Young Professionals Network Night

The 28th of February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated in the fifth edition of the Young Professionals Networking Night, an event supported by the Chamber and organized by different European chambers based in Belgium.

Jan Vermeiren, author of Let’s Connect! How to REALLY use LinkedIn and Life is a Game! explained how to improve our personal branding and the importance of having and updated and powerful LinkedIn profile for attracting potential customers and/or recruiters.

The keynote speaker Laurentine Van Landeghem presented her experience as an entrepreneur. With her company Clouds of Fashion, Laurentine has become an excellent example of how relevant has become social media in engaging costumers. She highlighted the importance of having a strong and well-defined personal brand. Clouds of Fashion is now a booming business with stores in Antwerp, Knokke and Gent.

The event was an opportunity to link up with other young professionals from no less than thirteen international and local Chambers of Commerce from across Belgium.

Conference “Data Protection: A New Challenge For Companies” With DBB Defenso

Last 27th February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a conference, in collaboration with DBB Defenso about data protection as a new challenge for companies.

The next 25th May, the new regulation about data protection in the EU, also known as GDPR will come into effect. From that day on, all the organizations, companies, NGO’s or public companies will have to comply with this new regulation about data protection for EU citizens and residents.

This law is quite complex and introduces numerous changes that the companies must start to understand and implement. This is why Claude Englebert and Joris Roesems, respectively associate and partner at DBB Defenso, have explained, each, the latest developments that this law entails for companies and how to implement it correctly.

First, Nathalie Charpentier, partner at DBB Defenso and member of the Board of Directors at the Chamber, said a welcome word, introduced briefly the firm and thanked the attendees for their participation in the conference.

Afterwards, Claude Englebert presented the new regulation that will be put into effect on the 25th May. This law will affect all the companies that are established in the EU and those which work with data from the EU citizens. In order to explain this regulation, he highlighted the main principles of personal data processing: transparency, a specified, explicit and legitimate purpose, data minimization, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality and accountability.

Then, Englebert mentioned that, in order to comply with all the data when processing, companies have to meet at least one of the following requirements: consent of the personal data subject; the existence of a contract among both parts and a legal obligation; the protection of vital interests; the task must be one of a public authority or the existence of legitimate interests.

The speaker also mentioned the rights of the data subject, as well as the new obligations for undertaking companies, organizations and public bodies. He also detailed the consequences in case a company doesn’t comply with the law.

On the other hand, Joris Roesems, explained the Data Protection Officer’s role: its conception inside the companies, its position and the different tasks associated to the role. These points are explained in detail in the articles 37-39 of this new law.

Lastly, Englebert explained the methodology to follow for the practical implementation of this new regulation, including the auditing, implementation and maintenance. (You can check the full presentation here).

Finally, during the question time the attendees representing numerous European companies were very active and participative, and expressed their doubts and questions in order to be able to implement correctly this new regulation about data protection in their enterprises.

In collaboration with:

Forum Committee Meeting

On the 26th of February, the Forum Committee, a working group whose aim is to offer, to organize and to follow the events of the Chamber, organized a meeting in the headquarters of the Chamber of Brussels.

During the meeting, chaired by Pablo López Álvarez (FTI Consulting), the last events organized by the “Business circle” platform were discussed and new initiatives at the local level and with the European institutions for the next few months were submitted.

About the Committees

The Committees are composed by some of our members as well as the responsible of the Chamber in the corresponding area.

These Committees have several responsibilities: to analyze thoroughly the proposals, problematic, projects and activities… Through them, the members influence daily the Chamber in order to better adapt the Chamber´s activities to the needs of the members.

At all time, a member can ask the President of a Committee to be part of the Committee and ask the Secretary General to create a new group.

Kick – off meeting of the European project Reactivate

The 22nd and 23rd of February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated in Lublin (Poland) in the kick-off meeting of the European project Reactivate, an initiative from the European Commission aiming at facilitating cross-border job mobility in the IT and health sector.

This first consortium meeting had the objective of setting up the structure of the project and define the priority lines of actions. The Chamber will become national contact point of the project in Belgium and Luxembourg and is one of the six organizations that will manage this project in Europe. The consortium is led by the University of Economics and Innovation of Lublin (Poland).

The Chamber will be responsible for providing support for Belgian and Luxembourgish companies on the IT and health sector that are looking to recruit qualified personnel. The Chamber will also be national contact point for unemployed above 35 years with a qualification in the mentioned fields and that are willing to gain experience in any other EU country.

The Reactivate project will be an excellent opportunity to help EU citizens aged at least 35 to find a job, traineeship or apprenticeship opportunity in another EU country and to help employers find qualified workforce. The project will be fully operating in the following months.

