VBB On Belgian Business Law | Volume 2023, NO 2

COMPETITION LAW

Supreme Court Opens Door for Right of Subagent to Receive Goodwill Indemnity for Customers Brought to Principal

On 26 January 2023, the Belgian Supreme Court (the Supreme Court) quashed a judgment of the Liège Court of Appeal (the Court of Appeal) finding that a subagent was not entitled to a goodwill indemnity from the main agent on the ground that the goodwill indemnity obtained by the latter from the principal was not a "substantial benefit" within the meaning of Article X.18, first subparagraph, of the Code of Economic Law (CEL). That provision transposes into Belgian law Article 17(2)(a) of Council Directive 86/653 of 18 December 1986 on the coordination of the law of the Member States relating to self-employed commercial agents (the Directive), which provides that: