Breakfast-Conference New companies and associations Code – What impact on the Belgian non-profit organisations?

On June 21st , the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with its member KOAN Law Firm, organized a breakfast- conference about: “New companies and associations Code- What impact for the Belgian non- profit organizations?”.

The event gathered representatives of different companies, members of the Chamber and representatives of foreign delegations.

The speakers of the conference were Antoine Druetz (Partner at KOAN Law Firm) and Alix Degrez (Associate at KOAN Law Firm). KOAN is a business law firm based in Brussels and Paris. Koan is widely recognized for its top tier services.

The conference focused on the Draft Bill of the New Companies and Associations Code (CAC), which will be applicable from the next 1st January for the newly incorporated associations and foundations, whereas in the case of the existing associations and foundations the deadline to make their Articles of Associations compliant with the CAC January 1st, 2024.

This new Code shall have a wide importance within the Belgian business landscape, because amongst other things, it will repeal the Act of 27 June 1921 on non-profit associations, international non- profit associations and foundations.

Both speakers presented the main novelties that will be introduced by the new code, which will lead to important changes related to Commercial activities, registered seats as well as restructuration and transformations.

Both Antoine Druetz and Alix Degrez gave details about the new rules and principles established by this code and that will affect to the Belgian Companies and Associations. Among the most important amendments that will be implemented it is worth noting those that will develop the current doctrinal principles and rules, to fill in the gaps of the Law, as well as the global harmonization of companies, non- profit organizations, international non-profit organizations and foundations.

In this way, the attendees had the chance to get in touch deeply with the new provisions of the Code. The importance of the topic raised many questions among the attendees to the breakfast-conference.  Druetz and Degrez answered all the raised questions and attended all those who wanted to obtain more information about the various situations previously exposed in the conference.

Definitely, the event organized with our member KOAN Law Firm helped to understand much better the regulations of this new code, which undoubtedly will play an important role in Belgium these following years.

Conference about the internationalization process of LaLiga

On June 14, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, in collaboration with LaLiga, a conference on “the internationalization process of LaLiga“. The event was attended by several representatives of both Belgian and Spanish companies, as well as European organizations, who came to know the strategies that LaLiga implements to meet its international expansion objective.

Firts of all, Andrea Oriol, delegate of LaLiga in Benelux, gave a few words of welcome to the attendees and presented the work of LaLiga and the clubs that compose the competition.

As explained, the operation of LaLiga began to change in 2013 with the arrival of Javier Tebas to the presidency, who established new guidelines to strengthen the professional football league nationally and internationally. Thanks to the policies of financial fairplay, the centralization of the sale of audiovisual rights and the fight against piracy and match-fixing it was possible to economically clean up the organization and consolidate the foundations of what it is today, the best league in the world.

The key areas of work for the growth of LaLiga at an international level are the exploration of new business models and the improvement in the knowledge and consideration of each market. Thanks to this, a greater presence and support for the operators (rights holders) and the fans from all over the world, whatever the country they are and speak the language they speak, is assured.

On the other hand, digital and communication development are a very important factors to consider: specific contents must be created for each market, propose new alternatives and carry out a global strategy that in turn has a local impact.

With all this, LaLiga has offices in 10 countries and 12 cities, but thanks to its hiring of personnel for the Global Network project, which every day studies new market opportunities and analyzes the behavior of international markets, its influence reaches today to 84 countries.

Finally, Laura Vilches, responsible for European Affairs of LaLiga, briefly explained the collaboration that LaLiga has been developing since 2015 in Brussels with the European institutions and national delegations, as well as with the representations of professionals from other entertainment industries in key areas for the growth and consolidation of it. These included the centralized sale of the audiovisual rights of their competitions by LaLiga, the fight against piracy or the new FIFA tournaments and new rules of distribution of the UEFA Champions League.

The conference was held in a participatory environment, in which attendees had the opportunity to raise their doubts to the speakers who, after answering them, gave way to networking.

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The Chamber presents its employment and entrepreneurship programs in Granada

The Secretary General of the Chamber, María Catalán, participated on June 7th and 8th in the III Youth Employment and Mobility Fair organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Granada.

During the conference, more than 400 young people had the opportunity to get information on more than 120 jobs to cover immediately in the 42 companies and institutions of the province participating in the fair.

In relation to opportunities for employability abroad, María Catalán presented the employment and entrepreneurship programs currently managed by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Among them, the programs EmpleoBeLux, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, Emprende BeLux and Reactivate.

