Draft 0.1.0-beta.4 VCRS 0.1.0-beta.3 VCRS 0.1.0-beta.2 VCRS 0.1.0-beta.1

Annex BE: Belgium (action en réparation collective)

What the action en réparation collective and the Belgian courts require of a register, and what the standard asks beyond them.

This is the text of VCRS 0.1.0-beta.3 as released, and it does not change.

03

VCRS 0.1.0-beta.3

9 sections

VCRS 0.1.0-beta.3. Draft for consultation. Not legal advice. Law and rulings as read on 19 and 21 October 2026 on Justel, the Moniteur belge, the Cour constitutionnelle, the Chambre des représentants, the SPF Economie and the Conseil central de l'économie.

1. The regime

A collective damages action is an action en réparation collective (rechtsvordering tot collectief herstel) under Livre XVII, Titre 2 of the Code de droit économique (CDE), arts. XVII.35 to XVII.70, in the consolidated text to 4 August 2026. French and Dutch are both official: this annex quotes the statute in French, and the Dutch stands at the same article.

The law of 21 April 2024, which transposes Directive (EU) 2020/1828, governs the actions introduced from its entry into force on 10 June 2024: it applies to 'affaires introduites à partir de sa date d'entrée en vigueur' (art. 41). An action introduced earlier stays under Titre 2 as the law of 28 March 2014 enacted it, under which the court chose the option system at admissibility (section 2). Every ruling this annex cites was given under that earlier text: by the Cour constitutionnelle, the Nederlandstalige rechtbank van eerste aanleg Brussel (Rb Brussel) and the Hof van beroep Brussel.

  • Who may sue. Only a qualified entity (XVII.39 §1): an entity the minister has approved, a foreign entity on the Commission's list, or a legal person the court approves for the one action on the same criteria (XVII.1 §3). The criteria include twelve months of real public activity protecting consumers, a non-profit aim, and independence from those with an economic interest in the action, 'y compris en cas de financement par des tiers' (XVII.1 §1, 1°, 3° and 5°). The Consumer Mediation Service may represent the group in negotiation alone. The claimant's statutory object must be 'en relation directe avec l'objet de l'action en réparation collective' (XVII.36, 2°).
  • Court. The courts of Brussels alone: 'Les cours et tribunaux de Bruxelles sont compétents pour connaître des actions en réparation collective' (XVII.35). The requête goes to the greffe of the tribunal de l'entreprise (XVII.42 §1).
  • Admissibility. The judge tests the cause of the action, the claimant's standing and statutory object, and whether a collective action 'semble plus efficient qu'une action de droit commun' (XVII.36, 3°). The 2024 law struck out the condition that the claimant be 'jugé adéquat par le juge' (art. 20), since accreditation settles its aptitude: 'il ne peut être question de les soumettre à nouveau à un examen quant à leurs aptitudes' (exposé des motifs, DOC 55 3895/001, p. 26). No minimum number of members and no member list is asked. Where several claimants seek to represent one group, the judge appoints 'le plus adéquat d'entre eux' (XVII.40 §2).
  • The temporal limit. The action lies only for harm from a common cause after the law of 28 March 2014 came into force on 1 September 2014: 'L'action en réparation collective ne peut être introduite que si la cause commune du dommage collectif s'est produite après l'entrée en vigueur de la présente loi' (art. 4 of that law, a transitional provision outside the CDE, which the 2024 law left standing). The Cour constitutionnelle upheld it: victims 'peuvent ou non recourir à l’action en réparation collective, selon que la cause commune de ce dommage s’est produite après ou avant cette date' (arrêt 41/2016, B.8.1), and 'Le premier moyen n’est pas fondé' (B.15). In VW the line ran through the class: Rb Brussel admitted the action only for owners of a vehicle 'aangekocht op en na 1 september 2014', and left earlier buyers to an action under the common law (Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, AR 2016/2706/A, dispositif and para. 14).

