Van Bael & Bellis

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Adriana Pérez-Gil

With over ten years of experience in the Mexican private and public sectors, Associate Adriana Pérez-Gil specialises in international trade and investment law, focusing on international dispute resolution and arbitration.

Agnieszka Paulina Regiec

Associate Agnieszka Paulina Regiec focuses on international trade law, WTO matters and EU trade law.

Counsel Aldo Scalini specialises in EU law, with a particular focus on trade and competition law. He represents clients in proceedings before the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the EU. EU Trade Law and Sanctions Aldo has been involved in many major anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguard investigations initiated by the EU and by third countries such as the UK, the USA, Australia, and Turkey. He represents governments of exporting countries as well as companies and associations in a wide range of industries, including steel, aluminium, chemicals, energy and food. Aldo has extensive experience in assisting public bodies, companies and individuals targeted by EU sanctions. He also advises international companies on compliance with trade and economic sanctions and export control laws.Competition LawAldo has strong expertise in the field of State aid, where he has successfully assisted public authorities suspected of granting aid and alleged beneficiaries active in different sectors, including aviation, infrastructure, tax, and maritime transport. Aldo also regularly represents clients in antitrust investigations initiated by the European Commission or the Italian Competition Authority. His experience includes advising on antitrust compliance programmes, distribution, and licensing agreements.

Based in London, and with almost 15 years of experience in all aspects of competition law, Alex's practice covers predominantly UK but also EU, Greek and Cypriot competition law, focusing on complex merger control, distribution, dominance and State aid. Alex has successfully represented a number of clients before the UK Competition and Markets Authority, the European Commission and various (non-UK) national competition authorities across the globe, as well as before the European and national courts. Alex has also represented companies in navigating the requirements of the UK’s Foreign Direct Investment screening regime. His practice covers a wide range of sectors, including life sciences (originators and medical device manufacturers), aviation, automotive, energy & mining, industrials, chemicals, luxury goods, telecoms, media, transport and infrastructure.

Alicia Cauwenbergh

Associate Alicia Cauwenbergh focuses on Belgian business law with a particular emphasis on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate litigation.

Andreas Wuylens

Associate Andreas Wuylens focuses on Belgian business law, with a particular emphasis on corporate law as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Partner Andreas Reindl focuses on European competition law. In particular, he has significant experience advising clients in the energy, transport, pharmaceutical, high-tech and other sectors on the full range of EU competition law issues. He has worked on high profile merger investigations initiated by the European Commission and national competition authorities, including the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt). Andreas has represented several clients in abuse of dominance investigations. He also advises companies holding a dominant market position on how to avoid abusive behaviour (such as through pricing and rebate policies). Andreas has broad experience advising clients on online distribution, licensing, and other collaboration agreements. He also prepares compliance programmes and assists companies with their implementation.

Andrzej Kmiecik

Partner Andrzej Kmiecik focuses on competition law, with particular expertise in merger control, cartels, dominance, distribution, pricing, intellectual property and State aid. He represents clients before the European Commission, the EU Courts and in national competition law proceedings.Andrzej’s practice covers a wide range of industries, including the automotive sector, pharmaceuticals, paper and board products, office equipment, consumer electronics, aerospace, shipping, petrochemicals, clothing and footwear, and financial infrastructure.Some of the high profile EU merger control cases he has handled include: Boeing/McDonnell Douglas; Enso/Stora; Boeing/Hughes; Caemi/Mitsui/CVRD; Boeing/Lockheed/ULA; SABIC/Huntsman; SABIC/GE Plastics; DFDS/CRO Ports/Älvsborg; and Canon/IRIS (Art. 22 referral).His experience in EU cartel investigations includes acting as defence counsel in: Newsprint; Amino Acids (also on appeal); Carbonless Paper (also on appeal); Publication Papers; Fine Papers; and Car Parts.Andrzej has also successfully defended clients against complaints of exclusionary conduct before the European Commission, including Canon (ink jet consumables) and Honda (racing engine technology).His experience extends to acting as counsel in major EU antitrust investigations involving the life sciences sector, including: Becton Dickinson/Novo Nordisk (diabetes care); Lederle/SKB (vaccines) and Chiron/DRK (blood screening). He was actively involved in the Commission’s pharmaceutical sector inquiry.He has also developed a niche practice in the field of motor vehicle distribution. He counsels and defends a number of manufacturers, combining extensive experience with in-depth industry knowledge.He regularly lectures and writes on competition law matters.

Associate Anna Jorna focuses on all aspects of EU competition law.