In addition, Catalán reported on the possibilities of professional internships in Europe through the Mobility Plan of the PICE program, highlighting the active offers currently in Belgium and Luxembourg through the portal enabled to view all of them.

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Live the World Cup 2018 with the Chamber

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg and the Chambre de Commerce Belgo-Portugaise, have the pleasure of inviting their members and network of contacts to watch the first game of Spain in the World Cup of Russia 2018 against Portugal. The appointment will take place next Friday 15th at 20:00 in La Tentation, Galician center in Brussels (Rue de Laeken 28, 1000 Brussels).

The match will be broadcasted on a giant screen and during the match it will be possible to taste typical Galician products  (drinks and food not included).

If you are interested in attending, you just have to send an email to info@e-camara.com including the names and surnames of the participants indicating “Spain-Portugal match” in the subject.

Sport means networking!
We will be waiting for you!

In collaboration with:

Five Spanish companies visited Brussels during the investment activity for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector

The Oficial Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, jointly with the public agency Brussels Invest & Export (BIE), an investment activity for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector in the Brussels-Capital Region.

This activity took place during the 28th and 31st of May gathering a total of five Spanish companies:  Biomedal, Kanteron, ValGenetics, Biopolis y DCN. The different meetings organized for the companies had the objective to showcase the general features of the biopharmaceutical ecosystem and the opportunities that this region offers to foreign companies willing to stablish a subsidiary in the Belgian capital.

The companies had the opportunity to meet with the cluster lifetech.brussels which presented the main figures of the health and life science sector in the Brussels-Capital Region. The companies had also the chance to deep into the research ecosystem and the potential partnerships between companies with a strong focus on R&D and Universities thanks to the meeting carried out with the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

The five companies also visited the BLSI incubator, launched by the Catholic University of Louvain, the Technology Transfer Office of Louvain (Sopartec) and the Brussels-Capital Region. The incubator focuses on the support of companies oriented to life science research.

Finally, BIE and the Chamber provided relevant information regarding the advantages that the region offers to companies and the support scheme for foreign investment. The companies also met with different relevant actors that provide guidance on foreign investment such us BECI, Group S, Actiris and Alter Domus.

The Association of Companies and Entities of the BIO Sector of the Region of Valencia (BIOVAL) provided special support in the dissemination of this activity.

Success in the 3rd edition of the Social Networking Night

Last Thursday May 31 took place in Brussels the 3rd edition of the Social Networking Night, an activity organized by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg in the framework of its program Empleo BeLux. The main objective of this activity is to optimize the tools available in BeLux for the job search.The event took place at the BNP Paribas Fortis facilities in Brussels.

The Secretary General of the Chamber, María Catalán, thanked all the attendees, speakers and sponsor BNP Paribas Fortis, and presented the program of the event and the website Empleo BeLux.

Then the first presentation took place, in which Marisa Jiménez Martín, Director EU Affairs and Deputy Head of Office of Facebook, explained how to make a career in public policy and regulatory affairs, focusing on the interviews. In a job interview, the interviewee is analyzed according to their leadership and the opinion creation they have, in addition to the training and experience acquired.

Subsequently, Luis Planas Herrera, Policy Assistant to the Director-General – DG ENV, presented the different possibilities and options available to work for the European Union. In the European Union there is a demand for all types of profiles, but applicants must be clear about their motivations, besides knowing that 95% of the jobs are between Brussels and Luxembourg.

Among the different interventions, the attendees had the opportunity to participate in three workshops. In the first one, Marta Cela, life coach, highlighted the importance of personal values ​​when looking for a job and when doing interviews. On the other hand, networking expert Ángel Rebollo, Senior European Affairs Consultant and director of the Atrevia office, gave very useful advices to make networking and explained some case studies. Finally, Noelia Cortés advised the participants on the writing of the CV and the motivation letter when looking for a job.

Mark de Smedt, Regional Head of The Adecco Group Northern Europe, explained how the labor market is and the main profiles currently demanded, emphasizing the employment opportunities in BeLux because of the low unemployment rate.

On the other hand, María Casado, director of the Associated Center of the UNED in Brussels, highlighted the importance of continuing education and presented the different opportunities to study that has the university at distance.

