Belgium has passed a ‘once only’ law on May 5th 2014 which obligates public authorities to reuse data instead of asking citizens and companies to share data more than once. Certain public authorities have direct access to the “sources authentiques”, a register that holds all the primary and basic data of a natural or legal entity. The most common “sources autheniques” are the national registry, the BCE ('Banque Carrefour de la Sécurité Sociale') and the BCSS ('Banque Carrefour des Entreprises'). Public organizations that do not have direct access to these registries need to get an authorization of the citizen or enterprise.

Each citizen receives a number from the national registry which functions as the key to all necessary data. Citizens are responsible for keeping this original data up to date. 

Furthermore, the law gives electronic forms the same value as filed paperwork. 

The law had to be enforced by January 1st, 2016. 

For more information: 

• Fedict website (Federal Public Service Information and Communication Technology of Belgium) on once-only