Benoît Servais

Partner Benoît Servais specialises in EU and WTO trade law, with a particular emphasis on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy laws, as well as customs law. He has been involved in more than 140 EU anti-dumping, anti-circumvention and anti-subsidy proceedings since 1992 for clients from around the world, including China, Russia, India, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Norway and the Middle East in a wide variety of industries such as steel, textiles, chemical products and electronics. Benoit has also successfully represented clients before the European Courts. Notable cases include Fiskeri og Havbruksnæringens Landsforening and Others v Council in which Benoit represented several Norwegian exporters of farmed salmon against the Council, and Ikea Wholesale Ltd v Commissioners of Customs & Excise where Ikea successfully obtained the reimbursement of anti-dumping duties. Benoît also acts for EU exporters in anti-dumping proceedings initiated by third countries and he also represents domestic producers in third countries in anti-dumping investigations. For instance, he represented the Moroccan producer of PVC in an anti-dumping proceeding initiated by Morocco which led to the imposition of anti-dumping duties against the USA, the EU and Mexico. His experience in customs law involves assisting clients in customs valuation, customs classification, origin issues and processing under customs control. He regularly speaks and lectures at trade conferences and seminars on EU and international trade law matters.

Catherine Gordley

Counsel Catherine Gordley focuses on EU competition law. She specialises in representing clients before the European Commission in complex merger proceedings as well as in antitrust and abuse of dominance investigations. Catherine has particular experience in merger control, including advising clients in Phase II merger proceedings and in other transactions requiring remedies. Her merger experience spans a wide range of sectors, including financial services, aviation, steel, chemicals other basic industries. Her practice includes advising on distribution, licensing and abuse of dominance issues, particularly in the luxury/retail goods and media sectors. Catherine is also active in the life sciences sector, advising pharmaceutical companies on matters related to distribution, pricing, product denigration and generic/biosimilar market entry. Catherine regularly prepares compliance programmes and assists companies with their implementation.

Catherine Longeval

Partner Catherine Longeval specialises in litigation before the Belgian courts and advises clients on a wide range of issues, including life sciences law. Her expertise in this area covers laws governing medicines, biotech products, medical devices, cosmetics and food supplements, among other aspects. She also specialises in unfair market practices, distribution law, product liability, public procurement, employment law and general commercial law.

Charlotte de Meeûs

Associate Charlotte de Meeûs focuses on Belgian business law, as well as on all aspects of Belgian and EU competition law.

Charlotte Reyns

Associate Charlotte Reyns focuses on commercial and regulatory law.

Charlotte Nassogne

Senior Counsel Charlotte Nassogne focuses on EU, as well as national Belgian and French competition law. She advises on a wide variety of competition law matters, including abuses of dominance, cartel investigations, private damages actions, merger control and other commercial arrangements (such as distribution, technology licensing, R&D, joint ventures and cooperation agreements). Her practice covers a broad range of sectors, including basic industries, automotive, electronic components, refined petroleum products and petrochemicals, retail and food, building materials, chemicals, information technology and financial services. Charlotte regularly represents international clients before the European Commission and the national competition authorities and courts in Belgium and France. She regularly prepares antitrust compliance programmes and conducts training sessions and audits on competition law matters for company employees. She is the co-developer of a unique interactive competition compliance training programme, which provides a different approach for competition compliance training in which participants take over the role of a character placed in real-life situations.

David Hull practises EU competition law. David has a wide range of experience as an EU competition lawyer, having started practising in Brussels in 1984. He specialises in representing clients in complex investigations before the European Commission and in litigation before the EU Courts. Notable cases include: Lundbeck (“reverse payment” patent settlements); Cathode Ray Tubes (appeal of cartel decision); Ryanair (appeal of Commission decision blocking takeover of Aer Lingus); Akzo (landmark case on legal privilege); Bitumen (appeal of cartel decision) and Microsoft (appeal of fine for alleged non-compliance with Commission decision). Prior to joining Van Bael & Bellis, he was the head of the EU competition practice of Covington & Burling. David has in-depth experience in the life sciences sector. He has successfully represented leading life science companies in major EU investigations and regularly advises them on life cycle management issues, European parallel trade and distribution issues (including co-marketing and co-promotion agreements), discount | rebate schemes, collaboration arrangements, IP licensing and mergers. He regularly speaks at conferences and seminars on competition law matters.

Diljá Helgadóttir

Associate Diljá Helgadóttir focuses on all aspects of EU competition law, as well as EU regulatory law.

Emmanuelle Mouzon

Associate Emmanuelle is an associate who specialises in corporate law focusing on mergers and acquisitions.

Counsel Etsuko Kameoka specialises in EU competition law, with a particular emphasis on merger control proceedings, cartel investigations, distribution agreements, and abuses of dominance involving Japanese clients.

