Claire Peers

🚀 The #spacesector continues to rapidly expand and evolve, and policymakers are working to support and shape its development. Belgium, home to a wide range of companies active across the spectrum of space activities, is no exception to this. ⬇️ Check out our latest newsletter discussing several recent developments at the legal and policy levels that space actors in Belgium and abroad should be aware of: - The European Investment Bank’s commitment to support the Walloon space industry, with a special focus on Earth observation and reusable launch vehicles - Belgium’s signing of the #ArtemisAccords in parallel with ongoing discussions at international level on the governance of #spaceresourceactivities - Inclusion of the outer space environment in the new offence of #ecocide in a context of growing concerns for the sustainability of outer space. Read more on our website: https://lnkd.in/gk-33uin #Space #SpaceSector

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📲 The Digital Markets Act: The EU Takes on Big Tech Crowell's Karl Stas provides an in-depth analysis of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the latest issue of Revue de Droit Commercial Belge - Tijdschrift voor Belgisch Handelsrecht - RDC - TBH (Journal of Belgian Commercial Law). The DMA empowers the European Commission to designate as “gatekeepers” large and entrenched digital platforms that control the access of business users to end users. These gatekeepers are subject to a number of specific ex ante obligations to ensure that digital markets remain contestable and fair. Main topics discussed in the article: ◾️ Analysis of the key substantive and procedural provisions of the Regulation. ◾️ Public and private enforcement of the DMA. ◾️ The role of the Belgian Competition Authority in supporting the European Commission’s implementation of the DMA. ◾️ A comparison of the new approach of the DMA with traditional competition law. Read the full article in Dutch via Stradalex ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eaK5ShAT #DMA #DigitalMarkets #CompetitionLaw #BigTech

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The Belgian B2B-Law – integrated in the Belgian Code of #Economic Law – entered into force on 1 December 2020. This B2B-Law sets out a number of clauses that are considered unfair and invalid in the framework of B2B agreements (agreements between companies). 📃 Read More ➡️ https://deloi.tt/3XB1t2G -- Els Van Poucke, Jasmijn Verraes

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No time to read the 182 pages ruling by the Belgian Constitutional Court on the implementation of the DSM Directive? You're not alone! Read our report and get yourself ready to participate to the most interesting discussions during coffee breaks in less than 10 minutes. Or leave comments here if you're having coffee by yourself. #DSM #article18 #article17 #remunerationrights #collectivemanagement #belgium #fairpay #fairremuneration

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1 in 4 cigarettes consumed in Belgium is either contraband or counterfeit, and consequently escapes the Belgian tax authorities. That’s the key finding of the latest study about illicit tobacco consumption in our country.   Illicit tobacco trade has never been so unbridled in our country. And because of this, Belgium is missing out on a staggering €1.2 billion in revenue because smokers can find their goods more cheaply elsewhere. Well-organised gangs are smuggling cheap cigarettes from abroad into Belgium on a large scale to sell them here at significant profit.   The challenge for the federal negotiators is crystal-clear: thoroughly rethink the Belgian excise policy. The multiple excessive excise increases we’ve seen under the De Croo government have dramatically backfired: year after year, they push more and more smokers into the arms of cigarette smugglers.   Discover more study findings and our full appeal to the federal negotiators in the press release on our website: https://lnkd.in/eiVT4DhU   #Tobacco #illicittrade #cigarettes #Belgiangovernment #Cimabel 

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How can it be? Not yet instaled, but already so #boomer the Belgian government! Indeed, the coalition of the future Belgian (ARIZONA) governement envisages to stop gender quotas on Boards of Directors of listed companies and in the federal public services in the broadest sense... an intiative supported at European level by the Parliament and the European Commission Despite the fact that we have already very positive evaluations of this gender policy, eg. https://lnkd.in/ec6qT24k https://lnkd.in/e4fGniCi

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Today, I will present some short and preliminary views on the introduction of the ecocide crime in Belgian criminal law as applicable in outer space, at UN Space Policy and Law Conference (Vienna)

