On 27 September, the Belgian Council of Ministers approved a draft royal decree on the entry and residence of third-country nationals as seasonal workers (Directive 2014/36/EU).

The project supplements the Royal Decree of 8 October 1981, implementing the Aliens Act.

The project was submitted to the Council of State.

Directive 201436/EU was transposed into regional labour legislations (entry into force pending legislation on federal level).

On 25 July, the European Commission has decided to refer Belgium to the ECJ, for failing to transpose the Directive 2014/66/EU (on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer).

Regional labour legislations have transposed the Directive, more ever in Brussels Region, the provisions have entered into force (i.e. possible to lodge applications for authorisations of employment under the ICT EU scheme).

The Commission is calling on the ECJ to impose financial sanctions as follows: a) a lump sum of EUR 4,088.25 per day, between the day after the deadline for transposition (i.e. 29 November 2016),and either compliance by Belgium, or the date of delivery of the judgment b) a minimum lump sum of EUR 2,029,000.00 c) a daily penalty payment of EUR 36,794.25 from the day of the first judgment until full compliance is reached or until the second Court judgment.

On 25 July, the Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Belgium, for not having fully transposed EU rules on the conditions of entry and residence of non-EU nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing (Directive 2016/801/EU).

Regional labour legislations have transposed the Directive, however, its entry into force pending legislation on federal level.

On 11 April, the EU Commission has closed the infringement procedure gave rise to the ECJ ruling of 11 July 2018 (C-356/15), one of the recent rulings related to the binding effect of Portable Documents A1 / forms E 101, issued by institutions in other Member States. The ECJ rejected the argument invoked by Belgium, justifying a temporary subjection to the legislation of the host Member State, on grounds of Article 6(1)(a) Regulation 987/2009.

Belgium has abrogated Articles 22 to 25, Programme Law of 27 December 2012 (with effect from 27 January 2019).