Fabrizio Di Gianni

Partner Fabrizio Di Gianni practises competition and trade law. He also assists clients on other aspects of EU law, including free movement of goods and regulatory law, with a particular focus on the car industry. EU and International Trade Law Fabrizio has decades of experience assisting a wide range of clients, including governments, industry associations, producers and importers in trade investigations. His practice covers investigations initiated both by the EU and by third countries. Since the early nineties Fabrizio has been involved in major EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases as well as safeguard investigations. His expertise also encompasses customs investigations, including actions before Member States customs authorities, marks of origin, export controls and sanctions. His activities focus on representing the interests of clients at all stages of proceedings before the investigating authorities as well as litigating before the competent jurisdictional bodies. He also represents companies and associations in investigations initiated by third countries. In recent years he has been involved in investigations initiated by Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and the US. His expertise extends to trade-related matters involving the WTO. EU and Italian Competition Law Fabrizio has a wealth of experience in advising clients on all aspects of EU and Italian competition law. His experience covers a wide range of sectors and includes cartel investigations as well as mergers and acquisitions in which he regularly represents clients before the Commission and Italian competition authority. His practice also covers pre-investigation contacts which have proven to be successful in certain cases closed without action being taken against the clients. Fabrizio is particularly experienced in the area of State aid and he has successfully assisted clients in Commission investigations and before the EU Courts. In this area, he has acted as counsel for complainants and alleged beneficiaries as well as public authorities suspected of having granted State aid. Fabrizio regularly represents clients before the European Commission and the EU Court of Justice as well as the Italian Antitrust Authority and the Italian Civil and Administrative Courts (TAR and Consiglio di Stato). He regularly speaks at conferences and seminars on competition law and trade law matters.

Floris-Willem Dierickx

Associate Floris-Willem Dierickx focuses on competition law and international trade law.

Associate Francesco Pilli focuses on EU and Italian competition law as well as EU and international trade law.

Gábor Báthory

Counsel Gábor Báthory practises EU and international trade law, EU competition law and EU internal market law. EU internal market and fundamental rights Gábor’s practice focuses on assisting clients in litigation before the EU Courts as well as on representing clients before the European institutions in cases concerning EU internal market rules and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Gábor routinely advises clients seeking remedies under EU Law against various national and European legislative and administrative measures. Gábor also represents clients before the European Court of Human Rights in cases concerning infringements of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights.EU Competition Gábor handles a wide range of matters including merger control, cartel investigations (both complaints and cartel defence) and State aid. The clients Gábor has assisted in competition law matters include companies in the retail, chemical, steel, aviation and automotive sectors. Trade Gábor has over a decade of experience in EU trade remedies, including anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and anti-circumvention. His expertise includes assisting clients in trade remedy investigations, particularly in relation to the preparation of questionnaire responses, the preparation for and the handling of on-the-spot verifications and representation before the European Commission and the EU Courts, as well as in customs matters involving national customs authorities and OLAF.

Trade & Customs Partner Gabriele Coppo regularly represents clients (including governments, industry associations, producers and importers) in the framework of EU anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, anti-circumvention as well as safeguard investigations. He further specialises in assisting European companies involved in trade defence investigations initiated by third countries. In the field of EU customs law, Gabriele handles classification, valuation and origin disputes before the EU authorities (European Commission, OLAF) as well as the Italian customs authority. He regularly appears in customs litigation cases before the EU and Italian courts. Gabriele advises clients with regard to WTO law and other trade-related matters such as geographical indications, marks of origin, export controls and sanctions. Competition Gabriele regularly provides advice on a range of competition law matters. He represents clients in cartel investigations and merger filings before the European Commission and the Italian Competition Authority. Moreover, Gabriele assists companies and public authorities involved in State aid investigations. He has broad experience in competition litigation before the Italian and EU courts. EU Regulatory Gabriele’s practice also covers EU internal market and regulatory issues, with particular focus on energy and environmental law. He regularly assists automotive clients in relation to the EU emissions rules applicable to motor vehicles. Gabriele’s expertise extends to the preparation and handling of internal market complaints regarding the infringement of EU law by Member States.

Giovanni Pregno

Associate Giovanni Pregno focuses on Italian and EU competition law as well as EU trade law.

Hannelore Matthys

Counsel Hannelore Matthys focuses on corporate law with an emphasis on cross-border acquisitions and restructuring work. Recent experience in this field includes assisting Veiling Haspengouw, one of the largest fruit auction cooperatives in Belgium, in setting up a joint venture with UNIVEG, one of the largest global players in the fruit and vegetable market.

Isabella Omrod-Bufill

Associate Isabella Omrod-Bufill practises all aspects of EU law, with a particular focus on EU trade law and customs law.