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On 26 March 2024, the Government submitted a draft bill to the Parliament to amend the social criminal law. This bill was adopted on 8 May 2024 but has not yet been published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The purpose of this reform is among others, to update and improve the Social Criminal Code of 2010. The amendments of the Social Criminal Code concern both the provisions of Book 1 of the Code, relating to the prevention, detection and criminal prosecution of infringements and the sanction levels as well as the infringements in Book 2 of the Code. Click the link below to read the full Insight. https://lnkd.in/e87vGu2e Should you have any questions about this newsletter or have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to our Employment & Benefits team here: https://lnkd.in/eyfukPpt #LiedekerkeLaw #EmploymentLaw, #SocialCriminalCode

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🍃 The Hague Court of Appeal delivers ruling in landmark climate litigation and corporate framework decision 🍃 Yesterday (12 November 2024) the Hague Court of Appeal released the much anticipated and awaited judgment in the case of Shell v Milieudefensie, concerning the obligation on corporate entities to reduce emissions and ensure alignment of their policies and governance processes with climate goals as set out in international standards and state-based goals. In brief summary of the issues, in 2021 the Hague District Court ordered Shell to make emission reductions to the extent of 45% by 2030 across the entirety of its operations. This included a reduction in Scope 3 emissions, which are those that are not necessarily generated by Shell directly, but by users of Shell products such as oil and gas. This decision of the court a quo was based on a finding that Shell has a duty of care (in terms of inter alia the Dutch Civil Code and human rights legal instruments such as the EU Convention of Human Rights, and the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights) in terms of climate change and, as a corporate actor, had a legal obligation to protect human rights by limiting the impacts of the business associated with climate change. Shell filed an appeal against the findings, primarily on the basis that specific reductions such as those ordered could not be imposed by a court, and that the findings failed to take into account the full context of the energy transition. While the Court of Appeal acknowledged the existence of a duty of care imposed on Shell, it held that it could not impose a specific percentage emission reduction requirement on Shell’s operations. Further, the Court of Appeal recognised Shell’s commitment to reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and that there was no established breach of a duty of care in this regard. Insofar as Scope 3 emissions are concerned (being those of end-consumers using Shell products), the Court of Appeal held that by enforcing an obligation on Shell to, for example, restrict sales of fossil fuels to consumers, would just mean that another company would pick up the demand and as such this would not be effective in achieving a net reduction in emissions. The Court of Appeal judgment is of great significance in the growing climate litigation on the reasonability and alignment of corporate frameworks. It acknowledges the duty of care of corporates and the obligation to mitigate climate change across business operations, while still recognising the corporate discretion to put together achievable transition plans, provided that they are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and the road to net zero by 2050. A copy of the judgment (and a translation) can be accessed on the link below.

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BRIEF CMS CMS Belgium #update on #belgian #fdi screening #legislation and #enforcement Annabelle Lepièce #eulaw #belgium #brussels #foreigndirectinvestment #mergersandacquisitions #nationalsecurity #foreigninvestments #foreigninvestors #defense

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Full house at the 12th annual Competitio conference today, gathering experts in the field of Belgian competition law to discuss the interesting evolutions of the past year. The conference is chaired by our colleague Grégoire Ryelandt, who is also editor-in-chief of the legal journal Competitio. #competitio #belgiancompetitionlaw #antitrust

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📢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Author: Pieter-Jan Aerts The European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on combating late payment in commercial transactions on 12 September 2023, which was subsequently amended by the European Parliament on 23 April 2024. Subject to adoption by the European Parliament and the European Council several novelties will be introduced by the Regulation, including on the payment terms, enforcement, redress and the limitation of the verification period. Know more by following the link below 👇 #EY #EYLaw #EuropeanCommission #LatePayment #CommercialLaw #CommercialTransactions #BusinessRegulation #EuropeanParliament

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📣 My colleagues Deborah Berkvens and Amaryllis Maes wrote this insightfull and interesting article on HR due diligence. 🙌 A must read in this months publication of Oriëntatie ! #employmentlaw #pwclegal #m&a #HRDD

