Judicial reorganisation in Belgium: 2026 guide

Key takeaways

• The Law of 7 June 2023, in force since 1 September 2023, comprehensively reformed Belgian insolvency law through Book XX of the Code of Economic Law.
• A private and confidential PRJ now exists: no publication in the Moniteur belge, and the procedure can be opened by a creditor or a shareholder.
• Large companies (more than 250 employees, turnover exceeding €40 million or balance sheet exceeding €20 million) are subject to class-based creditor voting.
• A pre-pack procedure allows discreet preparation of an asset transfer or relaunch before formal bankruptcy proceedings open.

Judicial reorganisation in Belgium (PRJ) is the central mechanism of insolvency law for companies seeking to restructure rather than declare bankruptcy. The Law of 7 June 2023, in force since 1 September 2023, substantially reformed Book XX of the Code of Economic Law to transpose EU Directive 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks. The result is a more flexible framework, with new confidential options, rules tailored to company size, and new tools to prepare an asset transfer. This guide sets out what this renewed framework means in practice for a Belgian company director or manager in 2026.

What is the judicial reorganisation procedure?

A PRJ is a court procedure opened before the enterprise court, aimed at preserving, under judicial supervision, the continuity of all or part of a company in difficulty or its activities. It is not reserved for large organisations: any enterprise under the Code of Economic Law can benefit from it, regardless of its legal form (SRL/BV, SA/NV, ASBL/vzw, sole trader, or a foreign legal entity with an establishment in Belgium).

To obtain the opening of a PRJ, the debtor must demonstrate that the continuity of all or part of their business or activities is threatened in the short or medium term. The application is filed with the clerk's office of the competent enterprise court, signed by the debtor or their counsel. The court then appoints a delegated judge to monitor the procedure and rules on the opening within ten days of the report by that judge.

The three forms of judicial reorganisation

Book XX offers three distinct procedures, each suited to a different situation.

1. 1

   Amicable agreement under judicial supervision

   Confidential

   The debtor negotiates a restructuring agreement with at least one creditor. Since 1 September 2023, a single creditor is sufficient (previously a minimum of two was required). The court supervises the negotiation and approves the agreement, giving it enforceable status. This route is fast and relatively straightforward in formal terms.

2. 2

   Collective plan (reorganisation plan)

   Moratorium 4 to 12 months

   The debtor submits a reorganisation plan to all their creditors. If the required majorities are reached within the deadlines and the court approves the plan, all affected debts are restructured according to its terms. The moratorium suspends individual enforcement actions for the duration of the procedure.

3. 3

   Judicial transfer of activities

   Judicial

   When the continuity of the entity itself is no longer viable, the court orders the transfer of all or part of the activities to a third party, under the supervision of a court-appointed insolvency practitioner. Since 1 January 2024, this procedure systematically leads to bankruptcy or judicial dissolution of the transferring entity.

Public PRJ or private PRJ: the key differences

One of the major innovations of the Law of 7 June 2023 is the creation of a private, fully confidential PRJ. It supplements, rather than replaces, the traditional public PRJ.

	Public PRJ	Private PRJ
Publication in the Moniteur belge
Stay on enforcement actions	4 to 12 months	Granted by the court, no fixed statutory duration
Who can initiate the procedure	The debtor only	The debtor, a creditor or a shareholder
Public access to the file
Best suited when	Maximum protection, urgent situation	Discreet restructuring, reputation protection

The private PRJ offers a major practical advantage for companies concerned about their commercial reputation. The absence of publication in the Moniteur belge protects relationships with clients, suppliers and financial partners during the restructuring period. In return, the scope of protection is defined on a case-by-case basis with the court, without the standardised framework of the public PRJ.

Large companies: class-based creditor voting

For large companies, the 2023 reform introduces a fundamentally different voting system, inspired by the Chapter 11 model that Directive 2019/1023 generalised across Europe.

A large company is one that exceeds at least one of these three thresholds for two consecutive financial years (linked entities are assessed collectively). Creditors are divided into separate classes: at a minimum, one class for extraordinary creditors (secured) and one for ordinary creditors (unsecured). Each class votes separately and the plan must secure 50 % of claims in principal and interest within each class to be adopted.

If a class votes against the plan but the other statutory conditions are met, including the best-interest test (dissenting creditors must not end up in a worse position than in a liquidation scenario), the court may nonetheless approve the plan. This mechanism, known as cross-class cram-down, prevents a minority of creditors from blocking a viable restructuring. Small companies do not fall under this regime by default, but can opt into it voluntarily.

Preparing for bankruptcy in advance: the pre-pack

The Law of 7 June 2023 introduced the pre-pack mechanism into Belgian law. This confidential procedure allows a company to prepare, even before the formal opening of bankruptcy, a transfer or relaunch of its activities with the assistance of an insolvency practitioner appointed by the court.

The preparation takes place away from creditors and the public eye. The aim is twofold: to preserve asset value by avoiding the deterioration associated with open insolvency proceedings, and to protect jobs by organising business continuity in advance. Once bankruptcy is formally declared, the transfer can be executed immediately, since the bulk of the negotiation has already taken place. This mechanism addresses a longstanding criticism of Belgian insolvency law, namely that open proceedings too often destroyed the value of businesses before a buyer was identified.

Is your company going through a difficult period?

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Further reading

The PRJ sits within a broader framework of rules governing the life and end of Belgian companies. Some complementary reading:

• Dissolution and liquidation of an SRL in Belgium : when continuity is no longer feasible, how to close down by the book.
• Cross-border mobility of companies in Belgium : registered office transfer or change of legal form as an option in certain restructuring contexts.
• Corporate tax in Belgium : tax obligations persist during a PRJ, and knowing their scope avoids additional complications.