Isabelle Van Damme

Partner Isabelle Van Damme specialises in international trade law (WTO and preferential trade agreements) and EU law. Her practice also covers all aspects of public international law. She represents governments and individuals before various international courts and tribunals. International trade law (WTO and preferential trade agreements) Isabelle advises clients on WTO procedural and substantive law and represents governments in WTO dispute settlement proceedings. Isabelle has represented WTO Members before WTO panels and the Appellate Body in dispute settlement proceedings involving, inter alia, export quotas and duties, accession protocols, export licensing, technical barriers to trade, transit restrictions, administration and review of trade measures, general exceptions and the security exception, minimum export pricing, discriminatory taxation and customs valuation. Isabelle advises governments and corporations on all aspects of the negotiation and implementation of preferential trade agreements and investment agreements. Her work on dispute settlement under preferential trade agreements includes designing a system of judicial remedies and advising a government in one of the first disputes arising under an EU preferential trade agreement.Isabelle previously gained experience in the area of WTO law as an associate at a Geneva-based law firm. She has also worked as a Legal Intern at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat. She is currently lecturing on WTO Jurisprudence and Legal Advocacy at the Academy of International Economic Law and Policy (Greece). She has also taught WTO law at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) and the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) (Belgium). At the end of 2020, Isabelle was elected Executive Vice-President of the Society of International Economic Law. EU law Isabelle has significant expertise in the area of EU law. Her experience of acting or advising as counsel in cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union includes cases relating to Brexit, staff regulations, sanctions, EU tobacco legislation, State aid, the retroactive application of trade remedies and cases involving the relevance under EU law of the status of disputed territories under international law. She advises also on EU customs law, data protection and government procurement. Isabelle helps governments and industry with all matters relating to Brexit. She has appeared as an expert witness before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, speaking on Brexit and agriculture, and before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, answering questions on the implications of the EU Withdrawal Agreement and the backstop for Northern Ireland. Isabelle previously worked as a référendaire in the chambers of Advocate General Sharpston at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Public international law Isabelle regularly advises on a wide range of public international law matters, including the territorial scope of application of treaties, treaty obligations, human rights, investment and sanctions. She also advises on all matters relating to international dispute settlement and the negotiation of international agreements. Furthermore, she assists clients with matters involving the interpretation and enforcement of UN, EU and national sanctions. Isabelle has acted or advised as counsel in cases before the WTO and the Court of Justice of the European Union relating to the right of self-determination, the principle of sovereignty over natural resources and the protection of essential security interests. She has also advised in cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

Jason Houston-McMillan

Associate Jason Houston-McMillan focuses on international trade law, including WTO dispute settlement.

Jean-François Bellis

Jean-François Bellis is a founding partner of Van Bael & Bellis. Before setting up the firm in 1986, he clerked for Lord Mackenzie Stuart, the British judge at the European Court of Justice, and was a partner in the European law department of a major Brussels law firm. Jean-François has several decades of experience in competition and trade law, representing clients in numerous cases before the European Commission and the EU Courts. In the field of EU Competition law, Jean-François assists clients on all aspects of competition law with particular expertise in cartels, abuses of dominance and merger control. He has acted in landmark competition case including United Brands, Woodpulp, Michelin I and II, Microsoft and Intel. In the field of EU and International Trade Law, Jean-François has assisted clients in numerous anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases in proceedings before the European Commission and in related litigation before the EU Courts and the WTO dispute settlement system. He was appointed by the WTO Director-General as a member of the WTO panel in the Automotive Leather dispute between the US and Australia.

Joanna Redelbach

Associate Joanna Redelbach practices international trade law, with a particular emphasis on WTO law and WTO dispute settlement. WTO Joanna advises WTO Members at every stage of WTO dispute settlement proceedings, covering consultations, panel, appeal, compliance, and retaliation proceedings. She advised clients in a number of WTO disputes involving a broad range of substantive areas, including trade in goods, anti-dumping, safeguards, technical barriers to trade and subsidies. She has worked on disputes involving general exceptions, including with respect to public health measures, and the security exception. Joanna also regularly advises corporate clients and governments on the compatibility of WTO Members’ legislation and practice with WTO law, on ongoing WTO negotiations and on issues relating to bilateral and regional trade agreements. EU and International Trade In addition to WTO law, Joanna specialises in trade defence instruments and has been involved in several EU anti-dumping, anti-circumvention, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations. She represents clients before the European Commission, the EU General Court and the EU Court of Justice. Most recently, Joanna has focused on trade aspects of the EU proposal for carbon border adjustment mechanism and the European Commission’s White Paper on Foreign Subsidies. She also advises clients on issues concerning foreign investment screening, customs, issues relating to Brexit and EU renewable energy legislation.

