BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Chris Engels and Julie Devos, Claeys & Engels
Partial Transposition of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) On 28 November 2024, the Belgian House of Representatives adopted a partial transposition law under an urgency procedure. This law aims to establish a framework that obliges companies to include and publish sustainability informa - tion in their annual reports based on European sustainability standards. This includes the infor - mation needed to understand the company’s impact on sustainability issues (ESG) and how sustainability issues influence the company’s development, performance, and situation. It also introduces measures to ensure the accuracy of the published information. In addition to corporate obligations, the law imposes a number of obligations in terms of consultation with the social partners within the company. Sustainability information must be shared with the works council at least fifteen days before the meeting to discuss it. This dis - cussion must occur within three months of the end of the financial year. A report of the meeting must be shared with shareholders at the annual general meeting. If no works council exists, the responsibility shifts to the committee for preven - tion and protection at work or, in its absence, to the trade union delegation. The Act of 2 December 2024 on the disclosure of sustainability information by certain companies and groups and the assurance of sustainability information, containing various provisions, was published in the Belgian State Gazette on 20 December 2024 and entered into force on 30 December 2024. Omnibus Simplification Package In February 2025, the European Commission introduced the Omnibus Simplification Package to streamline sustainability-related legislation
and reduce regulatory burdens. This package includes two legislative proposals: the so-called “Stop-the-Clock” Directive (EU) 2025/794, which postpones key compliance deadlines under the CSRD, and a second proposal introducing sub - stantive amendments to the CSRD framework. On 16 April 2025, the “Stop-the-Clock” Directive was published in the Official Journal of the Euro - pean Union. The directive postpones the CSRD reporting obligations by two years for companies in “wave 2” (originally required to report in 2026 for financial years starting on or after 1 Janu - ary 2025) and “wave 3” (originally due in 2027 for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2026). These companies will now report in 2028 and 2029, respectively. Reporting timelines for “wave 1” companies and non-EU companies (due in 2029) remain unchanged. With the deferral mechanism now in force, atten - tion shifts to the proposed substantive revisions to the CSRD. These amendments aim to sim - plify reporting obligations, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while preserving the EU’s overarching sustainability objectives. The Commission intends for this second directive to be adopted by the end of 2025, after which member states will be required to transpose the revised provisions into national law. 2.2.5 Indigenous Rights Legislation In Belgium, legislation specifically addressing the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of business activities is not as prominent as in other areas of business and human rights, such as labour rights or environmental protec - tion. However, Belgium’s international commit - ments, particularly under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and its broader corporate responsi -
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