The policy of Belgium within the EU

European directives must be transposed into national legislation by each EU Member State within the period of time provided for. Where a directive is not transposed in a timely manner or not applied correctly or completely, the European Commission may initiate infringement proceedings and, in the worst case, refer the case to the EU Court of Justice. In Belgium, the Minister of European Affairs coordinates this process, in which the different federal and federated entities are involved.

In brief

The service coordinating the transposition process comes under the FPS Foreign Affairs, and more specifically refers to the Directorate E1 of the Directorate-general European Affairs. The directorate works closely with the other Belgian entities. In Belgium, in accordance with the principle of federal loyalty, each authority is responsible for the transposition of European directives within its own area of competence.

The European Commission closely monitors this transposition process and, in the event that a transposition is delayed, incomplete or not applied correctly, the Commission can open a case against an EU Member State in an informal manner by means of the SOLVIT and EU Pilot tools or in a formal manner by initiating an infringement procedure. If not concluded successfully, the Commission may refer our country to the EU Court of Justice. In some cases, a conviction may be accompanied by large financial penalties.

Monthly overview of the current status of transposition in Belgium.

Transposition of European directives into Belgian law

European directives are binding as to the result to be achieved, but national authorities have the power to choose the form and the means by which that occurs. Directives must therefore be transposed into national law, which makes them different from other European legislative texts, such as regulations.

Whenever a directive is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, Member States must bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive within the transposition period.

As the ‘guardian of the European treaties’, the European Commission is responsible for monitoring the transposition process for all directives in all EU Member States. As part of that monitoring activity, the European Commission publishes the Single Market and Competitiveness Scoreboard twice a year. In December, it is an official publication with a press release, while in June it is a mid-term evaluation. The Scoreboard measures the performance and results of the internal market in different policy areas using a variety of tools. As such, it provides an overview of how well the internal market is functioning. A key indicator that forms part of the Scoreboard is the transposition deficit: the number of internal market directives not transposed by a Member State out of the total number of internal market directives in force. The Commission currently allows a maximum transposition deficit of 1%.

The transposition of directives is of great importance as a means of ensuring legal certainty for European citizens and businesses. However, the nature of the various legal instruments and the institutional structure of Belgium mean that transposition is a complex process. The Minister of European Affairs has a coordinating role in this regard, which, on an administrative level, is expressed within the Directorate E1 under the Directorate-general European Affairs. However, in accordance with the principle of federal loyalty, each authority is responsible for the transposition of European directives within its own area of competence. The Directorate E1 maintains close contact with the network of Eurocoordinators - representatives of the federal and federated administrations responsible for transposition - and with the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU.

Whereby the European Commission deems that there is an infringement of the European law, the Commission can take measures in an informal or formal manner. In this respect, EU Pilot is an informal and confidential online system of information exchange at technical level between the European Commission and the Member States. It deals with the conformity of national law with EU law, based on complaints and requests for information from citizens and businesses, with investigations initiated directly by the European Commission itself and with questions raised with SOLVIT, the European mediation network for citizens and businesses. If no solution or consensus can be found using the EU Pilot system, the European Commission can initiate an infringement procedure.

This formal infringement procedure is initiated when it is found that the transposition, application, or enforcement of European legislation is delayed, incomplete or incorrect. In accordance with the approach outlined above, the Member States have an opportunity to satisfy any grievances expressed by the Commission. If no consensus follows, the Commission can refer the Member State concerned to the EU Court of Justice. Belgium is represented before that Court by the Directorate of European Law (DGJ/J2). In some cases, the Member State may be ordered by that Court to pay large financial penalties.

• Real-time overview of the Commission's decisions related to infringement procedures
• Monthly overview of the transposition of European directives into Belgian law by cabinet and scoreboard