Johan Van Acker

Partner Johan Van Acker specialises in EU and national competition law. His practice covers a wide range of sectors including aviation, consumer products, basic industries, steel, chemicals, electronics, information technology and real estate. Johan is particularly experienced in merger control, and he has successfully assisted clients in numerous merger cases before the European Commission and national competition authorities. For instance, Johan has been involved in several high profile EU merger control cases, including Fincantieri/Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Energizer/Spectrum Brands, Essilor/Luxottica, Halliburton/Baker Hughes, BHP Billiton/Rio Tinto, Motorola/Vertex Standard, Boeing/Lockheed Martin, Canon/IRIS and Novartis/Chiron, to name but a few. Johan also represented Skype in the unconditional EU approval of its acquisition by Microsoft, which received the 2011 Global Competition Review Matter of the Year award for Europe. He also regularly advises clients on other aspects of competition law, including cartels, horizontal and vertical agreements, abuse of dominance and state aid. For instance, Johan was part of the Van Bael & Bellis team that handled the successful opposition to the 2010 joint production agreement between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, which received the Global Competition Review Matter of the Year award in 2010. Johan also represented Japan Airlines in the cartel damages litigation in Europe following the European Commission’s Airfreight cartel decision. The Airfreight litigation was given the Matter of the Year award by Global Competition Review in 2016 and also won the American Lawyer’s International Litigation award in 2016. Johan was singled out by Global Competition Review (GCR) in its 2015 “40 under 40” feature as one of the 40 best competition lawyers worldwide under the age of 40, and one of the six best in the highly-competitive Brussels market. GCR also nominated Johan for an award in 2019 as one of the eight best competition lawyers worldwide under 40. Johan was also listed as one of the six “most highly regarded partners” in Europe in Who’s Who Legal’s “Future Leaders in Competition Law”, a peer review listing the best competition lawyers worldwide under the age of 45. Legal 500 has singled Johan out as a “Next Generation” leading EU competition lawyer in Europe. Chambers Global notes that clients describe Johan as "very bright and capable of solving difficult problems and analyses" and Who’s Who Legal cites client feedback that Johan is a “top competition expert” who “does not just provide clients with the legal analysis but will ‘think with them’ resulting in practical, relevant advice and guidance”. He regularly lectures and writes on competition law matters.

Johan Mouraux has over 20 years of experience advising clients in financing transactions and complex projects. Johan advises all participants involved in financing transactions, including arrangers, lenders, borrowers, investors, sponsors and public authorities. Johan has particular expertise in the infrastructure sector, renewables, in real estate finance, trade finance, export finance and in leveraged finance. He also acts on debt restructuring transactions, and advises on financial services regulation in the banking, insurance, and investment services sectors.

Justine Van den Bon

Associate Justine Van den Bon focuses on Belgian business law, as well as all aspects of Belgian and EU competition law. Justine also advises on data protection law.

Katharina Bongs

Counsel Katharina Bongs focuses on EU and German competition law and EU trade law. EU Competition Law Katharina represents clients in German and EU cartel and merger control cases. She acts before the European Commission, the EU Court of Justice and in national competition proceedings. She has experience advising in cartel defence cases, including leniency and settlement proceedings. Furthermore, she assists clients on how to structure their agreements to ensure competition law compliance and organises customised EU and German competition law compliance programmes. She deals with cases in a range of sectors, including intellectual property, industrial products, waste management and recycling. Trade & Customs Law In the field of trade law, Katharina specialises in EU customs law. Her expertise extends to advising clients on multi-jurisdictional customs matters, including classification, origin and valuation issues. She has experience in the field of duty suspensions, quotas, customs compliance and OLAF proceedings. She represents clients before national customs administrations, German courts and the European Commission. Katharina is also part of the regulatory team and routinely deals with legal questions involving chemicals. Katharina is qualified as a German lawyer.

Counsel Koen T'Syen specialises in commercial litigation and competition law.Koen has successfully represented clients before civil and administrative courts as well as in alternative dispute resolution procedures such as mediation. He also advises clients on a wide range of commercial matters including contract law, distribution law and unfair market practices.Koen has extensive experience in and knowledge of the life sciences and energy sectors, both at the Belgian and EU levels.In the field of competition law, Koen focuses on abuses of dominance and cartels. Koen was appointed as the National Reporter for Belgium at the 2016 Congress of the International League of Competition Law (LIDC) in Geneva in view of his expertise in life sciences and competition law.He regularly writes articles on Belgian business law and competition law issues.

