Antitrust / State Aid

Antitrust and competition law has rapidly gained in importance over the last few years at European and national level. Antitrust infringements are frequently prosecuted with exorbitant fines threatening companies' existence. Therefore, risks of antitrust and comptition law have to be taken seriously and suitable compliance matters should be set into place in advance.

Besides merger control, abuse of dominance, State aid, and cartel investigations special issues such as technology transfer, research and development or specialisation are of importance nowadays. We advise and represent domestic and foreign companies on site, in particular before the authorities in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey and before the European Commission in Brussels.

In addition, we support our clients during dawn raids competition authorities and the subsequent proceedings before the European Commission and the national competition authorities.

Focus areas:

• Cartel investigations (e.g. dawn raids, requests for information)by national competition authorities
• Compliance/Audits
• Abuse of dominance
• Merger control
• State aid law
• Distribution law
• Drafting of contracts, especially in the below areas
  
  • Competitor cooperation,
  • Distribution(e.g sales agent, dealer and franchise agreements, selective distribution systems, supply contract, purchasing conditions)
  • Licences and technology transfer agreements
  • Research & development
  • Specialisation