What is expected of companies?

International human rights treaties are binding for states parties and the rights protected are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. When Belgium ratifies these treaties, it assumes the commitment to take "appropriate measures of a legislative, judiciary, administrative or other nature to guarantee the exercise of the rights specified for all individuals falling within their jurisdiction".

As a result, Belgium must protect human rights against acts or omissions of its own agents and against harmful acts or omissions perpetrated by private organisations and persons. Therefore, it must regulate its own activities and the ones conducted by private organisations within its jurisdiction.

Belgium is accountable if its agents cause adverse human rights impacts. It is also accountable if it does not use regulation and enforcement to prevent private organisations within its jurisdiction from causing adverse human rights impacts.

The state is the main party responsible for respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human rights of all persons in its jurisdiction and has concrete duties derived from the international and national rules and standards. Consequently, the state must take the necessary measures to prevent the actions or omissions of its agents or of private organisations and persons from causing adverse human rights impacts. These obligations can be concretised through policy, legislative, administrative or adjudicative actions.

The state's obligations in relation to its own entities and agents

• Ensure that they know and comply with the human rights obligations of the state when they perform their own activities by informing, training and permanently supporting them.
• Verify that its policies, arrangements and agreements do not affect human rights negatively. If necessary, the state should request and perform human rights impact assessments to identify actual or potential conflicts between these policies and agreements with human rights law. If the impact assessment identifies a risk of adverse human rights impacts, the state should take the necessary measures to address the adverse impact.
• Adopt legislative, administrative, or judicial measures to protect human rights and provide effective remedies, offer economic incentives or make agreements with private organisations only if they align with human rights responsibilities.
• Revoke licences, subsidies, insurances, economic incentives, public procurement contracts, export credits and other forms of state support when there is evidence that they are related to human rights violations.
• Address compliance and information gaps, when necessary.
• Fight against corruption.
• Enforce human rights compliance in PPPs and privatisation processes by guaranteeing universal coverage, continuity and affordability of the service and user participation.
• Protect intellectual property rights without violating other human rights, such as the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress; access to essential medicines or to productive resources; or the right of indigenous peoples to their traditional knowledge and genetic resources.
• Ensure that the development cooperation agencies, related ministries, export finance institutions etc. implement the necessary mechanisms to verify human rights and humanitarian law compliance of their activities and of the activities of organisations supported with public resources. This can be done by elaborating check lists or indicators, or by constructing databases that public and private organisations can consult to identify relevant human rights at risk, risk zones and potential partners.

The state's obligations in relation to private organisations

• Regulate the activities and human rights duties of private organisations active in its jurisdiction and enforce compliance when duties are not voluntarily respected. This can be achieved by requesting human rights due diligence and/or impact assessments before granting a licence, a label or an economic incentive. This can be extended to the value chains of these organisations.
• Oversee and control the compliance of organisations and actors with their human rights obligations.
• Provide access to knowledge and information on human rights compliance mechanisms.
• Respect the interests of organisations, but within the parameters of international and national human rights rules and standards.
• Assess the impacts of the activities of private organisations on local communities and guarantee stakeholders' participation.
• Intervene when the activities of private organisations are at high risk of causing serious adverse human rights impacts. For instance, restricting goods and/or services that can harm consumers, establishing a decent minimum wage; prohibiting gender discrimination, etc.
• Promote organisations' implementation of reporting instruments that explicitly include information about actual or potential risks of adverse human rights impacts and how they are addressed. These reporting systems should in turn be in line with the data protection regulations.
• Support organisations in performing stakeholder consultation, due diligence and impact assessment processes when they operate in conflict zones; provide reinforced guidance to organisations about their duties and the risk of perpetrating gross human rights violations.
• Deny and revoke state support to organisations involved in gross human rights violations and establish complaint mechanisms to receive feedback from actual or potential affected persons.

The state's obligations in relation to other states

• Able to ensure oversight of human rights, to ensure that these organisations are not involved in gross human rights violations.
• Exercise leverage on their own organisations to comply with human rights rules and standards in host states. This may include imposing concrete duties of vigilance on organisations headquartered in their territory concerning their own value chains; promote stakeholder consultation; conclude international cooperation agreements to avoid tax evasion or transfer pricing strategies.
• Avoid excessive protection of bank secrecy and permissive rules on corporate tax.

Belgium has committed to upholding the international human rights agreements mentioned above, including the duty to ensure these rights are respected in practice, notably through domestic laws, state institutions, and cooperation with other states.

For companies operating in Belgium, many of these international commitments are already reflected in national legislation. The Belgian Constitution (Official English Translation, 2021) guarantees a broad range of fundamental rights and prohibits discrimination. In addition, Belgium has enacted comprehensive laws and regulations covering labour rights, occupational health and safety, equality and non-discrimination, environmental protection, and consumer rights. These frameworks provide the legal foundation for corporate responsibility and accountability in domestic business operations.