2. Who is bound, and how they join

  • After a merits judgment: opt-in, for everyone. People harmed who want the benefit of a judgment that finds the defendant liable 'disposent d'un délai de quatre mois pour s'adresser au greffe pour rejoindre le groupe', counted from 'le lendemain de la publication au Moniteur belge de la décision du juge sur le fond' (XVII.55/1 §1). The judgment states the four months 'ainsi que les modalités à suivre' (XVII.54 §1, 8°). The choice is final: 'L'exercice du droit d'option par le consommateur et/ou la PME est irrévocable.'
  • In an approved settlement: the agreement chooses, within two limits. The agreement sets 'le système d'option applicable au groupe' and the window for exercising the option 'auprès du greffe' (XVII.45 §3, 7°). People abroad always opt in: 'Pour les consommateurs qui ne résident pas de manière habituelle en Belgique et les PME qui n'ont pas leur établissement principal en Belgique, le système d'option d'inclusion est d'application.' So does everyone where the harm is bodily or moral: 'Si l'action vise à la réparation d'un préjudice collectif corporel ou moral, seul le système d'option d'inclusion est applicable'. For other harm the agreement may bind residents unless they opt out at the greffe. The judge refuses to approve an agreement whose window is 'manifestement déraisonnable' (XVII.49 §2), and the approval 'lie tous les membre du groupe' once they have exercised their option (XVII.49 §4).
  • Actions introduced before 10 June 2024. The admissibility decision chose opt-in or opt-out and set a window of 30 days to three months (former XVII.43 §2, 3° and 7°), and 'Le consommateur communique son option au greffe' (former XVII.38 §1). In VW the court applied opt-out to residents, and 'voor de niet-verblijfhouders was automatisch het opt-in systeem van toepassing' (Rb Brussel 27 July 2023, AR 2016/2706/A, para. 13).
  • The greffe holds the group, not the register. Each member addresses the greffe of the Brussels court seised, or of the Hof van beroep on appeal. The liquidateur draws up the provisional list 'sur base des données que le greffe lui communique', and it holds the members 'qui se sont fait connaître expressément' (XVII.58 §1). The representative holds no list in law, and signing up with it is not joining the group: 'Men kan dus ook groepslid worden zonder aanmelding bij Test Aankoop.' (Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, para. 46). The register is the representative's evidence for its estimate of the group, and its intake for the options members lodge at the greffe.
  • Other proceedings. A member who settles individually out of court leaves the group (XVII.68). A partie civile in criminal proceedings is a member only if it withdraws before the option deadline (XVII.67). Once a person is a member, identical individual proceedings lapse and new ones are inadmissible (XVII.69). No text read asks a member to declare that they claim nowhere else.
  • The export, in a Belgian action. be.json sets opt_in_abroad and opt_in_window to true, names the greffe as the channel, registry, asks no declaration on parallel actions, and leaves it to the action whether residents opt in (opt_in_residents: action). The export states opt_in_residents as true after a merits judgment in an action introduced from 10 June 2024 (XVII.55/1 §1, inserted by art. 34 of the 2024 law), in a settlement that applies opt-in to residents or concerns bodily or moral harm (XVII.45 §3, 7°), and in an action introduced before 10 June 2024 whose admissibility decision chose opt-in; as false where residents are bound unless they opt out, in a settlement or under an earlier admissibility decision, after judgment too. Until one of these fixes it, the export states opt_in_residents as true: with no window set, records count on their own facts either way (core 4.6). The export states as opt_in_opened_on the first day of the window: after a merits judgment, the day after its publication in the Moniteur belge; in a settlement, the day the approved agreement says it starts; in an action introduced before 10 June 2024, the day the admissibility decision says it starts. opt_in_closed_on is the last day of that window, four months on after a merits judgment. Until a window is set both are null, and a person abroad counts on their residence alone (core 4.6). No court tests a count of sign-ups (section 3), so whether support from abroad counts before the window closes does not arise. opt_in_channel stays null: the judgment or agreement sets the modalities, in VW a letter by hand or by registered post or a filing through e-Deposit, and each reaches the greffe, so the record names its channel registry.