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The Belgian Parliament has adopted a significant amendment to the Belgian Companies and Associations Code, effective from 8 April, 2024. Shareholder approval is now required for any significant transfer of assets by listed companies and their subsidiaries. This raises several practical questions on the calculation of the 75% threshold and implications for asset-based securities. Find out more in the article written by Mathias Hendrickx, Vanessa Marquette, Davina Devleeschouwer, Maarten Buyse and Robrecht Coppens 👉🏽 https://lawand.tax/3QsGAnx #corporate #capitalmarkets #lawandtax

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Did you catch the results of the Belgian elections? If so, did you care?🗞🤔 Find out why you should in our latest blog, in which one of our in-house European policy experts Arno Sterck outlines the effect of the Belgian elections on the rest of Europe, and why you should be paying attention to Member State national politics in general. Check it out 👉 https://lnkd.in/eD5MNzy9

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📊 Collective Dismissal Trends in Belgium: January - September 2024 📊 Based on the data provided by the FPS Employment, the first three quarters of 2024 have seen significant activity, particularly in certain sectors. 🔍 Some key insights I wanted to share with you: 📈 A total of 68 technical business units initiated information and consultation procedures for collective dismissals during the first three quarters of 2024, relating to 8878 employees. 🏭 Top 3 impacted sectors: - Metal processing - (Petro)chemical - Textile 📊 49 technical business units (relating to 3,474 employees) completed their information and consultation procedure in the same period. From these employees, 3205 were still affected by a collective dismissal after the information and consultation procedure. 📅 Average Duration of Procedures: The average duration of the information and consultation procedure was 72 days, with a median duration of 66 days. 💡Implications for businesses The data underscores the importance of strategic planning and robust consultation processes for businesses facing the difficult decision of collective dismissals. As we move forward, it is essential for all stakeholders to engage in transparent and constructive dialogue to mitigate the impact of these dismissals and support affected employees in their career transitions. #EmploymentLaw #CollectiveDismissal #WetRenault

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Christmas is around the corner and you don't know what present to share with your loved ones?   Osborne Clarke unfortunately can't help with gift ideas, but our corporate team can assist you with the new corporate #sustainability legislations, #CSRD and #CS3D! Check out our insight, prepared by Hadrien and me, on why the CS3D's indirect impact on #SMEs requires action to ensure you remain valuable partners in sustainable supply chains:

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🚧 𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗟𝗔𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 | 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟰: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Since 2020, the Belgian Civil Code has been evolving, and now extra-contractual liability (tort law) will be renewed by Book 6. What does this mean to you? Join us in this series as we unpack the impact of this reform in Belgium!    🔍 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴? The previous Civil Code had three cases of vicarious liability (liability for someone else's tort) in Article 1384—covering parents, professors, and principals. The new Code retains these in Articles 6.12 to 6.14, but introduces a significant update:    📑 Article 6.15 establishes strict vicarious liability for legal entities, effective January 1, 2025. Both private and public legal persons will now be liable for damages caused by their (management) bodies or members thereof if these arise from a tort or other liability during or on the occasion of their duties.    This aligns the responsibility of legal entities with that of principals, providing a clear legal framework for accountability alongside existing liabilities (e.g., for their own and employees’ torts).    📩 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲? Contact us at [email protected].     Stay tuned for Episode 5, where we’ll explore the new Causality Framework (Art. 6.18). #TortLawReform #BelgianCivilCode #LegalUpdate #ContractLaw #Liability #LegalReform #ContractManagement 

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📣 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗘𝗨 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗴𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 As of 1 July 2023 Belgium’s foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanism has entered into force. The screening mechanism will be important for all M&A deals occurring in Belgium whereby non-EU investors invest in Belgian entities. Transactions which fall under the scope of FDI are required to notify the Belgian Interfederal Screening Commission (ISC) prior to closing. Read our latest alert here! #EYLawBelgium #foreigninvestmentscreening #FDI #foreigndirectinvestment #Law #MA #transactions

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