PFAS: a complaint lodged by ClientEarth with the ECSR to “force Belgium to take radical measures”

"By lodging a complaint with the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) over Belgium’s failure to tackle PFAS, our aim is to rely on a mechanism that can compel a state to take radical measures to reduce their impact", said Hélène Duguy, a lawyer at ClientEarth, to News Tank on 13 July 2026.

Indeed, ClientEarth has opted for this “complementary and strategic” complaint, rather than bringing a case at national level, which in most cases aims to “take an industrial player to court to establish their liability and thus secure compensation for the damage caused”, explains Hélène Duguy.

Through this complaint to the ECSR, ClientEarth’s main demand is to “restrict the use of PFAS, except for essential uses and where no alternative is available, without waiting for European regulations to…