TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE AND INFORMATION REQUIRED BY LAW

These terms and conditions of use apply to the BEP websites: www.bep.be; www.bep-developpement-territorial.be; www.bep-entreprises.be; www.bep-environnement.be; www.invest-in-namur.be; and www.bep-europe-direct.be (hereinafter referred to as ‘the website’ or ‘the site’).

Please read these terms and conditions carefully before visiting the website. By using the website, you agree to the BEP terms and conditions of use with regard to respect for privacy. If you do not accept these terms and conditions of use with regard to respect for privacy (see below), please do not use this website.

1/ LEGAL INFORMATION

This website has been created by the company Hungry Minds and is run by the BEP – Avenue Sergent Vrithoff 2, B-5000 Namur – Tel. +32 (0)81/71 71 71 – Fax +32 (0)81/71 71 00 – email internet@bep.be. Publication Manager: Renaud DEGUELDRE, General Manager.

2/ ACCESS TO SERVICES

2.1. ACCESSIBILITY

The BEP endeavours, as far as is possible, to ensure that the Services remain accessible 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

The BEP reserves the possibility of interrupting, temporarily suspending or modifying without prior warning access to all or part of the Services in order to carry out maintenance, upgrade or for any other reason, in particular technical, without these manoeuvres giving rise to the right to any obligation or compensation.

2.2. OBLIGATIONS OF THE USER

By accessing, visiting or using the Services, the User guarantees and certifies that he:

  • has the legal capacity to enter into this contractual relationship;
  • has read and approved these general terms and conditions of use and the Privacy Charter.

2.3. PROHIBITION OF ILLEGAL OR UNLAWFUL USE

The User is informed that all the laws and regulations in force apply on the internet.

The User certifies that he will not use the Services for purposes that are illegal or prohibited by the law or by these general terms and conditions of use.

Without this list being exhaustive, the User may not, under any circumstances:

  • intercept or attempt to intercept email messages or any other private communication which are not intended for him;
  • employ means the consequence of which may be to limit the peaceable use of the Services by a third party;
  • send email messages to other internet users, for any reason other than individual communication and in particular, use the Services as an instrument of mass communication in order to pass on a general message unsolicited by the addressees;
  • falsely claim to be an employee, agent or official of the BEP;
  • use all or part of the data provided and collected on the Services for any commercial purpose whatsoever.

Depending on his state of residence, the User may also be subject to special regulations which he undertakes to know and observe.

3/ PROTECTION OF INTELLECTION RIGHTS RELATING TO THE SERVICES AND THEIR CONTENT

All rights relating to the content and architecture of these Services, and in particular but not exclusively to the photographs, texts, logos, layout, drawings, slogans, trade names and other elements of these Services are reserved.

They are protected by the national and international legislative and statutory texts, which must imperatively be observed by each visitor to the Services.

The BEP grants the User only a free, personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable right to access and use the Services, subject to compliance with these terms and conditions of use.

The User is therefore authorised to use the content of the Services for his personal information, as a source of information or data collection.

Subject to the exceptions provided for by law, the User will refrain, without this list being exhaustive, from: modifying, copying, distributing, transmitting, circulating, publishing, granting under licence, transferring, selling, reproducing or having reproduced all or part of the information, software, product or service obtained from the Services, temporarily or definitively, known or unknown, on any medium, without the prior written consent of the BEP. Failure to comply with this prohibition constitutes forgery likely to incur the civil and criminal liability of the forger.

Hypertext links to the Services are tolerated provided that they are not accompanied by any denigrating or defamatory remarks about the Services.

4/ GUARANTEE AND LIABILITY

The Services and their content are provided ‘as they stand’, ‘as are’ and without any express or tacit guarantee regarding the conditions of their use and/or their availability.

4.1. QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION AND THE CONTENT

The BEP took the greatest possible care when collecting the data and drafting the texts of the Services.

The BEP is, however, bound only by a best-effort undertaking; it does not bear any performance obligation of any kind whatsoever.In general terms, the BEP does not guarantee the completeness, exhaustiveness, accuracy, legitimacy, reliability or availability of the content of the information and the services provided on the Services. It will do everything possible to offer quality content to users, but cannot under any circumstances accept any liability whatsoever for any consequences whatsoever resulting in particular from the use of the Services by the users or resulting from information provided via the Services.

4.2. SECURITY – ACCESS

The BEP endeavours reasonably and diligently to maintain the security and operational integrity of the Services by adopting security measures appropriate for the nature of the data and the risks presented by its activity. However, many factors beyond the control of the BEP may interfere with the functioning of the Services. Consequently, the BEP does not guarantee constant, uninterrupted or secure access to the Services. Correlatively, the BEP cannot, under any circumstances, be liable for an interruption in access to the Services and the consequences which may result from this.

