Protecting borrowers through information and advice: the Belgian consumer credit act

The Consumer Credit Directive requires the creditor or the credit intermediary on the one hand to provide certain information and adequate explanations to consumers before they are bound by a consumer credit agreement and on the other hand to assess the consumer’s creditworthiness before the conclusion of the credit agreement. The aim of this paper is to discuss the transposition of the European Consumer Credit Directive into Belgian legislation. We will analyze the pre-contractual obligations – and their sanctions in case of violation - as applied by the courts/in legal practice. Also, we will examine whether the Belgian Act is compatible with the Consumer Credit Directive, the latter being based on the principle of targeted full harmonization