Open Meetings & Public Notice Laws › Belgium

Belgium

DLB / CDLD / NGW

Formally: Decreet Lokaal Bestuur / Code de la démocratie locale / Nieuwe Gemeentewet

DLB (Flanders) 22 December 2017; CDLD (Wallonia) Art. L1122-10 et seq.; Nieuwe Gemeentewet (Brussels-Capital)

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Sunshine Score: 41/100 (moderate)
41/100

Sunshine Score

41/100
Weak
Methodology v0.1
Advance Notice 8 days, online posting required
Public Comment Not required
Closed Sessions 7 permitted categories
Minutes Required
Recording Not required
Remote Participation Not allowed
Enforcement Voidable, legislature exempt
How is this score calculated? →

Agenda & Notice Requirements

Regular Meetings
8 days

Online posting: Required

Public Participation

Public Comment
Not required
Written Comment
Not allowed

Virtual Meetings

Member Remote Participation
Not allowed
Public Remote Comment
Not allowed

Closed Sessions

Closed (executive) sessions: Allowed under specific circumstances

Permitted Categories

Meeting Minutes

Minutes Required
Yes

Online posting: Not required

Recording & Broadcast

Recording Required
No
Broadcast Required
No

Enforcement

Violation Effect
Voidable
Standing to Sue
Any person with a legitimate interest may seek judicial review
Enforcement Body
Raad van State / Conseil d'État

Scope

This law applies to:

  • Gemeente
  • Commune

Legislature: Exempt (follows own rules)

Accessibility & Language Access

Language access: Belgium's federal language legislation determines the language of municipal proceedings: Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia (with German in the German-speaking Community), bilingual Dutch/French in Brussels-Capital. Some municipalities along the linguistic border have additional 'facilities' (faciliteiten).

Sources & References

Notes

Belgium has three distinct regional frameworks for municipal meetings: (1) Flanders: Decreet over het Lokaal Bestuur (22 Dec 2017, in force 1 Jan 2019); (2) Wallonia: Code de la démocratie locale et de la décentralisation (CDLD); (3) Brussels-Capital Region: Nieuwe Gemeentewet / Nouvelle loi communale (2004 consolidation). All three require open council meetings with closed sessions permitted for personnel matters and limited privacy-sensitive topics. Notice and publication procedures are set by regional decree and each commune's reglement d'ordre intérieur. Language access follows the federal language-territory regime (Dutch, French, German, bilingual Brussels).

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The specific rules for Belgium may differ from this general description. Consult the full statute for details.