On 10 July 2025, the Court of Justice handed down its judgment in Case C‑783/23, Liège Airport Security SA v État belge, on the interpretation of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 300/2008. The request has been made in proceedings between Liège Airport Security SA (“Liège Airport Security”) and the État belge (Belgian State) concerning a fine imposed by agents of the service public fédéral Intérieur (Home Affairs Federal Public Service, FPS) on the company following the finding of infringements of national regulations relating to private safety undertakings.

On 16 March 2018, agents of the FPS attended the airport of Liège-Bierset Airport to carry out an inspection in relation to compliance with the Law on private safety, in the course of which they found that two agents of Liège Airport Security were engaged in activities coming under tasks specific to private safety within the meaning of the relevant law without authorisation from the Minister for Home Affairs. The FPS, therefore, fined both the company and those agents.

Liège Airport Security challenged the decision before the tribunal de première instance francophone de Bruxelles (French-speaking Brussels Court of First Instance). Since the challenge was dismissed, the company filed an appeal before the Cour de cassation (Court of Cassation; the “referring court”) which, in light of the need to interpret the relevant European legislation, decided to stay the proceedings and to ask to the Court of Justice whether Article 9 of Regulation No 300/2008 must be interpreted as precluding an authority other than the appropriate one designated under that provision from being responsible for monitoring whether a legal person, governed by private law, and its employees, who carry out security tasks at a national airport, comply with the obligations arising from national regulations governing the exercise of private safety activities.

According to the Court, the appropriate authority referred to in Article 9 of Regulation No 300/2008 differs from other national bodies competent in civil aviation security in that it is responsible for ensuring, at national level, the coordination and monitoring of compliance with the relevant common basic standards referred to in Article 4 of that regulation. Provided that they respect the powers of the appropriate authority designated under Article 9 of Regulation No 300/2008, therefore, the latter does not oblige a Member State to ensure that that authority is the only one to be responsible for monitoring compliance with all aspects relating to the field of civil aviation security at national level.