10. Industry sectors of special importance or with a specific procurement regime
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10. Industry sectors of special importance or with a specific procurement regime Start Comparison
a. Are there any specific laws or practices that apply in the technology sector?

No.

b. Are there any specific laws or practices that apply in the defense sector?

Yes. We refer to question 1.d above.

c. Are there any specific laws or practices that apply in the health care sector?

No. However, the subjection of private hospitals to public procurement rules in Belgium is a very complex question.

Under the previous Public Procurement Act (applicable between December 1993 and 1 July 2013), private hospitals where expressly excluded from its scope. The same exemption applied to public hospitals for their tenders not exceeding the thresholds for the European publicity.

However, since 2013 (i.e. the entry into force of the previous public procurement Act), as well as in the 2017 public procurement Act, that exemption was removed, so that private hospitals are now for the first time subject to public procurement law (i) if they have been created to pursue general interest needs other than industrial or commercial, and (ii) if they are mainly financed by public funds (not necessarily by the state or by public laws entities). In practice, most hospitals fulfil these conditions but some of them still ignore – or refuse to comply – with the law.

d. Are there any specific laws or practices that apply to any other particular industry sector?

We refer to the public procurement regime applicable to the utilities sector under questions 1.a-b. and 2.a-b. above.