The Chamber’s Yearbook 2018 is already available

The Yearbook 2018 of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg is already available.

If you wish to pick up your copy at our Brussels headquarters or at the Delegation in Luxembourg, please send us an email to
info@e-camara.com (Brussels) or luxemburgo@e-camara.com (Luxembourg).

You can also read it through the Intranet by clicking on this link. 

The Yearbook includes a detailed description of the services that the Chamber offers to its members, the activity report of 2017 and a directory of members organized by activity sector.

The Chamber wants to thank the support of all the member companies, which allow it to continue improving and responding to the needs of our members.

In addition, we would like to thank the advertisers their collaboration in the Yearbook 2017, which have helped funding this publication:

The President of Fedecom took part in the plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce

On the 21st of February, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, President of the Federation of Official Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, took part in the plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, representing the federated Chambers.

During the meeting, the President stayed in good contact with the Board of Directors of the Spanish Chamber and advocated the importance of having an international network within the Spanish Chamber’s system.

Conference: Employment opportunities and permanent training in Belgium

The past 20th February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg took part in a conference about employment opportunities and permanent training in Belgium, organized by the UNED centre in Brussels. It was an information session for UNED students and young professionals living in Belgium who are interested about permanent training offered by UNED, as well as job portals and support national employment offices.

Firstly, María Casado, Director at the associated center of UNED in Brussels, welcomed all the young professionals attending to the conference. Afterwards, she presented the services offered by UNED in Brussels, as well as the different employment and internship opportunities that are accessible for young residents in Belgium.

On the other hand, Concepción Gutiérrez del Castillo and José Luis Estébanez, Employment Counselor and head of citizen information respectively, at the Employment and Healthcare Counseling of the Embassy of Spain in Belgium detailed some information related to accommodation and health coverage in Belgium. They also presented the employment portal that the Counseling offers the Spanish citizens through their webpage.

Lastly, María Catalán, Secretary General of the Chamber presented the services that the institution offers to Spanish citizens. In addition to the organization of training events and workshops, the Chamber has an employment portal, which by the way, has just been redesigned (www.empleobelux.com). Through a virtual visit tour, the Secretary General showed which are the services offered by this portal for both people searching for a job in Belgium and Luxembourg and companies that are searching for new talents.

As services for candidates, this portal does not only inform about job offers for Spanish speaking people, it also provides the necessary information for a quick adaptation and integration in BeLux, administrative procedures, accommodation, etc.

Finally, María Catalán presented the Chamber as a local contact point in BeLux of the EYE Programme (Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs) for all those entrepreneurs that want to take part in the project.

Info Day about the PICE Mobility Plan

The 8th of February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized in their headquarters in Brussels an Info Day about the PICE Mobility Plan, program co-financed by the European Social Found.  Since the beginning of 2018, the Chamber is a new local contact point in BeLux for the management of the program. Businessmen with experience had the opportunity to get information about the program and to clarify their doubts thanks to a personalized attention.

The Mobility Plan is part of the Integral Program for Qualification and Employment (PICE) designed to improve the employability of young beneficiaries of the Spanish National System of Youth Guarantee by giving them the chance to undertake placements between 3 and 6 months in companies in the European Union.

The Mobility Plan is being implemented by the Spanish Chambers’ network and its principal aim is to provide personal and professional development opportunities to the young people joining the program and, at the same time, to boost the productivity of the companies affiliated.

Are you a company interested in hosting young people with the qualifications and skills necessary to join your company?
Contact the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, your new local contact point in Belgium.

Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg
Rue Belliard 20,1
1040 Brussels

For all those who were not able to attend the Info Day, you can find more information about the program on this link.

You can also contact us by sending an e-mail to: angela.ustarroz@camara.es

Luncheon-debate with Luis Planas Puchades, Secretary General of the European Economic and Social Committee

Last February 7th, the Chamber of Commerce organized a luncheon-debate with Luis Planas Puchades, Secretary General of the European Economic and Social Committee under the title The European Union and Spain in 2018. The event counted on the presence of the Ambassador of Luxembourg and some 20 representatives of the European institutions and companies’ directors.

Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg pronounced some welcome words and introduced the speaker, bringing to light his recognized professional career.

He also thanked him for his ongoing collaboration with the Chamber through the past years.

Immediately, Luis Planas started his intervention by underlining two essential points: the European elections of May 2019, and the future presidency of the European Commission.