This year the success story was led by Marian Durá, from EasyBabyTrip. Marian is a Spaniard who moved to Brussels and for different reasons decided to start and create her own business. Marian, underscoring the difficulties and the advantages, encouraged the attendees to undertake and pursue their objectives, since it is very satisfying to be able to make all your business ideas come true.

María Catalán also presented a new project of the Chamber called “Emprende BeLux“, which is focused on entrepreneurs. This program offers the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to promote a business idea, while the entrepreneur exchanges ideas and collaborates with other entrepreneurs.

Next, Ángela Ustarroz, Country Manager in Belgium, presented the Integral Program of Qualification and Employment (PICE) which is designed to improve the employability of young people through transnational mobility in the territory of the European Union.

Finally, Arturo Ibáñez explained the main characteristics of the Erasmus Program for Young Entrepreneurs, a European program of transnational exchanges that offers new entrepreneurs and people who want to create a business the opportunity to learn from experienced entrepreneurs who run small businesses in other participating countries, which the Chamber is a local point of contact

To finish, the attendees enjoyed a networking cocktail, in which they could interact with the speakers, the experts and other participants.

 

#NetworkingBeLux

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Collaboration of the Chamber in the b2fair of ICT Spring Europe

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has collaborated in the framework of the International b2fair matchmaking event  ICT Spring Europe, held on 15th & 16th May 2018 in Luxembourg. 80 companies registered from more than 13 different countries via different organizations and partners, such as our institution.

As an influential voice in the worldwide Tech community, the aim of ICT Spring is to encourage emulation and networking between business decisions makers, innovation managers, start-ups, researchers and venture capitalists on a European scale. The event represents an exciting array of fantastic opportunities with the participation over 5.000 key decision makers coming from 72 countries including leaders, innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, start-ups…

Picture by ICT Spring Europe

Workshop in Spanish taxes for individuals living abroad

Last 12nd of April, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, in collaboration with its member BLAW & TAX, a conference about the “Spanish Taxes for Individuals Living Abroad”. The event gathered representatives of different Spanish and Belgian companies, members of the Chamber, representatives of European Institutions and Spanish regional delegations.

The conference was run by Inmaculada Pineda, partner of BLAW & TAX, a firm specialized in international taxation and legal-tax consulting at national and international scope related to corporate aspects.

The conference focused on two main points: fiscal residency and its implications, regarding the taxation and fiscal benefits provided by the Spanish domestic legislation.

First, the speaker presented the alternative rules that determine that the tax residency is located in Spain. The right identification of the fiscal residency is fundamental when determining the tax obligations of the natural persons.

Thus, the Spanish regulation incorporates the criteria of residence, location of economic interests and the presumption of tax residency in case the spouse or the children are tax residents in Spain.

Inmaculada Pineda made a parenthesis to explain carefully the well-known model 720 which establishes the informative obligations on the assets located in the Spanish territory. This declaration must be about three blocks: the accounts in financial institutions, the accounts in financial assets in general and real right on real estate.

Then, Inmaculada Pineda referred to the situation of tax havens and the rule of “tax quarantine”, according to which the person continues to pay taxes in Spain during the transfer year and the following four years.

Afterwards, the conference focused on the OECD Conventions and, especially, on those established with the aim of avoiding double taxation. These conventions are of great importance because they have primacy over the Spanish domestic regulations.

In addition, particular cases were addressed on the maintenance and the change of residence and its related obligations.

Then, Pineda explained the tax benefits incorporated in the Spanish regulation. These are mainly developed in the articles 7.p) of the Spanish Income Tax (LIRPF) and 9 of the Spanish Income Tax Regulations (RIRPF). She emphasized the fact that they are incompatible with one another and that it is usually necessary to analyze each case to be able to choose correctly between the two options.

Among the attendees, this situation raised many questions about the various situations in which these exemptions might be eligible. Inmaculada Pineda answered all the raised questions and attended all those who wanted to obtain more information about the various situations previously exposed in the conference.

Definitely, the event organized with our member BLAW & TAX was a great success and helped to understand much better the tax situation in Spain for people who are displaced abroad.

Success of the 2nd Workshop on the VAT on Intra-Community and E-commerce Operations

On March 15th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with its member Spanish VAT Services, organized a conference about the “VAT on intra- community and e-commerce operations”. The event gathered representatives of different Spanish and Belgian companies, members of the Chamber, representatives of European Institutions and Spanish regional delegations.

The speaker of the conference was Fernando Matesanz, Managing Director of Spanish VAT Services and member of the International VAT Association.