3. When the register is tested

Stage What it asks of the register Source
Filing A description of the group and an estimate of its size, per sub-category. No member list. Limitation is suspended for everyone the description in the requête covers XVII.42 §1, 4°; XVII.63
Admissibility Standing, statutory object and efficiency, the last judged on the potential group: the number of potential members, the size of each loss, the common cause. Sign-ups are no condition XVII.36; Rb Brussel 4 April 2016 (Thomas Cook), paras. 20 and 31; Hof van beroep Brussel 10 January 2018 (Proximus), para. 35; Rb Brussel 18 December 2017 (VW), para. 41
Settlement The number of consumers concerned, the option system, the window and the modalities at the greffe, and individual notice where the defendant knows who was harmed XVII.45 §3, 3°, 7° and 12°
Merits judgment The group and its estimated number, individual notice by the defendant, the amount per member, the four months and the modalities XVII.54 §1, 3°, 6°, 7° and 8°
Joining Each member's option at the greffe within the window, with the proof the judgment or agreement sets: in VW, proof of purchase, payment and registration of the vehicle XVII.55/1 §1; XVII.45 §3, 7°; Rb Brussel 27 July 2023 (VW), para. 135
Distribution The liquidateur's provisional list from the data of the greffe, contested entries with reasons, 30 days to contest at the greffe, a hearing, the final list XVII.57 §1; XVII.58 §§ 1 to 5

Reference dates. The filing date, for the description and the estimate; the last day of the option window, for who joined; and the provisional and final lists at distribution (XVII.58 §§ 1 and 5). The SPF Economie, which publishes the decisions that admit an action, approved settlements and merits decisions, listed none given under the 2024 law on 19 October 2026.

4. Required items

A register that claims a level in a Belgian action meets every item below. The first table holds what Belgian law requires, by statute or a court's holding. The second holds what this standard requires beyond the law, with the case law that gives the reason.

What the law requires

# Item Core Source
BE-1 A class definition and a class size with its method, per sub-category where the group has them, as precise as the representative can make it. The version filed with the requête is kept, since limitation is suspended for everyone it describes 3, 6.1, 6.4 art. XVII.42 §1, 4° CDE: 'la description du groupe pour lequel le représentant du groupe entend agir, en estimant, aussi précisément que possible, le nombre des personnes lésées; lorsque le groupe contient des sous-catégories, ces informations sont précisées par sous-catégorie'; art. XVII.63: 'qui tombe dans la description du groupe telle qu'elle figure dans la requête'
BE-2 Where the facts behind the claims began before 1 September 2014, each record holds the date the court draws the line by, in VW the date of purchase, and a record before it falls outside the class (core 4.1 (4)) 3, 4.1 (4) Law of 28 March 2014, art. 4: 'L'action en réparation collective ne peut être introduite que si la cause commune du dommage collectif s'est produite après l'entrée en vigueur de la présente loi'; Cour constitutionnelle 41/2016, B.8.1; Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, AR 2016/2706/A, dispositif: 'aangekocht op en na 1 september 2014'
BE-3 Each record holds the person's residence, and for an SME the country of its principal establishment. A person abroad is a member only by an option lodged at the greffe within the window: once the window has closed, the record holds that option with its day and the channel registry, or the channel the judgment or agreement set instead, which the export states as opt_in_channel. The export states the window's first and last day as opt_in_opened_on and opt_in_closed_on 4.6 art. XVII.45 §3, 7° CDE: 'Pour les consommateurs qui ne résident pas de manière habituelle en Belgique et les PME qui n'ont pas leur établissement principal en Belgique, le système d'option d'inclusion est d'application.'; art. XVII.55/1 §1: 'disposent d'un délai de quatre mois pour s'adresser au greffe pour rejoindre le groupe'
BE-4 Where residents opt in as well (after a merits judgment in an action introduced from 10 June 2024, in a settlement that applies opt-in to them or concerns bodily or moral harm, or in an earlier action whose admissibility decision chose opt-in), the export states opt_in_residents as true, and each record holds its option to the greffe in opt_in, with its day and channel. Once the window has closed, a record without one made within it is grade D (core 4.1, rule 8) 4.1 (8), 4.6 art. XVII.55/1 §1 CDE: 'Les membres du groupe sont liés par la décision au fond suite l'exercice de leur droit d'option.'; art. XVII.58 §1: 'La liste provisoire contient les données des membres du groupe qui se sont fait connaître expressément.'
BE-5 The class definition, or each sub-category, states whether the harm claimed is bodily or moral, since only opt-in then applies 3, 6.4 art. XVII.45 §3, 7° CDE: 'Si l'action vise à la réparation d'un préjudice collectif corporel ou moral, seul le système d'option d'inclusion est applicable'
BE-6 A record whose option reached the greffe after a merits judgment never turns withdrawn 4.1 (1) art. XVII.55/1 §1 CDE: 'L'exercice du droit d'option par le consommateur et/ou la PME est irrévocable.'
BE-7 Per member, the sub-category claimed under and the data and documents the judgment or agreement prescribes, so that each entry can be tested against the description of the group, its sub-category and the prescribed modalities 4.3, 5.3, 6.4 art. XVII.58 §1 CDE: 'Lorsque le liquidateur estime qu'un membre du groupe qui s'est identifié ne satisfait pas à la description du groupe, ou le cas échéant d'une sous-catégorie ou aux modalités prescrites, il fait mention de la contestation de son inscription sur la liste provisoire et en précise les motifs.'; Rb Brussel 27 July 2023, AR 2016/2706/A, para. 135: 'mits voorlegging van een aankoopbewijs, betalingsbewijs en inschrijvingsbewijs van het bedoelde voertuig'
BE-8 Where a third party pays for the register or its operator in this action, the requête names it among the funders of the action, with the amount 9 art. XVII.42 §1, 6° CDE: 'l'indication si l'action en réparation collective est financée ou non par un tiers. Si c'est le cas, le représentant identifie les tiers financeurs ainsi que les montants financés.'

