procedure until after the summer. On 24 March 2020 the National Labour Council (NLC) issued an opinion that highlighted the implications of this postponement for companies. This NLC opinion has been transposed into a law which was voted in Parliament on 23 April 2020. This article outlines the most important consequences for employers ...
With the exit from lockdown in full swing, many companies are recalling their staff to the workplace. This article answers 10 FAQs that employers, business managers and HR specialists must consider during employees' return to work. FAQs Must employers respect health and safety measures on their employees' return to work and, if so, which ones?Yes, to the extent possible, social distancing (ie, maintaining a distance between people of at least 1 ...
With national governments scrambling to take measures in order to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, we are again confronted with the fact that a EU common policy in the healthcare field is quasi inexistent. This is equally so in respect of the pricing and reimbursement of medicines ...
The coming advent of quantum computing technologies will bring important changes to our society. In the medium term, computing calculation power will be multiplied to a level that exceeds our current understanding. This will allow for various new industrial developments and applications. This will also raise a vast number of sensitive legal issues. In this article, ALTIUS summarises what are the key takeaways that you should know about quantum computing ...
The rules governing discrimination and psychosocial risks at work have been revised to bring them in line with European legislation and the European Court of Justice’s recent case law. Various legislation has now changed, including: the Gender Act of 7 May 2007, the Antidiscrimination Act of 7 May 2007, the Racism and Xenophobia Act of 30 July 1981, the Wellbeing Act of 4 August 1996, and the Wellbeing at Work Code. These new rules entered into force on 1 June 2023 ...
An expert panel of the Pro League (the organization representing the interests of all professional Belgian football clubs) appointed by the latter and presided by Belgian minister of State, Melchior Wathelet, was consulted on the role of football agents within the current Belgian football landscape. The panel was asked to formulate recommendations and ‘best practice’-proposals to the Pro League ...
The legal status of CBD, a naturally occurring compound found in the cannabis plant, is murky. Certain Member States are more restrictive about it than others. The Court of Justice of the EU has very recently provided clarification in the context of a preliminary ruling (case C-663/18 of 19 November 2020). This case revolves around CBD’s ban in France, after it had been imported from the Czech Republic where it was lawfully produced ...