Belgian National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights

In line with the UNGPs, Belgium adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights in 2017. The NAP outlined measures to promote responsible business conduct, improve access to remedy, and strengthen policy coherence across government departments. It also led to the creation of resources aimed at helping companies and organisations understand and embed human rights in their practices, which include:

• This Human Rights Toolbox, offering user-friendly tools to support businesses and their stakeholders in implementing human rights responsibilities;
• A Brochure on Access to Remedies in Belgium, summarising the main legal and non-legal remedies available to victims of human rights violations.

In 2024, Belgium published its second National Action Plan, which will run until 2029. This updated NAP builds on lessons from the first, and places greater emphasis on integrating human rights due diligence into corporate practice, supporting SMEs, and aligning with EU and international developments such as the CSDDD. It also outlines measures to improve policy coordination, stakeholder engagement, and access to remedy.

Legislative Developments

Belgium has also taken steps toward strengthening its legal framework. In April 2021, a legislative proposal was introduced to establish a mandatory human rights due diligence obligation for companies operating in Belgium. Although this proposal was not adopted — pending the finalisation of the CSDDD at the EU level — it signalled strong momentum toward aligning national practice with international standards and enhancing corporate accountability.

As an EU Member State, Belgium is now required to transpose the CSDDD into national law by July 2027. This will introduce legally binding due diligence obligations for Belgian companies. Businesses subject to the Directive will be expected to review and adapt their policies, processes, and governance structures accordingly. Further national guidance and implementation measures are anticipated to help companies comply with their duties in practice.

Sustainable public procurement seeks to protect the right to a healthy environment, social and labour rights, children rights, as well as to fight systematic human rights violations such as modern slavery.

Sustainable public procurement is mandatory in the EU and in Belgium and covers all contracting authorities that being that is the state, regional or local authorities, bodies and associations governed by public law, those that perform public services and activities, or those that have been awarded a related concession, and in some cases, construction activities. The law in Belgium transposes the EU framework for sustainable public procurement and defines the three pillars of sustainable public procurement as follows: environmental protection in public services, protection of dignified working conditions and green jobs, and promotion of competition rules. Public officers, contractors and stakeholders should be informed and trained on sustainable development principles and goals to improve their organisational capacity. These principles and goals should also be diffused throughout the supply chains of organisations operating in Belgium, who in turn, should monitor and enforce compliance.

Belgian law explicitly indicates the international framework that must be considered in public procurement such as, among others, the eight ILO core conventions and other applicable conventions that protect the right to a healthy environment.

Mechanisms for implementing and evaluating sustainable public procurement

The state has specific obligations related to sustainable procurement. It can also promote sustainable practices in procurement and implement objective mechanisms of evaluation. Contracting authorities have an obligation to exclude organisations that have demonstrably violated environmental or social obligations. These requirements may also be included in the executing conditions of the contract and as an award criterion. These cases are explicitly mentioned in the law:

• when the contracting authority has established, after a labour or environmental inspection, that "abnormally low price or costs proposed" are reached by means of non-compliance with mandatory law in social, labour or environmental fields. This duty should also cover subcontractors.
• when the organisation has been convicted by final criminal judgment for an abuse of the social, labour or environmental rules. If the abuse is not a criminal offence, their exclusion is discretionary.
• when the organisation has been convicted by final judgment of child labour, human trafficking or employment of nationals of third countries with irregular immigration status.

Other mechanisms that promote sustainable procurement practices are the establishment of award criteria or contract performance conditions, such as, among others, those requiring: labels or marks of origin, evidence of anti-discriminatory policies and procedures, environmental benchmarks, due diligence of supply chain transparency, evidence of compliance, reporting and monitoring of sustainable development, human rights, climate change policies, practices and procedures, etc.

Guidelines and initiatives on sustainable public procurement

Several public and private initiatives have been established at international, European and national levels to orient contracting authorities on the implementation of sustainable practices such as among others: The One Planet Network (a multi-stakeholder partnership adopted at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development to implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, to which the Belgian Fair Trade Advocacy Office is a member); the Procura+ Network (supports public authorities in implementing sustainable procurement and which counts bpost group (Belgium's leading postal operator), the governments of Flanders and Wallonia as well as the city of Ghent as members); ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (a global network formed by cities, towns and regions promotes sustainable development with a focus on the global urban population); Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement (a network of cities that promote sustainable consumption and production, efficient use of resources, low carbon and social responsibility in procurement processes counting Ghent as a member); the UNEP Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products (2009); ISO 20400 on Sustainable Procurement; Buying Social: A Guide to Taking Account of Social Considerations in Public Procurement (European Commission, 2021; Buying Green! - A Handbook on Green Public Procurement (European Commission, 3rd edition, 2016); and Guide des achats durables/Gids voor duurzame aankopen (website of the Belgian federal program on sustainable development intended for organisations that participate in public procurement processes).