Partner Kris Van Hove focuses on EU and national competition law, as well as regulatory law. He specialises in competition law, with particular expertise in cartels, merger control, dominant market positions, distribution and technology transfer. Kris also specialises in regulatory matters in the area of aviation law. Kris’s practice covers a wide variety of sectors, including car parts, aviation, consumer products, basic industries, steel, energy, chemicals, construction equipment, building materials, electronics, music, and information and communications technology. He handles notifications and investigations as well as litigation before the EU and national courts. Kris’s notable experience includes the appeal to the EU General Court which led to the annulment of the Commission CISAC decision. Kris has extensive experience in representing clients in cartel defence cases, including leniency and settlement proceedings and litigation. He led the team that assisted one of the parties in the Commission’s first-ever direct settlement case (DRAM). Since then, he has been involved in several other settlement procedures (such as automotive bearings) and standard procedures (such as smart card chips). Kris acted as counsel for Japan Airlines in the proceeding before the EU General Court which overturned the Commission 2010 Air Freight decision and annulled Japan Airlines’ €35.7 million fine. He was part of the team that received the Global Competition Review Matter of the Year award in 2016 for his involvement in the case, which also won the American Lawyer’s Global Dispute of the Year: International Litigation award for 2016. In 2017, Global Competition Review 100 noted Kris as one of “the firm’s lawyers [who] excel in European court appeals stemming from DG Comp decisions”. He was named as one of 20 of the world’s foremost competition practitioners by Who’s Who Legal for Competition – Thought Leaders for 2018 and again for 2019. According to Who’s Who Legal 2020: Kris “is highlighted as ‘an excellent competition lawyer who ranks among the best’.” And also in Chambers Global 2021, he is described as "an excellent competition lawyer" who "stays calm and makes the right judgement calls." He regularly lectures and writes on competition law matters.

Associate Lucas Verborgh practices trade law with a particular focus on customs law.

Associate Manon Denis focuses on all aspects of employment and social security law.

Associate Marc Freedman focuses on UK and EU competition law. Marc’s practice includes advising clients on UK, EU and multi-jurisdictional merger control, foreign direct investment screening, antitrust investigations, abuse of dominance, market studies and market investigations. His experience spans a wide range of sectors, including financial services, food and drink, automotive, basic industries, pharmaceuticals and media. Marc has particular expertise in relation to UK merger control, having recently completed a year-long secondment to the Phase 1 Mergers team of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). During his secondment, Marc worked on a number of complex and high-profile CMA merger investigations, including: FNZ/GBST; Breedon/Cemex; ION/Broadway; and DMG Media/JPIMedia Publications (which was the subject of a PIIN from the Secretary of State for DCMS).

Associate Margot Vogels focuses on Belgian business law, as well as all aspects of Belgian and EU competition law.

Maria-Olga Papadopoulou

Associate Maria-Olga is an associate who specialises in competition law and European law.

Markus Wellinger

Partner Markus Wellinger focuses on competition and regulatory issues. Markus represents clients before the EU and national courts (both in Belgium and other countries), the European Commission and several Member States’ national competition authorities. He also assists clients with commercial arbitration under the AAA, ICC and UNCITRAL rules, in various complex commercial disputes. Markus’ experience includes assisting clients in merger control cases (securing merger antitrust clearance from more than 30 competition authorities within and outside the EU), compliance programmes and cartel investigations, strategic alliances and other commercial arrangements (such as distribution, R&D and technology licensing), abuses of dominance and EU State aid rules. Markus also regularly provides clients with advice on EU regulatory issues including technical, health and environmental regulations and standards, consumer protection and safety. He has filed a large number of successful internal market complaints with the European Commission which led to Member States’ changing national regulations.

Associate Mats Cuvelier focuses on international trade law, including WTO dispute settlement.

Partner Michael Clancy focuses on EU competition law, including advising clients on antitrust and cartel investigations, distribution, R&D collaborations, patent and trademark licensing and other commercial agreements, the clearance of mergers and joint ventures, and abuse of dominance issues. Michael has significant experience in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals, biotech, and medical devices), cosmetics, and software & technology sectors.His notable experience includes successfully defending clients in antitrust investigations by the European Commission in both the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors, his ongoing work on the appeal against the Commission's first decision on reverse-payment patent settlements in the pharma industry, as well as his ongoing work defending clients in the Commission’s auto-parts investigation. Michael also has in-depth experience advising a range of clients on their distribution, licensing, and other collaboration agreements.

Partner Michel Bonne focuses on corporate M&A. He has advised a wide range of listed and privately held corporate, private equity and financial companies on Belgian and cross-border M&A transactions, including restructuring , private M&A, capital markets (IPOs, secondary offerings and take-over bids), private equity and venture capital placements, real estate transactions, privatisations, mergers, joint ventures and reorganisations. His experience covers a broad range of sectors, including energy, media, financial services, telecom, IT, retail, real estate, life sciences, aviation and biotech.

Partner Michel Struys practises EU and competition law. Michel Struys has a wealth of experience advising on all aspects of EU competition law, including merger control, cartels, abuse of dominance and state aid. He has assisted multinational companies in a number of landmark EU Commission proceedings raising novel issues, such as the application of Article 102 TFEU to the licensing of standard essential patents in Samsung, price signalling in the Container Shipping case, and tax optimisation in McDonald's successful challenge to the EU Commission’s recent state aid investigation. Michel also has extensive litigation experience before the European Courts.

