Our expertise
We have tried and trusted internal expertise in constitutional law, administrative law, public procurement and concessions, economic law, competition law, European free market and State aid law, commercial law, company and association law, the law governing civil servants and labour law, and everything relevant to our specialist field.
Our firm has built up strong experience in the sectors of parking, urban development, infrastructure and public-private partnerships.
We have expertise in fields such as:
- the examination, drafting and negotiation of new laws and regulations;
- the corporatization of national, regional, provincial and municipal services (urban development, car park operators, port and waterway authorities, maritime and river pilotage services, and so on);
- the drafting and amendment of incorporations enacted by law or decree, incorporation resolutions, articles of association, management contracts and tariff regulations;
- the drafting and amendment of information notices, calls for tender, technical specifications, tender documents, concessions, DBFM and similar contracts, and the supervision of tendering and negotiation procedures;
- advice, support and litigation in public procurement;
- the exercise of legal and contractually agreed pre-emption and option rights and compliance with mortgage formalities;
- the operational and fiscal optimization of investment projects;
- challenge or defend new taxes and levies for both public-sector undertakings and private enterprise;
- the facilitation of new subsidy arrangements in the context of EU State aid control;
- HR reform and disputes, including union consultations.
For matters relating to taxation and notarial business we make use of trusted experts.
Some achievements
Among other things we prepared the innovative Flemish decrees on public-private partnerships, parking, the exemption from registration tax for independent municipal activities, the corporatization of the Flemish government agency Flanders Hydraulics, the Flemish pilotage services and the Flemish Vessel Traffic Services.
We were the first to analyze the failings of the legal status of government property in Belgium, following which the case law of the Court of Cassation was relaxed and several laws were amended.
We supervised the incorporation of the very first independent municipal undertaking with legal personality in Belgium. Since then we have helped with the establishment of numerous independent municipal and provincial undertakings throughout Flanders.
We drafted the text of the very first private parking concession in Belgium, which now serves as a model in all Flanders. Since then we have worked out concessions adapted to the needs of numerous municipalities, or updated existing contracts.
We have helped public and private partners to realize major residential projects and/or build new sports centres with commercial aspects, such as homes, football stands, and swimming pools.
We carried out the thorough legal screening of Flemish urban development projects in the official government-appointed jury for urban renewal projects.