Consumer Collective Redress in Belgium: Class Actions to the Rescue?

Abstract

This paper analyses Belgium’s new consumer class action act (Act of 28 March 2014 introducing a consumer collective redress action in the Code of Economic Law), which entered into force on 1 September 2014. First, attention is paid to the three class action prerequisites: the violation of a Belgian or European consumer regulation or act, an adequate class representative (i.e., a consumer association or the Consumer Ombudsman Service) and the superiority of the class action mechanism. Subsequently, the exclusive competence of the Brussels courts and the opt-in or opt-out system are discussed. The procedure consists of four phases, which are analysed in detail: a certification phase, a mandatory negotiation phase, a possible phase on the merits of the case, and an enforcement phase under the supervision of a collective claims settler. The paper concludes that a holistic approach to tackle mass harms in Belgium is missing. The new consumer class action contains some procedural bottlenecks that could undermine its efficiency. Its biggest shortcoming is the lack of appropriate rules on funding and financing.