Belgium had not been confirmed as having completed full federal transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/970 by 3 October 2026 in the official material reviewed for this page. Belgium already has long-standing equal-pay rules and strong sectoral collective-bargaining structures, including Collective Agreement No. 25. The federal employment administration is also running the BE-MAGIC project from 2025 to 2027 to support implementation of Article 4(2), especially gender-neutral job evaluation and classification. Official BE-MAGIC analysis states that Belgian law already protects equal pay but still requires adaptations to give full effect to the Directive.
Jurisdiction: Belgium
Belgium Starts From an Established Equal-Pay Framework
Belgium is not implementing the Directive onto an empty legal landscape. The principle of equal pay for men and women has long been reflected in Belgian law and collective agreements. Collective Agreement No. 25 is particularly important because it addresses equal remuneration and requires job classification systems to avoid sex discrimination. Sectoral bargaining and job classification also play a major role in Belgian wage formation. This existing structure can support Directive implementation, but it does not remove the need to transpose the Directive's newer transparency, information, reporting and enforcement mechanisms.
Official Belgian Analysis Still Identifies Required Adaptations
The Belgian federal employment administration's BE-MAGIC legal and technical analysis explains that equal pay for equal work or work of equal value is already embedded in Belgian and EU law. However, it also concludes that legal adaptations are needed to give full effect to Article 4 and the wider Directive framework. That is an important distinction. Existing Belgian protections reduce the amount of conceptual change required, but they should not be presented as complete transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/970 unless and until the relevant federal and other competent authorities enact the necessary measures.
BE-MAGIC Supports Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation
BE-MAGIC, short for Belgium - Modernisation and Adaptation of Gender-neutral Instruments of Classification, is a 2025-2027 project led through the federal employment administration with EU co-funding. It focuses on implementing Article 4(2), which requires Member States to make tools or methodologies for objective gender-neutral job evaluation readily available. The project analyses sectoral pay structures and job-evaluation systems and develops practical tools for social partners. Employers should treat BE-MAGIC as an implementation support mechanism and methodological resource, not as the legislation that transposes the entire Directive.
Belgium's Sectoral Structure Makes Classification Especially Important
Many Belgian pay structures are influenced by sectoral collective agreements and classification systems. That makes the Directive's work-of-equal-value rules especially relevant because weaknesses in a classification framework can affect large groups of workers. Employers and social partners should review whether job-evaluation criteria are genuinely gender neutral, whether soft skills are undervalued and whether historical classifications remain defensible. The Directive's transparency rights may expose structural weaknesses that were previously difficult for workers to identify, so improving classification quality is both a compliance and risk-management priority.
Transposition May Involve More Than Federal Employment Law
Belgium's constitutional and institutional structure means that implementation can involve different competent authorities depending on the subject matter and workforce. Official Belgian analysis has noted that transposition measures may not all sit in one federal instrument. Employers should therefore avoid searching for a single national law and assuming that it represents the entire implementation package. Federal legislation, community measures, collective agreements, enforcement rules and implementing guidance can all be relevant. A country implementation tracker should record which authority issued each measure and which workers or employers it covers.
What Belgian Employers Should Monitor
Belgian employers should monitor federal transposition legislation, any measures adopted by other competent authorities, changes to collective agreements, BE-MAGIC tools and official guidance on reporting and employee information rights. In parallel, employers can prepare by reviewing job classification, documenting objective pay criteria, separating basic and variable pay data, and mapping how worker information requests would be handled. Because official implementation work remained active as of 3 October 2026, this page should be updated promptly when definitive transposition measures are published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Belgium fully transposed the EU Pay Transparency Directive?
Full federal transposition was not confirmed in the official sources reviewed for this page as of 3 October 2026.
What is BE-MAGIC?
BE-MAGIC is a Belgian federal employment project running from 2025 to 2027 to support gender-neutral job evaluation and classification and implementation of Article 4(2) of the Directive.
Does Belgium already have equal-pay rules?
Yes. Belgium has long-standing equal-pay protections and collective agreements, including Collective Agreement No. 25, but official Belgian analysis says further adaptations are needed for full Directive implementation.
Related Guides
Official Sources
Requirements and practices differ by jurisdiction and organisation. Check current local law, official guidance and professional advice for a specific situation.