Our EU financial and competition law team has extensive expertise in European law and advises a broad range of clients in both the public and private sectors, at domestic and international level.
In competition law, we assist our clients with investigations by national competition authorities and the European Commission - including ‘dawn raids’ - in relation to cartel-type activity. We advise our clients on the compatibility of agreements and business practices with national and European competition law, and on the legality of third parties’ conduct.
We also provide assistance on issues relating to abuse of a dominant position in particular markets, merger control analysis and proceedings, as well as compliance with EU state aid rules. We represent clients before national competition authorities and courts, the European Commission and European courts, and provide assistance with compliance matters, including competition audits and the adoption of compliance programmes.
In addition to European and national competition law in the broad sense, our lawyers are particularly active in the following economic sectors that are highly regulated at EU level:
- Banking and financial services
- Transport (including road, rail and air)
- Energy (electricity, gas and emissions)
- Communications
- Postal services
- Public procurement
The core work of the practice also includes advising on a range of European law issues relating to EU treaties and institutions, as well as legislation affecting all sectors of the economy and internal market issues relating to the free movement of goods, services, people and capital. In this context, we have regularly advised clients on the consequences of Brexit for their activities.
We regularly represent clients in dealings with the European institutions, where many of the lawyers in our practice have worked before joining our firm. We often act for clients at the European Court of Justice and the EU General Court, ensuring our clients’ interests are represented before decision-makers in the institutions.
