In Belgium, every publicly accessible website must display a set of information that allows for the identification of its publisher and ensures transparency towards visitors. These obligations primarily stem from Book XII of the Economic Law Code, which transposes the European directive on electronic commerce, and from the GDPR regarding personal data.
BCE and VAT number: the often incomplete identification base
Most guides on legal notices list the classic information (name, address, email). The problematic point in practice is the BCE company number (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises). This ten-digit number is mandatory for any Belgian company with a website, including self-employed individuals in physical form.
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The Belgian VAT number, formatted as BE followed by the BCE number, must be displayed as soon as the company is subject to it. A site that only displays a postal address and an email without a BCE or VAT number does not comply with Belgian legislation, even if it offers a simple showcase site without online sales.
In addition to this identification information, you can discover the Brussels Sunshine site to see a concrete example of a legal notice page structured according to Belgian law.
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Mandatory legal notices: list of information required by Belgian law
The minimum content of a legal notice page varies according to the legal form of the site’s publisher. Here are the elements that the Economic Law Code requires to be made accessible:
- The company name (or the name and surname for an individual), the legal form, and the address of the registered office or professional residence
- An email address and a phone number allowing for direct and quick contact with the company
- The registration number with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises and, if applicable, the VAT number
- For regulated professions (lawyers, architects, accountants), the competent authority or professional order, the professional title, and the member state where it was granted
- The identity of the site’s host (name or denomination, address, and contact details)
These mentions must be easily accessible from any page of the site, generally via a link in the footer. The law does not impose a specific title for this page, but the common practice uses “Legal Notices” or “Legal Information”.
GDPR and privacy policy: a separate obligation from legal notices
A common confusion is to mix legal notices and privacy policy in the same unstructured document. However, the GDPR requires specific information on the processing of personal data, distinct from the identification information of the publisher.
The privacy policy must specify the purposes of each processing, the legal basis used (consent, legitimate interest, performance of a contract), the categories of data collected, their retention period, and the rights of the individuals concerned (access, rectification, erasure, portability).
For cookies, Belgian law follows the ePrivacy directive: any cookie that is not strictly necessary requires prior consent. A cookie banner that pre-checks boxes or does not allow for a refusal as simple as acceptance is not compliant. The Belgian Data Protection Authority has repeatedly reminded that simply continuing to browse does not constitute valid consent.
Digital Services Act: new obligations for sites with user-generated content
Since February 17, 2024, the EU DSA regulation (Digital Services Act) applies to all intermediary service providers. In practice, a Belgian site that publishes customer reviews, comments, or any user-generated content falls within its scope, even on a small scale.
The concrete obligations go beyond the simple legal notice page:
- Establish a notification and action mechanism for illegal content, with an electronic form, acknowledgment of receipt, and reasoned notification to both the notifier and the content author
- Ensure transparency in online advertising by clearly identifying the advertiser and the main targeting parameters used
- Comply with the prohibition of targeted advertising based on particular categories of sensitive data as defined in Article 9 of the GDPR
A Belgian e-commerce site that allows product reviews must therefore verify its compliance with the DSA in addition to its classic obligations of legal notices and GDPR.
Sanctions for lack of legal notices in Belgium
The absence of legal notices on a Belgian website exposes the publisher to criminal and administrative sanctions. The Economic Law Code provides for fines for violations of information obligations in electronic commerce. The SPF Economy is responsible for monitoring and establishing these violations.
On the GDPR side, the Data Protection Authority can impose administrative fines in case of failure to comply with transparency obligations. The amounts depend on the severity, duration of the violation, and the company’s turnover.
Beyond financial sanctions, a site lacking legal notices loses credibility with its visitors and business partners. Companies that contract with online service providers increasingly check the legal compliance of sites before engaging.
Therefore, ensuring compliance for a Belgian site is not limited to copying a generic template found on an online generator. The obligations vary according to the nature of the activity, the legal form, the existence of personal data processing, and the presence of content published by third parties. Checking each regulatory layer (Economic Law Code, GDPR, DSA) remains the only reliable way to obtain a complete legal notice page.