In the last quarter of 2020 we published under the auspices of A&O Belgium’s Sustainability Flagship Project, an overview analysing the status of current climate change litigation in courts around the world in light of the...more
Sustainable battery development and production is key to the EU’s clean energy and climate neutrality objectives, as they are expected to contribute to the uptake of electric vehicles. For this reason, the use of batteries is...more
In its judgment of 14 January 2021 the European Court of Justice provides guidance on “self-cleaning measures”. The “self-cleaning” measures were introduced in the 2014 Directives on public procurement and allow economic...more
As part of the EU Green Deal’s Circular Economy Action Plan and Plastics Strategy, new rules on the export, import and intra-EU shipment of plastic waste under the Waste Shipment Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006)...more
Belgium has not yet adopted a formal FDI screening mechanism to implement the EU FDI Regulation, but the debate on how to protect certain critical industries remains very relevant, as becomes clear upon assessing the 16...more
As the world continues to battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, the resulting economic and social stress has brought many human rights issues to the fore, exacerbating systemic issues and generating new challenges. Yet the...more
12/15/2020
/ Child Labor ,
Corporate Liability ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Due Diligence ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Human Trafficking ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Slavery ,
Supply Chain ,
Transparency
Nearly 20 years after the European Commission (the EC) set out its first strategic approach to the management of chemicals in the European Union1 (the EU), it adopted the new EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability – Towards...more
On 4 March 2020, the European Commission (the Commission) published a draft EU climate law, along with inception impact assessments for an EU carbon border adjustment mechanism and revisions to the Energy Taxation Directive....more
The European Commission has invited stakeholders to comment on issues that should be included in the next update of the Blue Guide on the implementation of EU product rules (the Blue Guide). The invitation can be found here....more
By virtue of the Statute dated 28 March 2014 (the Statute of 2014), the Flemish Government decided to amend the existing Soil Statute of 27 October 2006 (the Statute of 2006). The modifications were published in the Official...more
On 22 September 2014, the International Bar’s Association task force on Climate Change Justice and Human Rights released its new report Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption in the wake of the UN...more
Article 4.8.4 of the Flemish Urban Planning Code allowed the Council for Permit Disputes (Raad voor Vergunningsbetwistingen) (ie the Flemish administrative court competent to rule on appeals against urban planning permits) to...more