Updated Dawn raid Guidelines published by the Belgian Competition Authority

On Friday 20 June, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) published an update of its dawn raid guidelines. These new guidelines replace those in place since 2013 and codify the BCA’s current practices.
 

New regime

Notably, the update includes GDPR-related aspects of dawn raids — a key consideration for compliance teams.

The update also includes an expanded section reminding undertakings of their legal obligation to fully comply with dawn raids, including a non-exhaustive list of do’s and don’ts.
 

Commentary

The updated guidelines serve as a strong reminder that the BCA is fully prepared to use all legal tools at its disposal — including dawn raids — emphasizing the need for companies to be well prepared.

However, the updated guidelines unfortunately do not address the impact of increased homeworking on dawn raids and the BCA’s approach to this phenomenon. No mention is made of important topics such as:

• The likelihood of home searches; or
• The Obligations of remote employees during dawn raids

Overall, while any updates of BCA guidelines are always welcome, the new version of the BCA’s dawn raid guidelines contain no real groundbreaking news.
 

The updated guidelines are available in English here, French here and in Dutch here.