There are also several noteworthy state-level and regional initiatives: Flanders' Vizier 2030 (an objectives framework linked with Vision 2025); the "Praktijkgids over aankopen met sociale impact" (aims at guiding local and regional authorities on evaluating the social impact of procurement and highlights the benefits of implementing sustainable practices); "Toolbox Sociaal Verantwoorde Werkkledij: Een gids voor publieke aankopers" (aimed at those involved in the purchase of workwear for government agencies, hospitals and the police) and Wallonia's guide to public authorities of the region in implementing public procurement practices "Achats publics durables (Boite à outils)."

PPPs are long term contracts between the public and the private sector in which public resources are invested to fund services of general interest, provided by private or mixed organisations. Sustainable PPPs can implement the same procurement mechanisms: requesting labels, reporting systems, resource efficiency, fair trade, prohibiting hazardous substances, minimizing waste and pollution, clean technology, SMEs participation, and fighting against human trafficking.

EU laws define services of economic interest as the activities considered by public authorities to be of importance to citizens and to require state intervention, such as energy, water provision, transport networks, postal services and social services. For example, one important example from the field of energy efficiency is BELESCO, the Belgian Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) Association, which brings together the major stakeholders in this sector to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy.

It must be emphasised that States' human rights obligations with regard to privatisations, are continuous. For example, the commentary to UNGP Principle 5 clarifies that the obligations of the State to ensure adequate oversight regarding human rights continue post-privatisation.

Various labels have been launched as a mechanism to encourage organisations to certify compliance in key areas. Labels are related to human rights compliance; they seek to protect specific rights such as the right to equality and non-discrimination, social rights, consumer rights, the right to health and the right to a healthy environment. Labels can also be used as a requirement to participate in public procurement processes. If labels are wrongly awarded, the competent authority must take the necessary measures to redress the situation and identify the damages caused. Belgium has introduced some labels related to human rights compliance, although there is no information available about their scope and effectiveness. For example, the Ecolabel, awarded by the Direction of the Environment of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, certifies that the label holder commercializes environmentally friendly products for consumers.

Guidelines on Labels

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) was established by the European Commission through the dedicated EMAS Regulation in order to help organisations engence their environmental performance, save energy and optimise resource usage. EMAS User's Guide (2023) supports users in implementing the EMAS Regulation.

The NGO ECONOSO has issued the guideline Les labels sous la loupe ! Guide de défrichage pour éco-consommateur. The Guide helps consumers identify labels used in Belgium and to understand whether the label holder respects the environment, human health and labour rights in the production of the labelled goods, or whether the label is used only for marketing reasons.

This tool refers to impact assessments performed by the state to assess actual or potential human rights risks of public policies, agreements, or economic activities which are supported by public resources, or which hold a high risk for society, and to inform stakeholders in this respect.

Environmental impact assessments (EIAs)

EIAs seek to verify the potential environmental impact of risky activities. EU member states must perform EIAs for activities with a significant impact on the environment. If an organisation is willing to perform these activities, it must request an environmental license from local or regional authorities. Stakeholders should have the opportunity to comment on EIA results. The final decision should be public, to allow citizens to appeal the decision before the competent courts or other bodies. Cross-border EIAs should be performed when an activity carried out in Belgium may create a negative environmental impact in another country. The EU and Belgium have developed several tools to guide public entities in conducting EIAs and related issues.

At domestic level some of those tools are: REACH Belgium (created to implement the EU Regulation REACH relating to the e-registration, evaluation, and authorisation of chemical substances by Belgian competent authorities, to protect the environment and human health); het Burgemeesterconvenant of the Flemish government (supports local and provincial authorities in implementing environmental protection measures within their competence); the online Navigator Wetgeving Leefmilieu, Natuur en Energie (a tool of the Flemish government gives information on the environmental law in force and provides concrete tools to implement it); Credendo a credit insurance group which provides a range of products that cover risks worldwide.

At EU level, the three environmental impact assessment guidances of projects on screening, scoping and the preparation of the environmental impact assessment reports are relevant, as are the impact assessment requirements introduced by the GDPR. The EU Better Regulation Guidelines and Toolbox contains guidelines for impact assessments, fundamental rights checklist and other related matters such as labour conditions, health impacts, consumer protection, territorial impact and stakeholder consultation.

Human rights impact assessment of trade and investment agreements

At international level, the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments of Trade and Investment Agreement provide a roadmap for states in negotiating such agreements, as well as systematizing existing legal and political procedures to assess them. Various instruments that address corruption such as: the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, the Civil Law Convention on Corruption, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation to Member States on the Legal Regulation of Lobbying Activities in the Context of Public Decision Making, the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the associated 2021 Recommendation of the Council are also relevant for states that engage in trade and investment negotiations.