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• Article: Bequest Division: The Roles of Parental Motives and Children’s Gender Composition

  Warn N. Lekfuangfu (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; CEP, London School of Economics; University College London – CReAM – Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration), Javier Olivera (National Bank of Belgium) and Philippe Van Kerm (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research) recently published, Bequest Division: The Roles of Parental Motives and Children’s Gender Composition, 2026....

• Belgium’s action plan to combat long-term absence requires employers to take action too

  In previous blogs, we have mentioned how Belgium is high up in the ranks of countries with employees on long-term absence, and how our new(ish) government wants to tackle this national disease on different fronts. The first chapter of this ambitious plan came into force on 1 January 2026. We have summarised the changes below,...

• Belgian legaltech Alice raises €1M to bring trustworthy AI workflows to legal casework

  Ghent, Belgium, 29 December 2025. Alice, an AI platform built by lawyers for lawyers and legal teams, has raised €1 million in pre-seed funding to rethink legal casework from end to end. The round was led by NewSchool and Seeder Fund, with participation from a group of experienced Belgian angel investors. When unchecked AI meets...

• Belgium applies to intervene in ICJ genocide case against Israel

  Belgium filed Tuesday a declaration of intervention to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case against Israel in relation to the situation in the Gaza Strip. In the declaration, Belgium expressed its understanding of the term “genocidal intent” contained in the Genocide Convention. Citing a previous ICJ provisional measure order in the case...

• “Ceci n’est pas une indexation …”, or is it? Wage indexation about to get quite surreal in Belgium

  We sighed a collective sigh of relief when the Belgian government finally reached the budget agreement last week.  The negotiations had been really difficult, which is not surprising considering the challenges the government faces: €8 billion had to be found somewhere to keep Belgium’s debt at an acceptable level (acceptable as in not driving us...

• So … what’s happening in Belgium meanwhile (on the employment front)?

  While the new government announced fairly drastic measures on the employment front when it was formed towards the end of January 2025, most of these changes have yet to take place. There are however a couple of developments to report: Belgium has long applied an early retirement regime known as a ‘bridge pension‘ or, following...

• Deadly Belgian E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef

  An E. coli outbreak in Belgium with more than 70 cases and nine deaths has been linked to ground beef. The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) said no samples of the affected batch of meat were available, so the source cannot be confirmed with absolute certainty. Food consumption in the...

• Deadly Belgian E. coli outbreak grows with source still unknown

  Almost 50 confirmed E. coli infections and several deaths have been reported in eight nursing homes in a region of Belgium. In Flanders, it has been confirmed that 48 patients and seven deaths were caused by the same strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157. Infections in the eight nursing homes were first reported...

• Serious E. coli outbreak sickens 20 in Belgium

  About 20 residents of six nursing homes in Belgium have fallen ill after being infected with E. coli. Local media reported five people had died but it was not certain what role E. coli played in their deaths. The Flemish Department of Health (Departement Zorg), Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC),...

• Belgium sees outbreaks increase in 2024

  Belgium has recorded an increase in outbreaks and illnesses in 2024 compared to the year before. In 2024, 777 outbreaks were notified: 4,248 people were affected and 205 were hospitalized. There were six deaths. Figures were reported in the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain’s (FASFC) annual report. The number of notifications...

Featured documents

• Decision Horvath v. Belgium (6224/07) Hungarian citizen denied translation/interpretation in criminal proceedings : inadmissible

  On August 25th 2000, Ms. Horvath, an Hungarian citizen was interrogated in Dutch and English by Dutch speaking police officers of the Ghent police without the assistance of a sworn interpreter (art.47 bis of the code of criminal instruction). On March 27th 2001, she received a summon in Dutch from...

• Registration Open for “Nano in Belgium” Workshop

  The Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, the FPS Employment, Labor and Social Dialogue, and the FPS Economy, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), Self-Employed and Energy will hold a workshop on “Nano in Belgium” on October 22, 2015.  The workshop will focus...

• Belgium Adopts Law Reforming the Belgian Privacy Commission

  On January 10, 2018, the Law of 3 December 2017 creating the Data Protection Authority was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. It replaces the Belgian Privacy Commission with the Belgian Data Protection Authority, since the current Belgian Privacy Commission has limited prosecutorial powers...

• Brexit: Doing business in the EU – Updated

  Recent updates Belgium: 10 April 2019 We have produced a colour coded heat map and table identifying the temporary emergency measures being implemented in EEA jurisdictions, and how financial services provides can benefit from these measures. We recommend that this resource be read in conjunction...

• Updated Guide: How to access European Governments’ financial support packages

  Last week we launched our European Government Financial Support guide setting out what financial support businesses in different jurisdictions could access to help manage financial distress caused by Covid-19.  We have updated this with new details for Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy,...

• Advocate General Issues Opinion on GDPR’s One-Stop-Shop

  On January 13, 2021, Advocate General Michal Bobek of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued his Opinion in the Case C-645/19 of Facebook Ireland Limited, Facebook Inc., Facebook Belgium BVBA v. the Belgian Data Protection Authority....

• Belgium imposes tighter Covid measures (including an obligation to work from home again)

  In the wave of sunny optimism following the roll-out of our vaccination programme this spring-summer, few people in Belgium had anticipated that the Covid situation would worsen again, or do so as quickly as it has. And yet the numbers of infections and patients in intensive care are now at an all-t...

• Barry Callebaut warns of Salmonella shutdown impact

  Barry Callebaut is bracing for a significant financial impact after stopping production because of Salmonella contamination at a factory in Belgium. Although the full effect of the incident is still being assessed, it is expected to be “notable” in the financial figures for the fourth quarter 2021/2...

• G7 Countries Agree on Voluntary Code of Conduct for AI Development

  Foo Yun Chee of Reuters reports the G7 countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the United States, along with the European Union, will agree on Monday to a voluntary code of conduct for companies involved in the development of advanced AI systems. The 11-point code...

• So what’s going on in Belgium?

  Well, a lot in fact! A number of new provisions are taking effect at the start of the new year and we have tried to summarise them for you in one little blog post. Our New Year’s gift to you! 1. Extended information obligations in the event of a transfer of an undertaking As from......