On 27 February 2026, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) published its Priorities Paper for 2026 (PP – see, attachment). Not surprisingly, the new PP resembles that of 2025 (see, VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 30 April 2025) and of previous years in that the BCA seeks to protect the position of the Belgian economy and pay “particular attention to the competitiveness and sustainability of [Belgium’s] industrial assets” (p. 2). As a result, the BCA confirms its interest in a series of industries and practices, while it also plans to increase its compliance efforts:

• Agri-food sector – The BCA says that it is currently pursuing a raft of antitrust cases (see e.g., VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 6 February 2026) and will also apply the merger control rules to stop or limit the further consolidation of food markets.
• Digitalisation and telecommunications – The BCA promises to scrutinise the “impact of digital transformation on market dynamics in both existing and new markets, including access to secure, sustainable and interoperable cloud infrastructures and services” (p. 7). It will keep a watchful eye on online platforms, the digitalisation of after-sales services, algorithmic decision-making, access to telecommunications infrastructure, and electronic communications services.
• Healthcare – The BCA will continue to follow closely the healthcare sector, including the markets for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health technology, and health-related data (see, VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 9 December 2025).
• Basic services (mainly regulated professions and banking and finance) – On the ground that they form part of the backbone of the economy, the BCA mentions a broad list of services which it will monitor, including “financial services (such as banking, payment services and insurance services), legal services (e.g., bailiffs and notaries), accounting and auditing services, security services and quality control operators, medical services, including healthcare providers, pharmacists and veterinarians” (p. 11).
• Sport, media and entertainment – The BCA indicates that it will maintain its vigilant approach towards sports competitions and their broadcasting.
• Merger control – Remarkably and despite earlier indications to the contrary (VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 18 April 2025), the BCA has still not made up its mind on whether it will ask Parliament for “call-in” powers that would allow it to review transactions that are not caught by the current financial thresholds for merger control review. As the BCA expressly indicates, such “call-in” powers would permit the review of both “killer” acquisitions and serial or “roll-up” acquisitions of small targets.

Compliance efforts – The BCA intends to publish policy documents on sustainability agreements (see, VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 6 October 2025), public procurement (see, VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 8 January 2026), and restrictions of worker mobility, such as no-poaching agreements. It will also mount an awareness campaign to combat resale price maintenance.