Belgium’s privacy commission should be able to impose fines of up to €810,000 against companies that break privacy and data protection laws, secretary of state Bart Tommelein has proposed. Tommelein, tasked with federal privacy issues, is due to present a bill later this year, pre-empting a...

In Belgium yesterday, a commemorative coin for the Battle of Waterloo was presented, despite France’s veto of the coin earlier this year. The new coin has a value of €2.50, bypassing the need for permission from France or any other EU member state. Belgium initially wanted to release a €2 coin to...

Three -quarters of the 500 wealthiest Belgians reside in Flanders, while the rest are divided equally between Brussels and Wallonia, according to derijkstebelgen.be, a new website that provides daily news and statistics on Belgium’s wealthiest people. Founder Ludwig Verduyn yesterday presented the...

Flemish television station VTM on Sunday booked its highest ever viewer ratings for a football friendly during the match between France and Belgium. On average about 1.498 million viewers tuned in to watch Belgium beat France in Paris with 3-4. With nearly 1.5 million viewers, the match is VTM’s...

Flanders’ mobility minister, Ben Weyts, has approved funding of €8.4 million for a new tunnel in Antwerp to be used by the pre-metro, or underground tram. The tunnel will cut the journey time from Wijnegem to the city centre from 25 to 15 minutes, the government said. Since April this year, trams...

In the first four months of this year, there were 41,479 flu-related deaths in Belgium, 5,827 more than in the same period in 2014, or an increase of 16%, report various Belgian media based on figures from the National Register. The cold winter and an inadequate vaccine contributed to the sharp...

The federal prosecutor’s office is starting an investigation into allegations that the German intelligence agency Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) spied on Belgium for decades. The allegations came to light last week from documents leaked from a closed hearing in the German parliament. BND is accused...

The number of cases of identity fraud in Belgium continues to rise, reports De Zondag . In 2014 there were 4,669 cases registered, 260 more than the year before, according to figures that Belgian MP Roel Deseyn (CD&V) requested from interior minister Jan Jambon (N-VA). The figures take into...

Belgium’s Kim Clijsters won the Legends Ladies’ Doubles competition at the French Open on Saturday with fellow former number one, Martina Navratilova. Despite losing the first set, they recovered to beat the US duo of Lindsay Davenport and Mary Joe Fernandez 2-6, 6-2, 11-9. Clijsters and...

Separated or divorced parents in Belgium often refuse to pay alimony support for their children. A total of at least €300 million remains unpaid, according to VRT news based on figures from the department in charge of collecting alimony payments (DAVO). Despite DAVO’s continual efforts to collect...