Belgium
| On 28th March 2014, the Act on Claims for Collective Redress was passed. The Act entered into force on 1st September 2014, and introduced into Book XVII of Belgian Commercial Code (Code de droit économique) a new Title “Class Action” (De l’action en réparation collective). In June 2018, new regulations were introduced into the Commercial Code extending the scope of admissibility of class action to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs), whereas previously only consumers could be members of a group in class action. Most of the proceedings based on the Collective Redress Act were initiated by Test Achats (Test-Aankoop), a leading consumer protection organization in Belgium.
The first class action was initiated in May 2015 on behalf of 44,000 passengers of the Belgian railway company NMBS who suffered losses due to delays or cancellations of trains as a result of employee strikes. Ultimately, the defendant company satisfied the claims of most of the group members, and the proceedings were therefore concluded in 2017. Proceedings in Belgium were also brought against the Volkswagen Group in the so-called dieselgate case. Other class actions include, for example, proceedings brought against Groupon company in connection with the sale of diapers offered by the company under the name Luierbox, and proceedings against Facebook in relation to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. |
| Implementation of Directive 2020/1828 |
| Implementing act |
Act of 21st May 21 2024, amending Books I, XV, and XVII of the Commercial Code and transposing Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25th November 2020, on representative actions, entered into force on 31st May 2024. |
| Type of procedure and model |
opt in / opt out
If the parties decide to settle, they may choose the mechanism (opt-in or opt-out) in the settlement agreement.
If the parties fail to agree on the applicable mechanism, the case will be heard on its merits before the court. If the court finds the defendant(s) liable, the opt-in mechanism will be the default mechanism. After the judgment establishing the defendant(s)’ liability is handed down, the injured parties have four months to decide whether they wish to join the group.
The opt-in mechanism applies mandatory when: (i) consumers do not reside in Belgium, (ii) small entrepreneurs do not have their main place of business in Belgium, and (iii) the action concerns compensation/damages in connection with bodily injury and/or non-material damage. |
| Qualified entity to bring an action |
An organization approved by the competent minister or (if operating on an ad hoc basis) by a commercial court or court of appeal, which has been involved in consumer protection for at least 12 months. |
| Third-party funding |
Still admissible (as before – it is not prohibited), but under the current legal framework it is subject to two-stage control. |
| Facilities for consumers |
Extension of the application of the collective redress mechanism to cases of misselling of financial products (under the previous legal regime, such cases were excluded from the scope of Belgian class actions). |
Update: February/March 2025
