The European internal market presents an enormous challenge for business firms in a small open economy. Major adjustments may be in order in certain business sectors, as the success of 1992 will in first instance depend upon the dynamism of the Belgian firms themselves. Whithin the federal context of a simultaneous devolution of powers towards the European level and towards lower-level jurisdictions in Belgium, the functions of governments have to be redefined. The process of translating European directives into national law and of further adapting the legal and economic framework, especially in the financial field, has just taken off in Belgium. However, a more continuous effort of modernising the institutional and economic environment will be in order for the years to come.