BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Peter L’Ecluse, Koen T’Syen and Amirsalar Kavoosi, Van Bael & Bellis
8.3 Ability of Third Parties to Appeal Clearance Decisions Sufficiently interested third parties who have requested to be heard by the BCA during the procedure may lodge an appeal (Article IV.90 (4) CEL).
In its Policy and Enforcement Priorities for 2025, the BCA noted that it had “recently strength - ened informal ties” with the NCAs of Austria, Greece, Portugal, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. It further stated that ”[s]everal specific collaborative projects are already in the pipeline, focusing on clearly defined common themes where resources can be pooled across authorities. These initiatives also aim to develop shared policy positions to ensure that the voices of medium-sized Member States are adequately heard in the political debate”. Under Article IV.78 of the CEL, the BCA is authorised to share confidential information with the Commission and NCAs for the purpose of applying the EUMR. 8. Appeals and Judicial Review 8.1 Access to Appeal and Judicial Review Final decisions of the BCA can be appealed to the Markets Court, which is a specialised sec - tion of the Brussels Court of Appeal (Article IV.90 (1) CEL). 8.2 Typical Timeline for Appeals Article IV.90 (5) of the CEL provides that an appeal must be lodged by submitting a signed application to the registry of the Brussels Court of Appeal within 30 days of the notification of the decision. The Markets Court has annulled decisions of the BCA in merger control cases. The matter may be referred back to the BCA, which is then required to re-evaluate the concentration (Article IV.90 (2) CEL).
9. Foreign Direct Investment/ Subsidies Review
9.1 Legislation and Filing Requirements On 1 July 2023, the Cooperation Agreement of 30 November 2022 between the Federal State, the Regions and the Communities establishing a general screening mechanism for foreign direct investment in Belgium entered into force. Under this mechanism, all transactions that meet the relevant criteria must be approved by the Inter - federal Screening Committee, in addition to any required approval under the merger control regime.
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