In its ruling of 18 June 2026 (No. 73/2026), the Belgian Constitutional Court held that Articles 51/5, 51/8, 51/10, 57/1, § 3, first paragraph, 57/5ter, § 1, 57/6/7, § 4, first paragraph, and 57/24, first paragraph, of the Aliens Act, constitute a breach of Article 22 of the Constitution, read in conjunction with Article 6(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in so far as they permit a personal interview to be conducted by videoconference and do not mention what metadata are being used and for what purposes, do not specify which categories of persons have access to the metadata, and do not provide for a data retention period.
However, the CGRS concurs with the Court’s interpretation that the aforementioned articles must be interpreted as not permitting personal interviews to take place via videoconference, in which case there is no breach of Article 22 of the Constitution, read in conjunction with Article 6(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Since the coming into force of the Act of 16 June 2026 amending the Aliens Act and implementing the European Union’s Migration and Asylum Pact, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 19 June 2026, the legal basis for applications submitted before 12 June 2026 is article 57/5sexies of the Aliens Act. For applications submitted as from 12 June 2026, the legal basis is Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 in conjunction with Article 57/5sexies, §§ 2–4 (see new Article 57/11/1, §2 of the Aliens Act), which came into force on 12 June 2026. Furthermore, there is an explicit delegation of powers to the King to further elaborate certain procedures, as was done in the Royal Decree of 11 July 2003.
Moreover, the CGRS has consistently taken the necessary measures in relation to data processing, and these are explained in the ‘privacy statement for personal interviews via videoconference’, which, in accordance with the GDPR, is always provided to the applicant prior to each personal interview. Consequently, the CGRS complies with the data processing procedures and the essential elements established by the Court in its ruling.