Partner Pablo Muñiz is head of the customs practice of Van Bael & Bellis. He specialises in EU trade law, with a particular emphasis on customs law, which he has practised in Brussels since 2001. He also advises clients, including a number of trade associations, on other aspects of EU law, such as free movement of goods and the internal market regulatory framework. Pablo has a wide range of experience in customs law, including customs classification, origin issues, customs valuation, compliance programmes, duty suspensions, export controls and sanctions. Pablo regularly advises clients on multi-jurisdictional customs matters involving the European Commission, OLAF and the World Customs Organization (WCO). Pablo represents clients before EU national customs administrations and courts, frequently supported by a multijurisdictional team. His experience also includes litigation before the EU Court of Justice. Cases before the EU Court of Justice include Canon Europa v. Commission and Kyocera Mita Europe v. Commission, where the Court addressed the issue of whether economic operators could challenge the validity of EU customs measures directly before the EU Courts. Pablo’s expertise includes assisting clients in the submission of remission and repayment applications to the national administrations and in related proceedings before the European Commission and the EU Court of Justice. In Commission case REM 06/08, he successfully obtained the remission of imports concerning the tariff classification of home cinema devices. In Vestel Iberia, SL and Makro autoservicio mayorista SA v. Commission, concerning the validity of a Commission remission decision, the EU Court of Justice addressed the effects that such Commission decisions have on economic operators. Pablo’s experience also involves the submission of requests for access to documents, notably in the area of customs matters, where he often assists clients in navigating the EU and WCO rules on transparency and access to documents. In Pablo Muñiz v. Commission, the EU General Court clarified the interpretation of the EU access to documents rules in the customs area and restricted the cases where access can be refused by the EU institutions. Pablo has also assisted governments in a number of WTO disputes including: EU – Anti-Dumping Duties on Malleable Cast Iron Tube or Pipe Fittings from Brazil; EC-Selected Customs Issues; and EC and its Member States – Tariff Treatment of Certain Information Technology Products. Pablo has often participated in training seminars organised by the WCO as an expert speaker on various customs matters and regularly speaks on EU customs matters at conferences and events held worldwide.

Senior Counsel Pei Fang Lo focuses on international trade law and corporate governance matters in Taiwan. Pei Fang has extensive experience in anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations initiated by the government authorities of the EU, USA, Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Argentina and Taiwan. She also advises companies in contract negotiations, dispute settlements, mergers and acquisitions and other cross-border transactions.

Partner Peter L’Ecluse focuses on life sciences, competition law and intellectual property (IP) rights.Life SciencesPeter’s expertise encompasses a wide range of areas, including registration, pricing and reimbursement matters, advertising issues and all aspects of competition law. He has successfully represented clients before civil courts, as well as Belgium’s administrative court, the Council of State, in challenging reimbursement decisions and rules imposing prescription requirements on physicians. Competition LawPeter has been involved in most of the significant cases arising before the Belgian competition authorities. His expertise in this area extends to merger control, dominant market positions and procedural issues. IP RightsPeter’s patent litigation practice focuses on the life sciences industry. For several years, he has acted as co-counsel for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, handling multi-jurisdictional patent litigation while defending valuable patents covering various active substances against generic competitors. Peter also acted as co-counsel in proceedings before the European Patent Office and the Belgian courts for a major medical devices company in patent litigation which covered three jurisdictions. He often advises on supplementary protection certificate patent extension issues and assists clients in dealing with counterfeit trade in pharmaceuticals.

Philippe De Baere

Philippe De Baere is the firm’s managing partner. His practice focuses on EU and WTO trade law as well as EU customs law and export controls. EU and International Trade Philippe specialises in trade defence instruments and has been involved in most major EU anti-dumping, anti-circumvention and anti-subsidy proceedings since 1990. He represents clients before the European Commission, the EU General Court, the EU Court of Justice, WTO Panels and the WTO Appellate Body. Notable cases include MTZ Polyfilms v Council and Far Eastern Textile, Ltd. v Council, a case which addressed the use of zeroing methodologies in anti-dumping investigations. WTO Philippe assists WTO Members in various WTO dispute settlement proceedings. Notable cases include: EC – Importation, Distribution and Sale of Bananas; EC – Pipe Fittings; India – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Products from Chinese Taipei; US – Continued Existence and Application of Zeroing Methodology; Dominican Republic-Safeguard Measures on Imports of Polypropylene Bags and Tubular Fabric; China - Definitive Anti-Dumping Duties on X-Ray Security Inspection Equipment from the EU; Russian Federation — Recycling Fee on Motor Vehicles and Ukraine – Definitive Safeguard measures on certain passenger cars. Most notably, in the EC – Definitive Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Iron or Steel Fasteners from China dispute, the WTO ruled that the EU’s Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation, as such, was incompatible with the EU’s WTO obligations. Philippe has regularly assisted governments during their WTO accession negotiations as well as during the Uruguay Round and Doha Round negotiations. Customs and Export Controls Philippe represents several large manufacturers of high technology products in disputes concerning customs classification, valuation and origin. Notable cases include Canon Europa v Commission, Kyocera Mita Europe v Commission and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe v Commission, a case in which the EU General Court took the unprecedented step of annulling a customs classification regulation in a direct action by the company concerned. In WTO disputes related to customs issues, Philippe successfully assisted Japan and Chinese Taipei in the EC – Tariff Treatment of Certain Information Technology Products dispute. He also advised the US in EC – Selected Customs Issues. He regularly lectures and writes on EU and international trade law matters.

