In a press release of 15 May 2009, it was announced that the Belgian Council of Ministers decided to bring the Belgian participation exemption in line with the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Cobelfret (C-138/07).
In that case, the ECJ held that the first indent of Art. 4(1) of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive 90/535/EEC (Directive) must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State which provides that dividends received by a parent company …