The Belgian APD: an authority active on AI
The Belgian Data Protection Authority has established itself as one of the most active supervisory authorities in Europe on questions of AI and profiling. Its decisions on advertising profiling (the IAB Europe case), cookies and facial recognition have had repercussions at European level. Belgian businesses, and European organisations with operations in Belgium, need to take this active doctrine into account in their AI compliance programme.
The APD has particularly targeted: behavioural profiling for advertising purposes, systems that score individuals, the use of AI in recruitment processes, and biometric surveillance systems. Its decisions form a practical reference framework that goes beyond the regulatory texts themselves.
Brussels: European capital, heightened obligations
Organisations based in Brussels that work with the European institutions face particularly high AI compliance expectations. The EU institutions are themselves subject to Regulation 2018/1725 (the equivalent of the GDPR for EU institutions) and to the EU AI Act, and they expect equivalent standards from their contractors and partners. For businesses under contract with the Commission, the Parliament or the Council, AI governance is no longer optional.