The BEP may never be held liable for any damage (direct or indirect) or any temporary or permanent incident which may be caused to the data or computing equipment of the User when accessing the Services or in general when transmitting files or software that make up the Services on his receiving device. In particular, the BEP is not liable for any transmission of a virus via the Services.

The BEP is not liable for the fraudulent use of its means of circulation and declines all liability in the event of intrusion into its computing systems and data theft, it being understood that the BEP implements useful means to prevent such unlawful intrusions.

4.3. UPDATES

Despite the efforts made to ensure that the information and/or the documents on the Services are accurate, BEP declines all liability of any sort whatsoever in the event of the inaccuracy of or the failure to update information and/or a document found on the Services.

4.4. HARM

Within the legal limits set, the BEP is not held liable for harm suffered by the User linked to a case of force majeure or linked to any commercial loss, loss of customers, loss of brand image, commercial disruption or other special, fortuitous or indirect harm arising from or related to the Services or these general terms and conditions of use.

5/ HYPERLINKS

The BEP can refer to other websites over which it does not exercise any technical or content control. The existence of a hypertext link to another website does not constitute validation of this website or its content.

The BEP cannot therefore offer any guarantee as to the exhaustive or accurate nature of the content of these third websites or as to their availability.

The BEP declines all liability for direct or indirect harm resulting from the consultation or use of third websites to which the Services refer or information published on these third websites. It also declines all liability regarding the processing of personal data on these third websites.

The BEP invites the User to read the general terms and conditions and the privacy policies of these third websites.

6/ VARIOUS PROVISIONS

6.1. MODIFICATIONS OF THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

The general terms and conditions of use can be modified at any time by the BEP, without prior notice, in line with modifications made to the Services, developments in the legislation or on any other legitimate grounds.In the specific case of the need to adapt the Services to modifications in the legislation, the BEP will do its utmost to make these adaptations as quickly as possible. During this period, the User acknowledges that the BEP may not be held liable for any temporary lack of compliance.The new general terms and conditions of use are put on line, indicating the date of the update and are applicable immediately to all Users.

The version of the general terms and conditions of use enforceable between the parties is permanently available on the Services.

The User undertakes to remain informed of these modifications by regularly consulting the Services page bearing the general terms and conditions of use.

6.2. AGREEMENT ON PROOF

The BEP and the User agree that they may exchange information necessary for the Services electronically. All electronic communication between the parties is presumed to have the same probative value as a written document on paper.

A printed version of the general terms and conditions of use and of any warning message issued in electronic form will be accepted in all legal or administrative proceedings linked to this contractual relationship, in the same way and under the same conditions as other documents and registers and commercial deeds created and kept in printed form.

6.3. SEVERABILITY

Should one or more of the clauses of the general terms and conditions of use be declared null and void, invalid, illegal or inapplicable pursuant to the applicable law, in whole or in part, this situation would not affect the validity of the remaining clauses. The clause that is null and void, invalid, illegal or inapplicable will be replaced retroactively by a valid and applicable clause, the content of which is as close as possible to that of the original clause.

6.4. ENTIRETY OF THE AGREEMENTS

These general terms and conditions of use and the Privacy Charter constitute the entirety of the agreements between the User and the BEP concerning access to and use of the Services and cancel and replace all previous communications, quotations, proposals or correspondence, whether verbal or written, relating to the Services between the User and the BEP.

6.5. FORCE MAJEURE

Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, no party will be held liable for the delay in the fulfilment or non-fulfilment of its obligations resulting from events of force majeure (such as strike, war, earthquake, any kind of cataclysm, direct or indirect effects of explosion, fire, heat release, flood or any other exterior, unforeseeable, irresistible case of force majeure, as this concept is defined in Belgian law).

6.6. RELATIONSHIPS

These general terms and conditions of use may not under any circumstances be considered to be a partnership, a joint venture or any other association between the parties and no party may be considered to be the agent or employee of the other. The relationship that the BEP maintains with the Users is that of an independent contracting party.In the event of a dispute between the Users of the Services or between the Users and a third party, the BEP does not have any obligation to become involved. The User releases the BEP, its directors, employees and other members from any action, damages of any sort whatsoever, known or unknown, relating to such conflicts to which he is linked.

6.7. NOTIFICATION

Any communication or notification to the User will be valid if it is sent to the electronic address which he has given, even if this is no longer valid.

6.8. APPLICABLE LAW AND COMPETENT COURTS

The general terms and conditions of use are governed by and interpreted in accordance with Belgian law.Any dispute relating to the use of the Services and to the validity, interpretation, fulfilment or non-fulfilment of these general terms and conditions of use will fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Belgian courts in the legal district of Namur, for all types of proceedings.Where appropriate, the choice of the Belgian law applicable and the competent Belgian courts, thus stipulated, is without prejudice to the application in respect of the User of the mandatory provisions of the law of the Member State of the European Union in which the User is resident if these prove to provide greater protection for him than the Belgian provisions or the competence of another court which may be designated by the applicable EU Law.