What this standard requires

# Item Core Reason
BE-9 Every flow version says that signing up with the representative does not make the person a member of the group, and that they join by an option at the greffe within a window a judgment or an approved agreement sets. Consent to any other use of their data is asked apart, and never as a condition of signing up 5.1 Rb Brussel faulted Test Aankoop for not saying that joining it was not needed to join the group: 'Als Test Aankoop niet uitlegt dat men ook groepslid kan worden zonder aanmelding speelt zij niet helemaal open kaart.' (Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, AR 2016/2706/A, para. 46); 'Test Aankoop geeft dus geen volledige informatie aan de consument en aan potentiële groepsleden.' (para. 47). It criticised a sign-up that left 'geen vrije en duidelijke keuze' about a database 'die voor commerciële doeleinden wordt aangewend' (para. 46). The failings did not cost Test Aankoop its fitness under the adequacy test since repealed (para. 49). Membership comes only from an option at the greffe (art. XVII.55/1 §1), so a sign-up who takes the register for the group misses the window

5. Recommended items

  • A register before filing, with the method that links it to the estimate. The efficiency test weighs the potential size of the group: 'de potentiële omvang van de groep van belang kan zijn bij de beoordeling van de derde ontvankelijkheidsvoorwaarde' (Rb Brussel 4 April 2016, 2015/4019/A, Thomas Cook, para. 20); 'Ten eerste is er in casu een groot aantal consumenten die potentieel schade hebben geleden.' (Hof van beroep Brussel 10 January 2018, 2017/AR/721, Proximus, para. 35). Identified members also answer a defendant who says the claims are paid: in Thomas Cook a passenger list 'met de namen van 183 personen' and payment lists did not show that every passenger had been paid (para. 29).
  • A count before filing that asks no further consent. 'Niets belet Test Aankoop echter dat zij voorafgaand een peiling doet naar het aantal mogelijke gedupeerden, zonder dat men de consument vraagt in te stemmen met de opname van zijn persoonsgegevens in een databank die voor andere doeleinden dan de aanmelding wordt gebruikt.' (Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, para. 48).
  • Reconciliation with the list of the greffe. The provisional list goes to the representative and 'peut être consultée au greffe' (XVII.58 §2). A register that marks which records the greffe holds learns of options lodged without it, which BE-4 needs, and shows how many sign-ups never joined. Few come forward: in VW nobody used the window the admissibility decision opened, 'Niemand oefende naar aanleiding van deze bekendmaking een keuzerecht uit' (Rb Brussel 27 July 2023, para. 13), and in Proximus 'seules 2000 personnes sur environ 30 000 personnes concernées se sont manifestées' (Conseil central de l'économie, avis CCE 2022-2910, p. 8, on figures from the consumer organisations).
  • A check against the defendant's own data. Where the defendant 'a connaissance ou peut facilement avoir connaissance de l'identité des personnes lésées', it must inform them individually at its own cost (XVII.45 §3, 12°; XVII.54 §1, 6°). Where that list reaches the representative, a record checked against it rests on a source outside the person (core 4.3).
  • Other proceedings per record. An individual settlement out of court ends membership (XVII.68), and so does a constitution as partie civile kept past the option deadline (XVII.67): the record turns excluded. Identical individual proceedings lapse once the person is a member (XVII.69), so the record notes them.
  • An export the greffe and the liquidateur can take in. Per member the case reference, name, contact details, the claim and its documents, ready to file by hand, by registered post or through e-Deposit. The VW judgment asked for a letter with 'de referte van de huidige zaak', 'zijn naam en de contactgegevens', 'de vermelding dat hij aanspraak maakt op een vergoeding' and 'het aankoopbewijs, het betalingsbewijs en het inschrijvingsbewijs' (Rb Brussel 27 July 2023, dispositif).
