Last week at Competitio 2026, Belgian competition law was front and centre. Practitioners, academics, in-house counsels and the BCA came together to exchange views on where competition law enforcement is heading next. Our competition team represented by Sebastien Engelen, Laura Sente, Michèle de Clerck and Annabelle Kokkelmans enjoyed being part of the event and engaging in the discussions.

One panel in particular sparked lively debate: the upcoming reform of Belgian merger control. A few key takeaways stood out 👇

- 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. Whether this will go hand in hand with an adjustment of the turnover thresholds remains an open question, as today around 80% of all transactions are already notified under the simplified procedure.

- 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜. Beyond the well-known cases such as 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘴/𝘌𝘋𝘗𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘋𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴/𝘊𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 and 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯/𝘗𝘶𝘬𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘰𝘱, the BCA disclosed that they provided informal advice on below threshold cases in two other instances, amongst others in the packaging sector. The BCA also continues to closely monitor sectors prone to roll-up strategies.

- 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚. A more data-driven merger review by the BCA is becoming the norm. The flip side? Far-reaching data requests by the BCA, addressed not only to the notifying parties but also to other market players.

- 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩. An upcoming amendment of the Code of Economic Law may possibly soon limit the possibility for notifying parties to change their transaction up until the closing of the debate before the BCA’s College.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on these legislative and procedural developments. So, stay tuned!

💬 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Feel free to reach out to our competition team or your usual contact person at contrast.

#competitionlaw #mergercontrol #antitrust #competitio #contrast #contrastlaw