BRUSSELS — Companies proven to have committed the same violation twice will be closed for ten years, Belgian Minister of Justice Laurette Onkelinx said Thursday, De Morgen writes.

The draft law defining penalties for companies convicted for a variety of crimes is significantly different from the previous one passed in 1999. Minister Onkelinx will present the draft law in the Parliament shortly.

The Belgian Entrepreneurs Union (Het Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, VBO) said they were shocked at the fact that Onkelinx wanted to present the draft law in the Parliament without first commissioning the necessary research first.

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news