Regarding the first point, he reminded that after the Brexit, 63 seats of the European Commission will be free, thus, having arisen divergent opinions about the future of the Commission. On the one hand, there are people considering it as an opportunity to establish the German electoral system, and on the other hand, those who opt for the redistribution.

For the moment, there are some proposals made in the Parliament which suggest increasing the number of seats of all the member states (for example, increasing them from 54 to 60 in Spain).

Regarding the presidency of the European Commission, he mentioned that Spain clamis that the best choice is a government formed in accordance with the most voted list.

Furthermore, he mentioned the financial perspectives for Europe: the actual budget is set until the year 2020, and the new one will be settled for the following 7 years, that is 2027.

To that, the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU and its respective revenues – estimated at 12 billion-,must be taken into account. Therefore, the Commission pretends to allocate 80% of the budget for the new contributions and the remaining 20% for the budget restrictions.

Another issue which have to be taken into account is how the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU will be administrated, since Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of such funds, and so negotiations will be necessary to meet the best conditions.

The Secretary General also mentioned two aspects of the EU which have to be preserved for the benefit they bring. On the one hand, the Erasmus program and everything related to it: the advantages this program offers are undeniable and that is why there is a consensus about the importance of preserving it. On the other hand, there is the support to the R&D, and all the new challenges in security matters, defense and integration.

He also addressed the dilemma of the Brexit, underlining the perfect work of Michel Barnier and his team, who will keep on fighting for building the best relationship with the United Kingdom.

To conclude, Mr. Planas gave an optimistic vision about the future of the EU, but raised concern about the respect of the law in the member states due to the actual situation occurring in countries such as Poland and Hungary. He reaffirmed that a society without law and respect to the law, constitutions or treaties cannot work from a commercial point of view, neither for the citizens. He also said that it is necessary for the EU to take charge of the social aspects of the European integration. The elements related to the social protection are essential for the cohesion of the society and for its functioning.

Once the public speaking finished, the President of the Chamber and the Spanish ambassador in Luxembourg gave an award to the speaker, as a proof of gratitude.

After the intervention, the participants had the chance to formulate their questions to Mr. Planas. The main topic was the situation around the Brexit and its consequences on the new EU and Spain.

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Breakfast-Conference: “Understand and promote the compliance”

Last 6th of February 2018, the Chamber organized a conference about the comprehension and the promotion of the compliance in collaboration with DS Avocats Law Firm. The event was attended by many representatives of Spanish and Belgian companies, as well as EU organization’s representatives, who were interested on the impact this topic could have on them, wanted to know which steps to follow in order to avoid the penalties their companies may suffer.  

First, Jean-Marie Salva, partner of DS Avocats, started by pronouncing some welcome words and by thanking the attendees for their participation before presenting the law office’s work around the world. Then, he presented Ángela López de Molina, partner of the law firm, who will set a headquarters office in Madrid on March 1st.

During her presentation, López Molina spoke about the current legislation in Spain, which since the change of the Penal Code in 2015 which allows to impute criminal responsibility to the legal persons, requires the companies to design a crime prevention plan.

The compliance was created in 1970, in response to the corruption experienced by the United States through the legal persons.

The crime prevention plan is set as a series of measures of surveillance and control implemented to prevent the commission of crimes or, at least, to try to reduce significantly the possibility of being committed. To do this, it is necessary to count on the “Compliance Officer”, that is a person in charge of preventing all the possible crime situations and trying to solve them.

Furthermore, it is necessary for all the employees to have access to that plan and to expressly accept it. As a conclusion, Ángela mentioned the prevention, detection, answer and supervision activities necessary to credit that the company acts according to the law.

Later, Michel Debroux, partner of DS Avocats, exposed the evolution of the compliance through the years in Europe, which changed from something voluntary to something mandatory.

Debroux pointed out the existence of cultural differences to show the difficulty in unifying the action criteria, even inside a same company with offices established in different places of the world. Thus, he underlined the necessity of taking into account the local specificities to suit in law.

In the case of a company with offices in different places of the world, it is necessary for all of them to apply to the rules of the headquarter office and to its owns, as they have to fit in the local customs.

Thus, the compliance is a process which requires the organization, integration and verification of the regulatory compliance.

As López Molina explained, the speaker described the main tasks that the “Compliance Officer” needs to accomplish. He needs to establish a list with the potential risks. Therefore, he will need to be totally integrated in the company and has to be able to deal with crisis.

Finally, to conclude, the partner of DS Avocats presented what they call “the 10 rules of the perfect compliance project” in which the main characteristics to respect in order to manage perfectly this project are summarized.

The conference took part in a participatory environment during which every attendee had the opportunity to express their doubts and talk with the speakers.

In collaboration with: