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The EU baseline, and what Belgium adds
The e-commerce directive (2000/31, article 5) sets the baseline in every EU country: a business offering anything online must make easily, directly and permanently available its name, geographic address, email, the trade register it is in with its number, its VAT number, the supervisory authority if it needs a licence, and for regulated professions its professional title and body. Each member state wrote that into its own law. Belgium did so in its Code of Economic Law, articles III.74 and XII.6, and article III.25 adds the enterprise number on every document a business sends, emails included. The Belgian enterprise number has ten digits, written as 0123.456.789.
Belgium checks it: the FPS Economy inspects business websites and social media pages, and in one large check more than one in three businesses fell short. The sanction runs from 156 to 30,000 euro, and in a company whoever signs a document without the required details can become jointly liable for the obligations in it. The usual place on a site is the footer of every page, plus a legal information or contact page. Your privacy policy names your company details too, as the controller; whether you also need a disclaimer is in do I need a website disclaimer. Germany asks for its own legal notice; see Impressum requirements and our Impressum generator.
Every detail in its place
Fifteen minutes in your footer, against a Belgian sanction of 156 to 30,000 euro.
Webshops and invoices
Selling online to EU consumers adds consumer law: prices with VAT, delivery costs, payment methods and the right of withdrawal, and since June 2026 the withdrawal button in your checkout. Check the European Accessibility Act website requirements too: a buyer who cannot find your details hesitates, and one who cannot use your checkout does not buy.
Invoicing Belgian businesses? Your enterprise number sits inside your Peppol address as 0208 plus the number; see is Peppol mandatory in Belgium and check an address with the Peppol check. Belgian invoices also carry your bank account and, ideally, a Belgian structured communication your bank recognises. Our quote template puts every detail where it belongs.
What getting it right takes
| What you do | Time |
|---|---|
| Complete the footer with name, address and numbers | 15 minutes |
| Create a legal information page | 30 minutes |
| A fixed email signature, per person | 15 minutes |
| Complete company pages on social media, per channel | 15 minutes |
An hour or two of work, against a Belgian sanction that can bring joint liability in a company. On the sites we built for K&A Law and FK Boekhouding, the details sit in the same place in four languages, professional information of a lawyer and a registered accountant included.