  • The operator invoiced per action. In a settlement the representative recovers from the defendant no more than 'les frais réels exposés par le représentant' (XVII.45 §3, 8°), so an operator invoice for this action alone lets the representative show its real costs.

6. Recognised identification

  • Identity, grade A: notified eIDAS means. be.json names no further scheme.
  • Outside sources, grade B: the defendant's own data, where it must inform members individually (section 5). The documents a judgment names, in VW the proof of purchase, payment and registration of the vehicle, are evidence the person supplies (core 4.3).

7. The level a typical action needs

A recommendation, not a court's rule.

  • Filing and admissibility: Level 1, Registered. No court tests a count: the register supports the estimate of the group and the efficiency test. Even under the adequacy test since repealed, representativeness 'hangt in deze zaak echter niet af van het aantal mensen die zich reeds bij Test Aankoop, de enige groepsvertegenwoordiger, hebben aangemeld' (Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, para. 41).
  • Joining and distribution: Level 3, Verified, where the register prepares the options members lodge at the greffe. The liquidateur contests each entry that does not fit the group, its sub-category or the prescribed modalities (XVII.58 §1), entries can be contested at the greffe within 30 days (XVII.58 §3), and the judgment sets documentary proof per member (BE-7), which a record at grade B, supplied, carries.

8. Unsettled

  • Whether the register can be the channel. In VW the judgment named the greffe, by letter or through e-Deposit, yet the SPF Economie reports that 'Les demandes d'indemnisation peuvent être introduites via la plateforme en ligne de Test-Achats'. No source read states on what basis the platform stood in for the greffe, whether an approved agreement set it, or whether the greffe received the claims. Where a judgment or an approved agreement names a channel other than the greffe, the export states it as opt_in_channel and the conformance statement names the decision.
  • Options lodged for members. No statute, decree or ruling read says whether a representative or an operator may lodge options at the greffe on behalf of members, one by one or in bulk. A written mandate from each member is the most plausible basis, and untested.
  • A royal decree on the channel. 'Le Roi peut préciser les voies par lesquelles le consommateur et/ou la PME peut communiquer son choix au greffe' (XVII.55/1 §1). None appears among the executing decrees of the CDE that Justel listed on 21 October 2026. A decree would fix the channel BE-3 and BE-4 name.
  • Withdrawal in a settlement. XVII.55/1 §1 makes an option after a merits judgment irrevocable; no text read says whether an option under an approved agreement can be withdrawn.
  • The first action under the 2024 law. No admissibility decision under it has been published (section 3). It will be the first ruling on admissibility without the adequacy test and without a choice of option system.
  • A foundation as ad hoc entity. Art. I.21, 6° defines the representative of the group as 'l'association qui agit au nom du groupe'; whether a foundation can be approved for one action is untested.
  • Consultation of the list. XVII.58 §2 makes the provisional list consultable at the greffe without saying by whom.
  • No declaration on parallel actions. No Belgian text read asks a member to declare that they are not represented elsewhere: XVII.67 to XVII.69 deal with other proceedings by ending membership or the other proceedings. be.json sets parallel_declaration to false, so the validator asks no declaration of a record abroad.

