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ARTICLE · 17 MARCH 2016

Belgian Competition Authority Adopts New Leniency Guidelines

Van Bael & Bellis
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On 1 March 2016, the board of the Belgian Competition Authority ("BCA") adopted new guidelines concerning the leniency regime under Belgian competition law.

BelgiumAntitrust/Competition Law
Martin Favart
Martin Favart
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On 1 March 2016, the board of the Belgian Competition Authority ("BCA") adopted new guidelines concerning the leniency regime under Belgian competition law. These new leniency guidelines reflect a number of developments that have taken place since the adoption of the 2007 guidelines.

The BCA had first launched a public consultation, prior to the adoption of new guidelines, in order to receive comments from interested parties (See, VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2015, No. 11, p. 6, available at www.vbb.com).

The main changes brought about by the new guidelines concern three points.

First, practical rules for leniency applications by individuals have been set out. The possibility for individuals to submit leniency applications had been introduced by the legislator in 2013, in conjunction with the possibility for the BCA to prosecute individuals for their participation in cartels. However, the practicalities of leniency applications by individuals, as well

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