Almost one year in his tenure, the President of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) initiated the BCA’s first general inquiry since its creation in 2013.

On 6 February 2025, the BCA launched a general inquiry in sectoral price revision and indexation mechanisms, referring to the inflation as the main cause. Among the main goals of the inquiry are:

• mapping sectoral price revision practices and mechanisms and the examination of their compatibility to applicable legislation;
• identifying practices and mechanisms which may fall foul of Belgian and European competition law;
• identifying those compatible with Belgian and European competition law which may be used as a benchmark for best practices; and
• analysing how the practices and mechanisms identified as being potentially incompatible with competition law rules influence consumer welfare.

Based on the information collected, the BCA intends to issue concrete recommendations to relevant stakeholders, and to the relevant political and regulatory authorities. A more in-depth examination of certain sectors may also be considered. Moreover, like sector inquiries at EU-level, this inquiry may lead to ‘classic’ investigations into practices of certain companies and/or trade associations.

During the inquiry, the BCA may send companies and trade associations requests for information. Companies and trade associations that obstruct the inquiry, provide incorrect or misleading information, or fail to respond (in time) to reasoned requests for information can be fined up to 1% of their worldwide, consolidated turnover.

The full decision to open the enquiry is available in French and Dutch and can be found here: https://lnkd.in/ebs8Qwcf.

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨? Read the BCA’s press-release (in English, Dutch and French) on our LinkedIn.

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