Regulatory reset: Belgian Market Court creates more clarity for TCF

The Belgian Market Court has reset a key chapter in the long-running regulatory debate around the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework. By annulling elements of the Belgian Data Protection Authority’s (APD) prior decision, the court clarified IAB Europe’s role in relation to TCF and narrowed the scope of responsibility tied to TC strings.

This delivers a clear win for anyone navigating digital consent and privacy compliance. Industry teams can move forward with a clearer playbook, and consent programs can stay agile and compliant.

For publishers, advertisers, and vendors, this ruling reduces the guesswork and uncertainty that has lingered for years. It provides clearer boundaries around accountability and reinforces the role of technical standards like TCF in supporting GDPR-compliant consent operations. In practical terms, teams relying on TCF now have a more stable foundation to operate, adapt, and plan ahead.

This decision follows a complex legal journey with a few twists and turns. Understanding how it unfolded helps clarify why it matters for your consent and preference management program today.

The dispute around TCF

The Transparency & Consent Framework is an industry standard promoted by IAB Europe to help organizations standardize how consent signals are captured and shared across the advertising and media ecosystems.

Because TC strings contain information linked to identifiable users, in 2022 the APD held that IAB Europe acted as a data controller for those strings. This interpretation created significant uncertainty, particularly as TCF adoption was increasing across Europe.

The APD later approved a compliance plan submitted by IAB Europe. That plan proposed changes to the framework and triggered a six-month implementation window. For the industry, this introduced two immediate consequences. First, organizations faced uncertainty around whether upcoming technical changes would be required regardless of their own processing roles. Second, teams struggled to plan consent implementations while questions around responsibility and scope remained unresolved.

Before the plan could be fully implemented, the Belgian Market Court issued a ruling on May 14, 2025. The court determined that IAB Europe was a joint controller for the creation and use of TC strings, but not for how TCF participants process personal data downstream, such as for targeted advertising.

Most recently, IAB Europe appealed aspects of the decision, and on January 7, 2026, the Belgian Market Court annulled the APD’s earlier determination that required changes to the TCF beyond IAB Europe’s controllership. The court finally referred the case back to the APD, instructing it to reassess the action plan and give IAB Europe an opportunity to respond before issuing a new decision.

Key milestones in the case

• 2022: APD determined that IAB Europe was a joint data controller for TC strings, and subject to all applicable processing regulations, and corrective measures.
• 2022: IAB Europe appealed the decision.
• 2022: The Belgian Market Court referred the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). 
• 2023: IAB Europe submitted a corrective compliance plan, including changes to the TCF, approved by the APD. 
• 2023: Before the corrective compliance plan could be put into effect, the Belgian Market Court issued an interim ruling and confirmed that the answers to be provided by the CJEU will have a bearing on the legality of the APD decision.
• 2024: The CJEU delivered its judgement, allowing the Belgian Market Court to continue proceedings.
• 2025: On May 14, the Belgian Market Court, rejected the APD's view that IAB Europe is a joint controller together with TCF participants for their own respective processing of personal data, like the purpose for targeted advertising.
• 2026: The Belgian Market Court annulled the APD decision and validated IAB Europe’s appeal.

What this means for your consent program

Standards like TCF play an important role in helping compliance, marketing, and privacy teams handle consent data in a consistent and secure way. By limiting data controllership to the entities that actually collect, store, and use personal data, rather than the organization that defines the technical standard, the ruling reinforces confidence in industry frameworks.

For consent programs, this clarity supports three outcomes. Teams can continue to rely on TCF as a shared language for consent without assuming responsibility for downstream processing outside their control. Technical standards regain their role as enablers rather than sources of uncertainty. And organizations gain greater assurance that accountability aligns with real-world data flows and responsibilities.

Understanding the role of TCF today

The IAB Transparency & Consent Framework is a widely adopted industry standard designed to support GDPR compliance by standardizing how consent signals are captured and communicated. It provides a common structure that publishers, advertisers, and vendors use to collect, manage, and securely share visitor data, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII), securely and consistently.

TCF is voluntary, but it has become a core component of many consent and advertising workflows because it simplifies interoperability across complex ecosystems.

How TCF has evolved during the regulatory process

While IAB Europe was engaging with the Belgian Data Protection Authority and developing its compliance plan, work on the Transparency & Consent Framework continued.

During this period, IAB Europe released TCF version 2.2, focusing on improved functionality and clearer technical behavior for participants using the framework in production environments. These updates helped address practical implementation challenges for publishers, advertisers, and vendors, even as regulatory questions remained under review.

Building on that foundation, TCF version 2.3 was released on June 19, 2025. Version 2.3 introduces further refinements designed to support more consistent consent handling and align with evolving regulatory expectations. The transition period for TCF 2.3 runs through February 28, 2026, at which point it becomes the expected standard for organizations relying on the framework.

For marketing teams, ensure your TCF implementation is current and that your consent workflows, vendor configurations, and downstream integrations are aligned with version 2.3. Keeping TCF up to date reduces implementation risk, supports smoother partner coordination, and helps consent programs remain stable as regulatory scrutiny continues.

Why this ruling matters now

For consent and preference teams, this decision restores predictability at a time when regulatory expectations continue to evolve. Clear accountability helps teams design consent programs that scale, integrate cleanly with partners, and remain adaptable over time.

With greater clarity around roles and responsibilities, organizations can focus on improving consent experiences, aligning technical implementations, and preparing for future requirements without revisiting foundational assumptions.

To learn more about how TCF version 2.3 works and what it means for your organization, explore our coverage of TCF 2.3 and register for the upcoming webinar “Compliant,accessible, & ready for TCF 2.3”.

Common questions about the Belgian Market Court decision and TCF