News
Europe – By judgment of 2 September 2026 (Case T-120/24 – Global Legal Action Network and Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-Europe) v Commission), the General Court of the European Union held that, although the Commission had made certain errors of law when examining the request for internal review submitted under the Aarhus Regulation, those errors had no bearing on the outcome of the dispute, since the challenges relating to the climate targets laid down by the EU legislature and to the impact assessment preceding their adoption could not, in any event, validly be raised in the context of an internal review, as acts and activities falling within the exercise of legislative powers are excluded from the scope of the Aarhus Regulation. The General Court therefore dismissed the action in its entirety
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats By their action brought pursuant to Article 263 TFEU, the applicants, Global Legal Action Network and Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-Europe), seek the annulment of European Commission Decision Ares(2023) 8595389 of 14...
Europe – France – In its judgment of 2 September 2026, the European Court of Human Rights held that the criminal confiscation of jointly owned property, despite the absence of a criminal conviction of one of the spouses deprived of the property, did not violate Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats 1. The facts The applicant is the wife of a man who was criminally convicted of breach of trust. In the context of these proceedings, two properties belonging to the spouses’ matrimonial community were seized and...
Belgium – Federal State – The Chamber of Representatives Adopts Book 7 of the New Civil Code on 16 July 2026 and Modernises the Various Real Estate Contracts (Sale, Construction/Real Estate Services and Lease)
The Chamber of Representatives has adopted Book 7 of the new Civil Code, devoted to special contracts. This reform forms part of the extensive recodification of Belgian civil law that has been underway for several years. Following the books devoted to property,...
Europe – In its judgment of 16 July 2026 (Joined Cases C-27/25 and C-356/25), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive precludes a national authority from lawfully carrying out an appropriate assessment of a project affecting a Special Protection Zone (Zone de Protection Spéciale – ZPS) where the site-specific conservation objectives for that zone have not been adopted beforehand. The Court further held that, prior to the adoption of those conservation objectives, only the geographical delimitation of the area potentially affected may be undertaken, whereas the assessment of the project’s effects on the protected site cannot. The judgment thus reinforces the principle that site-specific conservation objectives are a necessary and indispensable prerequisite for the protection regime governing Natura 2000 sites
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats In its judgment of 16 July 2026 (Joined Cases C-27/25 and C-356/25), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive precludes a national authority from lawfully carrying out an...
Belgium adopts Book 7 of the new Civil Code: a major reform of real estate contract law
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats The Belgian Chamber of Representatives has adopted Book 7 of the new Civil Code, governing special contracts. This marks another important milestone in the comprehensive recodification of Belgian civil law that has been...
Luxembourg – Le cadre légal pour le développement des infrastructures de transport d’hydrogène
Le Luxembourg mise sur l’hydrogène Alors que ces derniers mois, les forages effectués en Lorraine pour sonder le potentiel d’exploitation de l’hydrogène en sous-sol nourrissent certains espoirs (le site de Pontpierre, à moins de deux heures de Luxembourg-Ville,...
Europe – Portugal – In its judgment of 9 July 2026 (Case C-166/25 – European Commission v Portuguese Republic), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that Portugal had failed to fulfil its obligations by only partially and inaccurately transposing the provisions of Directive 2010/75 on industrial emissions. The Court clarified that administrative practices or mere interpretative guidance cannot substitute for a complete and legally binding transposition of a directive.
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats In its judgment of 9 July 2026 (Case C-166/25 – European Commission v Portuguese Republic), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that Portugal had failed to fulfil its obligations by only partially and...
Europe – Belgium – In its judgment of 3 July 2025 (Case C-771/24 – Fédération belge du stationnement ASBL and Interparking SA v Région de Bruxelles-Capitale), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that regulations laying down the operating conditions for car parks, even though they contain no rules governing their location or maximum number, must be subject to a strategic environmental assessment where they establish a significant body of criteria or detailed rules capable of influencing projects likely to have significant effects on the environment. The Court further held that a national court may maintain the effects of such an unlawful measure in order to allow the competent authority to carry out the required environmental assessment and, where appropriate, amend the measure only where national law permits it in the proceedings before that court, where such maintenance is necessary to ensure the implementation of another EU environmental protection measure, and only for the period strictly necessary to remedy the unlawfulness
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats In its judgment of 3 July 2025 (Case C-771/24 – Fédération belge du stationnement ASBL and Interparking SA v Région de Bruxelles-Capitale), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that regulations laying down the...
Europe – In its judgment of 2 July 2026 (Case C-447/25, Surovina RECE d.o.o. v Pest Vármegyei Kormányhivatal), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that the Member State of destination of a shipment of waste intended for recovery, but not incineration, may lawfully object to that shipment where it is contrary to a national waste management plan established in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2008/98/EC
HAVET & VANHUFFEL - Association d'avocats Europe – In its judgment of 2 July 2026 (Case C-447/25, Surovina RECE d.o.o. v Pest Vármegyei Kormányhivatal), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that the Member State of destination of a shipment of waste...
Luxembourg – Le leasing immobilier existe en droit luxembourgeois
Le leasing immobilier existe en droit luxembourgeois Nous désapprouvons l’affirmation que le contrat de leasing immobilier ne soit légalement encadré en droit luxembourgeois. A la base il existe le principe contractuel : un contrat de location d’une chose déterminée,...