Our Brussels office is the focal point of our antitrust, competition and trade group, as well as the home of our Brussels corporate, finance, employment, real estate, dispute resolution and tax practices.

Antitrust, competition and trade (ACT)

Widely recognised as a leader in this practice area, our international Brussels ACT practice comprises 14 partners and counsel and a team of over 60 lawyers and other specialists.

With wide-ranging EU and national experience, our Brussels team advises on the complete range of antitrust, competition, regulatory and trade issues, including merger control, cartel investigations, horizontal and vertical commercial agreements, abuse of dominance/restrictive practice cases, compliance programmes, sector-specific regulation, antitrust/competition litigation, state aid, public procurement and trade, including World Trade Organization (WTO) matters and trade remedies. We represent our international client base in proceedings before the European Commission and the European courts, as well as before EU member state competition authorities and courts.

As well as our recognised expertise across the full range of ACT legal disciplines, we also have a strong reputation and considerable experience, built over a number of years, across all major sectors of the economy, including automotive, chemicals, construction and engineering, consumer products and retail, defence, energy and natural resources, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, leisure, private equity, TMT (telecoms, media, technology) and transport.

An integral part of our Brussels ACT practice, our Belgian competition law practice advises Belgian companies (operating locally and internationally) and international companies with Belgian interests on the complete range of EU and national competition, regulatory and trade issues both at EU level and before the Belgian competition authorities, sector regulators and courts.

For more information please email Jennifer Kennedy, business development and communication manager (ACT practice), at jennifer.kennedy@freshfields.com.

Belgian practice

Our Belgian practice has grown significantly over the years to meet the demands of our Belgian and international clients. We currently have a dynamic team of over 30 lawyers. Most are members of the Brussels Bar and hold the title of advocaten/avocats. Many of our lawyers benefit from additional experience acquired either as in-house counsel, at other law firms or at foreign universities, ensuring a broad perspective and understanding of the strategy and complex needs of our clients. All our lawyers are multi-lingual, speaking at least Dutch, English and French.

Our Belgian practice is specialised in corporate and commercial law; mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures; capital markets, banking and finance, including securities, asset finance and insolvency work; tax; competition and regulatory law (including energy and telecoms regulation); dispute resolution; employment law; and commercial property and real estate.

For more information, email Iris Debremaeker, business development and communications officer (Belgian Practice) at iris.debremaeker@freshfields.com.

The EU regulatory and public affairs practice

Effective identification and management of regulatory risk and opportunities is an important element in maximising business potential.

Focusing on the interface between law, politics and business, our EU regulatory and public affairs practice helps clients to proactively manage their regulatory environment. We offer clients strategic policy advice and help to shape EU legislation and administrative decisions. The specialised practice is an integral part of our Brussels-based antitrust, competition and trade (ACT) team providing clients with the highest possible standard of legal advice and support.

We analyse the potential effect of draft legislation on our clients’ business activities and in co-operation with our clients define threats, opportunities and strategic goals. We then devise and implement detailed campaigns, encompassing both legal and public affairs advice. Our legal expertise, extensive experience with EU legislative processes and in-depth understanding of how the EU institutions operate enable us to influence legislative processes to ensure that our clients’ interests are represented. We advise in a broad range of areas, including consumer and retail products, energy, environment, financial services, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, telecoms, media and technology and transport. Our clients include Fortune 500, DAX, FTSE and similar-sized companies.

For more information, read our EU regulatory and public affairs brochure or email Henning Ehrenstein, EU regulatory and public affairs, at henning.ehrenstein@freshfields.com.

Careers

Information on our Belgium careers

Related Practices

Antitrust, competition and trade

Contacts

  • Iris Debremaeker
  • Business development and communications officer
    (Belgian Practice)