Sources

  1. Code de droit économique, Livre XVII, consolidated text to 4 August 2026, Justel (SPF Justice), read 19 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/loi/2013/02/28/2013A11134/justel
  2. Wetboek van economisch recht, Boek XVII, consolidated text to 4 August 2026, Justel (SPF Justice), read 19 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/2013/02/28/2013A11134/justel
  3. Loi du 28 mars 2014, inserting Titre 2 in Livre XVII, Justel (SPF Justice), read 19 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/loi/2014/03/28/2014011217/justel
  4. Loi du 21 avril 2024 modifiant les livres Ier, XV et XVII du Code de droit économique, et transposant la directive (UE) 2020/1828, Justel (SPF Justice), read 19 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/loi/2024/04/21/2024005024/justel
  5. Executing decrees of the Code de droit économique, Justel (SPF Justice), read 21 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/article.pl?language=fr&arrexec=1&lg_txt=f&type=&sort=&numac_search=2013A11134&cn_search=2013022819&caller=eli&&view_numac=2013022819fr
  6. Projet de loi, exposé des motifs, DOC 55 3895/001, Chambre des représentants, read 19 October 2026: https://www.lachambre.be/FLWB/PDF/55/3895/55K3895001.pdf
  7. Cour constitutionnelle, arrêt n° 41/2016, 17 March 2016, read 19 October 2026: https://www.const-court.be/public/f/2016/2016-041f.pdf
  8. Rb Brussel 18 December 2017, AR 2016/2706/A (Test Aankoop v Volkswagen and others), Moniteur belge 8 May 2018, ed. 1, read 21 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/mopdf/2018/05/08_1.pdf
  9. Rb Brussel 27 July 2023, AR 2016/2706/A (Test Aankoop v Volkswagen and others), SPF Economie, read 19 October 2026: https://economie.fgov.be/sites/default/files/Files/Consumer-protection/Dieselgate-20230727-vonnis-TA.pdf
  10. SPF Economie, the VW case, with its claims through the representative's platform, read 19 October 2026: https://economie.fgov.be/fr/themes/protection-des-consommateurs/action-en-reparation/decisions-avant-juin-2024/affaire-test-achats-contre-vw
  11. Rb Brussel 4 April 2016, 2015/4019/A (Test Aankoop v Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium), SPF Economie, read 19 October 2026: https://economie.fgov.be/sites/default/files/Files/Consumer-protection/Vonnis-rechtbank-1e-aanleg-Brussel-class-action-Thomas-Cook-Airlines.pdf
  12. Hof van beroep Brussel 10 January 2018, 2017/AR/721 (Test Aankoop v Proximus), Moniteur belge 24 January 2018, read 19 October 2026: https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article.pl?language=nl&sum_date=2018-01-24&lg_txt=n&pd_search=2018-01-24&numac_search=2018701581&view_numac=2018701581n
  13. SPF Economie, decisions given before 10 June 2024, read 19 October 2026: https://economie.fgov.be/fr/themes/protection-des-consommateurs/action-en-reparation/decisions-rendues-dans-le
  14. Conseil central de l'économie, avis CCE 2022-2910, 21 November 2022, read 19 October 2026: https://www.ccecrb.fgov.be/dpics/fichiers/2022-11-21-01-44-12_CCE20222910Avis.pdf