Commission refers Belgium to the Court of Justice of the EU due to restrictions on accountants

Background and further information:

Article 25 of the Services Directive requires Member States to ensure that providers are not made subject to requirements which oblige them to exercise a given specific activity exclusively or which restrict different activities from being exercised jointly or in partnership.

However, Belgian legislation does not allow an accountant to provide services as a real-estate agent or insurance broker, or to perform financial activities. The Commission thus requested national authorities to remedy the breach of EU law in a reasoned opinion in November 2016. Belgium's lack of legislative change led to the present decision.

The European Commission decided on 13 July 2017 to refer Belgium to the European Court of Justice on the grounds that its restrictions on accountants offering services in related disciplines are incompatible with the Services Directive (Directive 2006/113/EC).