On 27 February 2026, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) published its annual communication setting out policy priorities for the current year.
This publication, which has existed since 2014, explains how the BCA selects its formal investigations and describes its strategic and sectoral priorities for competition policy for the year to come.
In the context of global economic reconfiguration and structural pressures on Belgium’s economy, the BCA underscores the need for a coherent industrial strategy that reinforces productivity and competitiveness while preserving the essential safeguards of effective competition. The BCA stresses that economies of scale may be desirable when they remain pro‑competitive, enhance innovation and ultimately deliver tangible benefits to consumers without entrenching excessive market power. The BCA will also issue new guidance and further develop its informal policy to assist undertakings, public authorities and citizens in correctly applying competition law.
In line with priority areas identified in previous years, the BCA intends to continue its actions in the following sectors:
- food industry: due to an increased risk of market distortions, the BCA remains vigilant about the ongoing consolidation of the food supply chain and the transition towards sustainability agreements, especially in the agricultural sector;
- digitalisation of the economy, the development of digital infrastructure and the telecommunications sector: the BCA will scrutinise digital platforms, algorithmic practices, cloud services and digital after‑sales services in cooperation with national regulators and the European Commission, particularly in the light of the Digital Markets Act, to ensure market contestability and prevent abuses of dominance or economic dependence. The BCA will also prioritise competitive conditions in telecommunications by ensuring fair deployment of fibre and 5G networks and monitoring retail pricing dynamics;
- health care: the BCA will monitor consolidation, pricing behaviour and restrictions affecting professional mobility, and intervene where necessary to safeguard innovation, the availability of medicines and fair conditions for patients;
- basic services, particularly the regulated professions, financial and banking services: the BCA will remain vigilant to ensure compliance with competition law and will advocate for the revision of professional and sector‑specific regulations that impose unnecessary restrictions on market entry or competitive dynamics;
- sport, media and entertainment sectors: the BCA will focus on the access to sports and entertainment events, including issues relating to their media coverage.
While these priorities guide the BCA’s focus, complaints concerning competition infringements in other sectors will still be examined, although cases may be prioritised where they present strategic importance for the Belgian economy or a heightened risk of distortion involving essential goods and services.
To reinforce its competition policy, the BCA will prioritise the following projects and strategic actions:
- revision of the rules governing merger control, including the modernisation of notification forms and an assessment of whether the existing jurisdictional thresholds should be complemented by a “call‑in” mechanism for below‑threshold transactions. This evaluation aims to ensure that potentially harmful acquisitions, such as serial roll‑ups or other sub‑threshold deals, do not escape effective scrutiny. The BCA will also continue to cooperate closely with the European Commission in the ongoing revision of the EU merger guidelines;
- guidelines and policy on preventing restrictions of competition, including forthcoming sustainability guidance designed to provide legal certainty for cooperative initiatives supporting the ecological transition. The BCA will also strengthen its preventive efforts through a bid‑rigging guide and training for contracting authorities, a communication on labour‑market restrictions such as no‑poach agreements and an awareness campaign on resale price maintenance;
- knowledge acquisition and detection,which will include the more systematic use of sector inquiries to proactively identify market malfunctions and distortions, supported by new data‑analysis techniques and a virtual laboratory enabling large‑scale economic analyses. The BCA will also strengthen collaboration with the Price Observatory, the federal administration in charge of economy and regulatory authorities, to enhance market‑functioning expertise, accelerate the detection of competition risks and ensure a more effective and coordinated response to potential infringements;
- (inter)national cooperation and enhanced visibility and accessibility: the BCA will continue its legislative process aimed at simplifying the conclusion of cooperation agreements with other public bodies, finalise the cooperation protocol with the Data Protection Authority and further advance the modernisation of its external communication.
In terms of competition policy, the BCA reaffirms its ambition to drive fairer, more dynamic and resilient markets, and close attention should be paid to the forthcoming revision of merger control rules.
In practice, we have noticed a much more proactive approach towards below-threshold transactions in the light of the Towercast judgment, dawn raids – the last one being announced on 3 March this year in the road signage and street furniture sectors – and the increased BCA’s activities in terms of policy and regulation (publication of informal opinions and draft guidelines on sustainability agreements, review of its guide on public procurement and collusion, a new newsletter on merger control, new guidelines on the conduct of inspections, etc.), demonstrating a new age of Belgian competition law.
