On 14 June 2023, the European Parliament adopted its positionon the draft AI Act, which brings one step closer an EU regulation for generative AI and other AI systems. This blog gives the highlights of the current draft text, taking into account the newest amendments that have been proposed ...
My business has liquidity needs... What can I do to keep this situation under control? As the coronavirus has already made a serious impact on the world economy, companies are faced with important liquidity needs. In uncertain times, easy access to cash can become rare. What can you do? First, approach what is probably your most clear source of liquidity, your bankers ...
Benchmarking is a vital tool in the development and improvement of a franchise network, and will benefit franchisees and franchisors alike. A good benchmark, whether financial and/or operational requires the communication of accurate and relevant documents and information between the franchisee and the franchisor, which is best organised in a clear and detailed manner in the franchise agreement ...
The controversial issue of whether employers can check their employees' temperatures has been much debated. Both the Employment Ministry and the Data Protection Authority (DPA) have recently changed their positions in this respect ...
Following the Act of 19 December 2023 (published on 27 December 2023), the legislator has introduced a reconciliation procedure in the commercial and labour courts as well as in the courts of appeal. Previous situation The tool that Father Christmas has just added to the Belgian ADR toolbox is not new. Reconciling the parties has expressly been part of each court’s remit since 2018 ...
Introduction An EU Regulation on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation (“Deforestation Regulation”) was agreed upon by the EU legislators in December 2022. The European Parliament has now green-lighted the Provisional Agreement at this month’s plenary session ...
The European Commission has presented its Proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Space (the “Proposal”). While it aims to strengthen the rights of individuals and unlock data’s potential for research purposes, it also adds complexity to an already extensive legal framework. Here is what you need to know: In its 2020 Data Strategy, the European Commission outlined a plan to unlock the untapped potential of the EU data economy ...
The EU regulator has harmonized the maximum levels for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp seeds throughout the Union within the food contaminants framework. This EU harmonization puts pressure on conservative national food laws such as the Belgian Royal Decree of 31 August 2021, which treats hemp seeds as a prohibited food.The situation in Belgium, however, is changing to better align it with EU law ...
Hemp seeds have been eaten in the EU for a long time. The seeds may contain trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) because this cannabinoid is a natural constituent of the cannabis plant from which the seeds originate. The EU regulator has decided to harmonize the maximum levels for THC in hemp seeds throughout the Union within the food contaminants framework. Commission Regulation 2022/1393 of 11 August 2022 amends the annex to Regulation No1881/2006 on food contaminants to this effect ...
A new Royal Decree published on 21 January 2021 in the Belgian Official Gazette has temporarily extended the occupational doctor's role in combatting the Covid-19 virus ...
A website operator who has embedded a Facebook “like” button on its website qualifies as a “joint controller” together with Facebook and so can be held liable for the collection and transmission of data from the operator’s website visitors to Facebook. Background Fashion ID is a German online clothing retailer. Its website contained the famous Facebook ‘Like’-button ...
On 30 April 2020, the European Commission adopted three implementing regulations allowing temporary derogations from the strict cartel prohibition provided for by EU competition law in three specific agricultural sectors: dairy, potato and live plants and flowers. The latter sector is said to broadly cover “live trees and other plants, bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental foliage” ...
The coronavirus crisis could make the ability of a business to perform pending contracts harder. Even though so-called ‘hardship’ clauses are perfectly valid and enforceable under Belgian law, hardship is not generally accepted as a principle of Belgian contract law. Until the rules on obligations of the new Civil Code, which recognise hardship, enter into force, there are exceptions and creative ways to deal with this problem ...
Belgium is, for the second time, in lockdown. The new Ministerial Decree of 1 November 2020 stipulates that, as from today until 13 December 2020, all workers are obliged to telework. However, an exception applies when either the employee’s role or the continuity of business operations, activities and services does not allow for teleworking ...
Non-EEA nationals practising self-employed activities in Belgium must apply for a professional card, unless they can benefit from a legal exemption. Since 1 January 2022 a new and simplified application procedure has come into force in the Flemish region [1]. At the same time, the Flemish government has introduced a new exemption: subject to certain requirements being met, non-EEA nationals taking up a corporate mandate are exempted from the professional card obligation ...
The health crisis has not eased the tensions between the management and the trade unions of the Belgian National Orchestra (“BNO”). The pandemic has even caused an additional outbreak of ‘fever’, which even a Brussels Court of Appeal ruling on 7 May 2021 will probably not be enough to ‘cure’... At issue is the fate of musicians' rights to reproductions and broadcasts of their performances ...
On 6 November 2023, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) announced that it had closed its investigation into a possible abuse of dominance by Proximus following the sale of EDPnet to Citymesh ...
Discussing the legal concept ‘Force Majeure’ in credit agreements – if it can be called upon, it has in principle a temporary nature and does not relief you from payment obligations. In general, force majeure is an unforeseeable and unavoidable event that occurs after a credit agreement has been concluded (i.e ...
As part of some new measures that aim to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the government has imposed a new record-keeping obligation on certain employers and users which temporarily rely on foreign employees or self-employed individuals. In-scope employers and users must also verify whether the foreign employees and self-employed individuals have duly completed the passenger locator form. These new obligations apply from 24 August 2020 until 31 October 2020, but will likely be extended ...
Due to the Covid-19 government measures, most employees work mainly from their home offices from March 2020 onwards. For internationally active employees, the taxation of salaries is linked to the location where the work is carried out. The sudden switch to the home office may therefore have a major impact on the tax position and the net salary of the employees concerned and on the payroll administration of the employer ...
To limit the spread of Covid-19, all indoor and outdoor private and public cultural, festive, recreational, leisure and sport activities /events are prohibited until at least 10 May 2020 (included). Sport activities without physical contact and with a maximum of three persons are already allowed from 4 May 2020. Museums might be allowed to re-open from 18 May 2020 under strict conditions ...
EUIPO On 16 March 2020, the Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has issued Decision No EX-20-3 extending all time limits expiring between 9 March 2020 and 30 April 2020, that affect all parties before the Office, to 1 May 2020. In principle, the new deadlines will not be communicated to the parties on a case-by-case basis ...
In this challenging period of the Coronavirus outbreak, your organisation might currently be taking strong internal measures to protect its employees while ensuring work continuity. Such measures could have data protection implications and therefore you might be wondering how to take them in accordance with the GDPR. We have answered the most important GDPR questions below ...
Balancing between your bank taking purely business considerations or being reasonable. We advise being proactive and approaching your bank. The Coronavirus is unfortunately a human tragedy that is affecting thousands of people on all continents. It has also a very serious impact on businesses worldwide and locally ...
On 16 March 2023, in Joined Cases C‑438/21P to C‑440/21P, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interpreted the concept of a ‘global marketing authorisation’. It held that Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/83 (the Community Code) sets out exhaustively the line extensions for which the marketing authorisations (MAs) will fall under the same global MA as the initial MA ...