For the second year in a row, Fernando took part in this conference, and once again the attendees showed a lot of interest. This was evidenced by the great number of questions that were raised during the conference.

The application of VAT is a key factor for companies acting at an intra-community level  when defining their profit margin. Nevertheless, not all the companies are aware of the exemptions and tax advantages available to them within the EU.

First, Fernando Matesanz began his speech by explaining the current situation of the intra-community trading operations, which cannot be considered as exportations. Additionally, he exposed how the intra supplies of goods are VAT exempted, provided that they meet some requirements, such as having a VAT number (included in the VIES database) and being able to prove the transport of the goods outside the supplier’s country.

Sometimes, the deadline for getting this number changes between countries. This have put some recent created companies in difficulty in terms of trading within Europe.

Moreover, it is not always easy to prove both requirements, which have led to some controversies that were solved by the European Court of Justice.

Nowadays, we find different harmonisation proposals that aim to clarify the criteria to has to be followed when many chain transactions are done.

On the other hand, the speaker highlighted the usefulness of the M.O.S.S (Mino One Stop Shops), that aims to avoid companies to pay a different VAT within each country they operate. According to this system, the Company pays taxes to its National Authority, which is in charge of satisfying the debts acquired with the other EU country’s authorities. However, there are some countries which have a bigger commercial network than others, which led some Member States to reject this proposal.

Subsequently, Matesanz referred to the supply of services. The taxation for these exchanges is set out in article 44 of the European VAT Directive. According to this article, “the place of supplies of services to a taxable person acting as such shall be the place where that person has established his business”. But still, a supplier of a service must always check if the recipient of the service is a taxable person, if it is acting like one and the place where it is established. 

This point gave rise to a discussion among the attendees, who were deeply involved in the debate. Sometimes, the companies have headquarters in one country, but they also have some fixed establishments in other countries, that  are, in fact, the beneficiaries of the service. Therefore, they should be the ones receiving the invoice of the taxations.

Then, Matesanz briefly mentioned the characteristics of non-EU trade, that is the direct and indirect exportations.

To conclude, the speaker underlined the importance of e-commerce nowadays, given the high number of transactions that are carried out through the Internet daily. For this reason, he spent some time to differentiate  B2B e-commerce goods transactions (which work in the same way as EU supply of goods) from B2C goods transactions, more typical of Internet sales, in which companies must take  into account the VAT of all the countries included in the transaction.

At the end of the conference, the participants were able to openly raise their questions.

Again, this conference held together with our partners of Spanish VAT Services was a success and met the expectations of those present. From the Chamber, we hope to count on their presence in future editions.

In collaboration with:

Gastronomic Dinner with the Chef Marcos Morán in Luxembourg

Last 28th of February, the prestigious Cercle Munster of Luxembourg organized a gastronomic dinner prepared by the chef Marcos Morán with the participation of Hispania and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg. This is the first event organized in this prestigious Luxembourgish private club that promotes Spanish gastronomy for the last few years.

The chef from Asturias delighted the 70 and more participants with an exceptionally gastronomic Spanish tasting menu. Among the participants, the ambassador of Spain in Luxembourg, members of the Chamber, representatives of European institutions, head directors of global companies and Luxembourgish members of the Cercle Munster were present.

The event is part of a programme called “Hispania around the world”. It consists of a series of trips during the year which gives the opportunity to know better the Spanish gastronomy and products in famous places.

About Marcos Morán:

Marcos Morán is the gastronomic director of Hispania in Brussels and London. He is also the chef and the property owner of the restaurant Casa Gerardo in Asturias, Spain.

Mr Morán is the fifth generation of professional chef in charge of Casa Gerardo; the restaurant which celebrates its 125th birthday and which was awarded a Michelin star and “Tres Soles” by Repsol Guide.

In 2008, Mr Móran was awarded with the prize of “Chef of the Year 2008”. During the principal gastronomic congresses in the world, he is a very scrupulous representative of Spain. In 2010, he received the “Chef Millesimé” award for the most promising Spanish chef. In 2016, he was honoured with the award “Chef de l’Avenir” by the International Academy of Gastronomy which awards talented young chefs in Europe.

The restaurant Hispania received important prizes such as “Alimentos de España” in 2014 awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment and a prize awarded by the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy for the restaurant, with its chef Marcos Morán, which best promotes de Spanish gastronomy out of Spain.

 

 

 

 

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