Belgium: Compliance

The European Commission's new Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance under Article 102 TFEU provide companies with a comprehensive framework for assessing their market position and commercial conduct. These Guidelines consolidate decades of case law and enforcement practice, offering businesses a structured approach to evaluate dominance, understand how different types of conduct will be analyzed, and identify the evidence that matters when commercial strategies come under scrutiny.

The European Commission has adopted its first comprehensive Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance under Article 102 TFEU, marking a significant evolution in EU competition law enforcement. Following a three-year consultation process, these Guidelines codify evolving case law while addressing concerns about enforcement thresholds and introducing notable changes including the reintroduction of a 40% market share benchmark, refined evidentiary presumptions, and expanded guidance on digital markets and

Belgian employers approaching the 50- or 100-worker threshold face a critical decision point: the 2028 social elections may seem distant, but the reference period for calculating workforce averages has already begun. Every hiring and departure between October 2026 and September 2027 directly impacts whether your company must organize mandatory employee representative elections. Understanding these calculations and their strategic implications is essential for workforce planning in the coming months.

Belgium's new Private Investigations Act fundamentally transforms how companies must conduct internal investigations, establishing comprehensive legal requirements for everything from fraud inquiries to HR incidents.

The EU Forced Labour Regulation prohibits products made with forced labour from entering or leaving the EU market starting December 2027. Companies must establish product-level traceability, investigation readiness protocols, and evidence-based compliance architectures to demonstrate their products are not connected to forced labour practices. This comprehensive analysis translates the regulation's legal framework and newly published Guidelines into actionable workstreams for general counsel and compliance

Organisations across Asia-Pacific are rapidly integrating artificial intelligence into workforce management, from recruitment to performance monitoring. As regulatory frameworks evolve, employers face the critical challenge of deploying AI responsibly while building effective governance structures to manage these powerful tools throughout the employment lifecycle.

The European Union's new CRD VI directive fundamentally reshapes how US banks can conduct corporate lending across EU Member States, introducing mandatory branch licensing requirements that eliminate...

Belgium's federal Chamber of Representatives has adopted a comprehensive bill introducing significant changes to pharmaceutical reimbursement procedures, including simplified approval tracks, new combination therapy rules, and an 80 million EUR annual industry contribution. The legislation also addresses drug unavailability issues and postpones certain 2024 reforms until 2028, fundamentally reshaping the financial and operational landscape for pharmaceutical companies operating in Belgium.

New Belgian legislation introduces stricter payment terms for business-to-business transactions, capping payment periods at 60 days and eliminating contractual flexibility around invoice receipt dates. The Act of 14 August 2021 strengthens protections for creditors by imposing automatic penalties on late-paying debtors, including a 10.5% interest rate and fixed recovery costs, fundamentally reshaping commercial payment practices.