Partnerblog

Based on our two decades of experience as a trusted legal recruitment partner, we've seen legal departments go through some major changes.

On 22 March, the European Commission published its Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims (“Green Claims Proposal”). The key objective of the Green Claims Proposal is to combat “greenwashing” and to enable consumers to contribute in accelerating the green transition by making informed purchasing decisions based on credible environmental claims and labels.

On 28 April 2023 a royal decree was published in the Belgian Official Gazette which offers companies that achieved (exceptionally) high profits in 2022 the possibility to grant a purchasing power premium to their employees.

Corporate legal departments are facing challenges such as decreasing budgets, increasing workloads, and pressure to provide more cost-effective legal services. In fact, 92% of organisations say they are changing the way the legal function operates and taking steps to address the most pressing challenges. 

The current instruments - in the form of the EU merger control and EU state aid rules - do not provide sufficient protection against the specific problems and unfair competition that non-EU subsidies bring.

The new Foreign Subsidies Regulation ('FSR' or 'Regulation') entered into force on 12 January 2023. Under this Regulation, the European Commission ('Commission') has far-reaching powers to block mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures ('mergers') and bids in public tenders and even retroactively dissolve certain mergers where foreign investment distorts competition in the EU internal market.

Ever since the public launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the world has been gasping at the astonishing accomplishments of this generative AI chatbot:  a simple “prompt” in the form of a question (“which are the most important decisions of the CJEU in copyright?”) will receive a credible response within seconds (“The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued several important decisions in the field of copyright law.

In a noble attempt to address distortions caused by foreign subsidies to the detriment of fair competition, the EU has introduced the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (‘FSR’), which will take its full effect on 12 October 2023.

The applicable social security system is regulated by Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004. When COVID-19 forced everyone to work from home, the normal rules were temporarily set aside so teleworking from another member states did not have any impact on the applicable social security legislation (the “no-impact exception”).

On 1 January 2023, new Books 1 (“General Dispositions”) and 5 (“Obligations”) of the Belgian Civil Code (“BCC”) have entered into effect for contracts signed as from that date.

Obtaining a permit in Flanders, especially for a major infrastructure project, often feels like a calvary.

On February 28, 2023, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted its Opinion 5/2023 (the “Opinion”) on the draft adequacy decision of the European Commission regarding the EU-U.S.

The Belgian legislator is preparing a legal framework on insolvency law to expand the restructuring toolbox.

The European Commission has unveiled a new regulatory proposal which aims to boost Europe’s industrial policy amidst increasing global competition, energy supply concerns and the ongoing climate crisis. 

Twenty years ago, Vialegis introduced the concept of Legal Interim Management to the Belgian market in response to the increasing demand for temporary legal profiles.

Twenty years ago, Vialegis introduced the concept of Legal Interim Management to the Belgian market in response to the increasing demand for temporary legal profiles.

At the end of 2022 the European Parliament and Council reached a political agreement on the proposal for a directive to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and woman through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms.