Pieter De Crem's mission extended until April 12, 2027

The appointment of Pieter De Crem as Commissioner General of the Belgian General Commissariat for International Exhibitions for the universal exhibition Expo 2025 Osaka is extended until April 12, 2027. The decision is detailed in a ministerial decree of October 12, 2026, signed by the Minister of Economy D. Clarinval, published in the Belgian Official Gazette of October 28, 2026, page 57937, under reference C − 2026/007774. The decree enters into force on October 13, 2026.

A second extension that reaches the legal ceiling

The text is part of a precise chronology of successive postponements. The initial appointment, established by the royal decree of November 12, 2023, was set to end six months after Expo 2025 Osaka, namely on April 13, 2026. A first ministerial decree of April 17, 2026, had already pushed this deadline back to October 12, 2026, for a period of six months.

The new decision adds an additional six months, totaling twelve months of extension. However, Article 15, paragraph 3, of the royal decree of June 22, 2017, relating to the organization and operation of the administrative service with autonomous accounting known as the “Belgian General Commissariat for International Exhibitions,” stipulates that the extension period cannot, in total, exceed one year. Pieter De Crem’s mandate is therefore exactly at the authorized ceiling: no further extension is legally possible without a modification of the regulatory framework.

Riyadh 2030, the decision that blocks everything

The decisive recital of the decree is explicit: the appointment process for the next Commissioner General can only be launched after a formal decision on Belgium’s participation in the next universal exhibition, “Expo Riyadh 2030.” Until this decision is made, the Belgian State can neither open the recruitment process nor leave the position vacant.

Furthermore, the government justifies the continuity of the General Commissariat’s operation through two objectives:

ensuring the closure of Belgian obligations related to Expo 2025 Osaka;
taking the necessary steps to prepare for subsequent Belgian participations.

The file was processed with the opinion of the Finance Inspector, issued on October 12, 2026, the same day the decree was signed.

A three-tier legal framework

The extension is based on a layering of norms, each cited in the preamble of the text:

the law of April 18, 2017, containing various provisions regarding the economy, in its Article 68, 5°;
the royal decree of June 22, 2017, organizing the administrative service with autonomous accounting responsible for international exhibitions, in its Article 15, paragraph 3;
the royal decree of November 12, 2023, appointing a commissioner general for Expo 2025 Osaka, and subsequently the ministerial decree of April 17, 2026, regarding the first extension.

The Belgian General Commissariat for International Exhibitions is a State service with autonomous accounting, attached to the FPS Economy, SMEs, Middle Classes and Energy, and not a permanent private law structure. As such, the appointment of its head is subject to a ministerial decree, whereas the initial appointment had been made by royal decree.

What this changes for readers

For economic operators, institutional partners, and companies involved in the closing of Expo 2025 Osaka, the sole point of contact remains Pieter De Crem until April 12, 2027: ongoing files, contracts, and residual obligations retain the same manager. For potential candidates for the position and for the administrations concerned, however, the horizon is blocked: no appointment procedure can be launched until the federal executive formally decides on the question of Belgian participation in Expo Riyadh 2030. A decision which, if it does not occur before April 2027, will leave Belgium facing an institutional vacuum at the top of its General Commissariat, unless there is intervention by the legislator or the King.

Official source: Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur belge) No. 246 of October 28, 2026, p. 57937, reference C − 2026/007774 — ministerial decree of October 12, 2026, extending the appointment of Mr. Pieter De Crem as commissioner general of the Belgian General Commissariat for International Exhibitions for the universal exhibition Expo 2025 Osaka.