Competition & EU regulatory
Our Competition & EU Regulatory Group assists businesses
across a wide range of industries providing practical solutions to
‘real’ commercial issues in addition to legal excellence.
Emphasis is placed on understanding the client’s business so that
sensible commercial advice is given in context.
The Group, which is made up of over 25 fee earners, draws upon
the expertise of our offices in Brussels,
Hamburg, London
and Paris to provide multi-country
advice. With our extensive experience in multi-jurisdictional
matters, we advise international clients on domestic and EU
law.
We provide advice on the whole range of UK and EU competition
law matters including:
- UK, international and EU mergers and joint ventures
- cartels
- horizontal and vertical restrictive agreements,
including:
In the area of EU regulatory law, our main areas of expertise
relates to the fields of public
procurement, chemicals, pesticides, biocides, cosmetics, food,
pharmaceuticals, electronic products, textiles and medical devices,
including related business and antitrust issues that arise when
drafting and negotiating commercial agreements or setting up task
forces. We advise clients on matters arising under existing
EU chemicals legislation under the emerging new chemicals
legislation known as REACH. We advise clients on product defence
and the free movement of goods throughout the Community.
By activity, we:
- advise companies on the competition risks of different courses
of action
- act as advocates in a variety of different formal merger
filings to or investigations by regulators, including the UK Office
of Fair Trading, the UK Competition Commission or the European
Commission
- can challenge the ultimate regulatory conclusions before the
national or EU courts
- assist companies to use competition rules to obtain strategic
advantage in commercial negotiations
- advise, acting for either side, in private competition
litigation where parties sue for injunctions or damages, especially
those who have been involved in cartels
Our clients include listed companies and multinational companies
entering the European markets, governmental departments and new
entrants challenging incumbent monopolists.