2024 was marked by uncertainty and upheaval, with tensions rising around Europe and new challenges emerging within the Union. At the heart of this, Belgium has been rocked by elections that left the country without a government to act on policy decisions.
2025 will be a pivotal year for Europe as it seeks stability and security in a changing global order. The Brussels Times has asked industry experts what developments they foresee and how life in Belgium will be affected.
Laura Clays is spokesperson for consumer protection organisation Test Achats. She is regularly cited in Belgian media.
What do you think is the biggest challenge for consumer rights in 2025?
The growing emphasis on sustainability brings uncertainties for many consumers. Our surveys show many people are willing to think more about their patterns of consumption but when it comes to making the sustainable choice (in food, in transport, in heating, for their homes...), this is often much harder.
We are pushed towards products that are cheaper, widely available, and of a decent quality. But locally produced, healthy, organic food is usually more expensive than unhealthy food that is imported. Electricity is more expensive and more heavily taxed than gas, making heat pumps and electric cars too expensive for many consumers. This undermines the sustainable transition.
Looking ahead to 2027, fossil fuels will become much more expensive as the ETS2 rules will come into force in the EU, imposing additional costs on energy sources that emit more CO2. Taxes on energy will take into account greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.
For most Belgian consumers, this will increase energy bills as the vast majority still heat with natural gas. To encourage the sustainable transition for heating, it is crucial to reduce taxes on electricity and help vulnerable households.
Digitisation is another area to watch, as more (public) services transition whilst 40% of Belgians are digitally vulnerable. This creates inequality in access to services, including for those who do not have a smartphone or who aren't comfortable doing business online.
Will things get better in this respect or worse?
Political awareness is growing that sustainability cannot be a luxury, especially not when purchasing power is squeezed. For instance, the Flemish Minister of Energy and Housing Melissa Depraetere recently said she will work on policies to reduce the cost of electricity so that heat pumps and electric cars become more accessible.
Much more needs to be done when it comes to digitisation. More services are digitising and there are now supermarkets that offer certain discounts only to people who have the app. Ryanair announced it will soon only allow boarding passes on its app.
More bank branches and ATMs are closing, so people who prefer to pay cash and talk to a bank agent must travel further. On top of this, appointments first be booked online. The pendulum is swinging too far towards digitalisation.
How will households be affected?
The political will to consume more sustainably must now be translated into concrete laws and regulations. This need not take years; there are already many initiatives at the European level that we need to implement.
For instance, there will be rules about whether a company can present itself as "green" or "sustainable". That way, we can counter greenwashing, where a product is presented as ‘ecological’ but actually is not at all.
As for digitalisation, we fear that there will be a bigger gap between families who navigate online and can fully enjoy the benefits of this, and those who cannot. Test Achats will continue to highlight the challenges for vulnerable, non-digital consumers.
What are the biggest opportunities/developments to keep an eye on?
2025 should be the year when consumers will repair many more devices instead of buying a new one. Indeed, this year the European Parliament approved the Right to Repair directive, which requires manufacturers to repair defective household appliances, such as washing machines, hoovers and smartphones, even after the legal guarantee, for a reasonable price and within a reasonable time.
From May, Belgium will introduce a repairability index on many household appliances, allowing consumers to see at the time of purchase how easily their appliance can be repaired.
Both measures should ensure that manufacturers make products which are easier to repair and that consumers will opt for repair sooner. This would be a big step forward in reducing electronic waste.
What needs to be improved most in Belgium when it comes to consumer rights?
The banking sector could do with a firm push. Banks have a monopoly on our money and that comes with a social role. Every customer should be able to manage, withdraw and use their money easily.
Today, that has become more difficult for many people: there are fewer bank branches, fewer ATMs, fewer opportunities to just pop in to your bank agent. We will continue to push banks to be accessible to all in 2025.
There is also the problem of excessively low savings rates. Loyal savers – especially in the big banks – are not getting competitive interest rates on their accounts. In September, when the 22 billion from the famous state note was released, it seemed for a while that competition was back on the agenda. Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case.
The high interest rates at the time applied only temporarily (maximum 13 months) and only to "fresh" money that was not previously in that savings account. For the vast majority of Belgians' savings, the return remained far below inflation.
Test Achats wants to boost competition and make it easier for consumers to switch banks. To do so, banks should communicate more transparently about their rates. For example, by offering one unique savings rate instead of the complicated addition of fidelity and basic premium. The account number should also become transferable and a minimum interest rate should be introduced.