Partner Porter Elliott specialises in all aspects of competition law, with particular expertise in merger control proceedings. He is a key member of Van Bael & Bellis’ exceptional EU competition team. He has successfully represented clients in numerous complex cases before the European Commission, as well as national competition authorities in Europe and elsewhere. He also regularly counsels clients on matters involving dominant market positions and the analysis of agreements under the EU competition rules. During his career, Porter has been involved in some of the most notable deals in the market. His extensive experience in EU merger control includes assisting the Japanese steel industry in its successful opposition to the joint venture between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. He also assisted Skype in obtaining the unconditional EU approval of its acquisition by Microsoft. Both cases won GCR Matter of the Year awards. He also acted as co-counsel for Halliburton in the EU merger control filing and review of its proposed $34.6 billion acquisition of Baker Hughes, one of the largest and most complex transactions ever to be subject to an EU merger control proceeding. Recently, he has been involved in Boeing/Embraer, Fincantieri/Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Take-Two/Codemasters. Porter has been recognised as a leading competition law expert by all major legal directories for several years, on the back of praise from both clients and peers. Clients praise his hard-working, results-oriented approach and describe him as ‘super-responsive, organised and thoughtful’ (Chambers & Partners). He is also highlighted for delivering results and explaining ‘complex nuances of EU competition law in a manner that clients can easily comprehend and use to effectively manage their business’ (Legal 500). He has received particular praise for his "excellent communication skills, presence and [...] willing[ness] to make the points strongly and in a very crisp manner in front of high-stakes audiences." Further, he has been named a "Thought Leader" by Who's Who Legal, where peers describe him as “an outstandingly good merger specialist, who knows the Commission well”. Porter frequently conducts merger control training sessions for clients and national competition authorities in Europe, Asia, North America and South America. His practice covers a wide range of industries, including aerospace, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, steel, forestry products, shipbuilding, video games and oil and gas.

Quentin Declève

Associate Quentin Declève focuses on international litigation and arbitration, as well as on EU and national competition law and international trade law. He also represents clients before the EU Courts and before Belgian civil and commercial courts. Quentin has been involved in key cases relating to restrictive measures and sanctions taken against individuals and against sovereign States by the European Union and the United Nations (Cases T-375/14 to T-378/14 on measures adopted by the European Union with regard to Egyptian citizens). Quentin also coordinates the defence of the Belgian State in disputes involving the sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council and the European Union against Libya. Quentin also assists clients in the field of competition law, merger control and State aids both in administrative and court proceedings. In particular, he intervened in the procedure to annul the Decision of the European Commission concerning State aid implemented by Belgium in favour of the Duferco group. Quentin also advised the Republic of Benin in discussions within Working Group III of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law to reform investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms.

Senior Counsel Reshad Forbes specialises in the EU's regulatory laws, in particular those covering, consumer protection, product safety, CE marking, food safety, chemicals and data protection.Environmental lawReshad manages a team of lawyers who specialise in EU environmental law, from the rules relating to REACH (chemicals) to producers' responsibilities under the Directives on end-of-life products (including electrical and electronic waste, end-of-life vehicles and packaging). He is recognised as one of the leading REACH specialists in Brussels, managing a wide portfolio of clients for this highly regulated area of law.In addition, he advises clients on all aspects of the "new approach" Directives (concerning electrical equipment, machinery, toys, construction products and personal protective equipment, among others), as well as CE markings and the harmonised standards which are frequently being adopted under these Directives. Product safetyHis expertise extends to EU general product safety law, including matters involving textiles and clothing, footwear, lighters and all types of other consumer goods.Reshad regularly assists governments, multinationals, trade associations and SMEs in Europe, the US and Asia. He regularly lectures and writes on EU regulatory matters.

Partner Richard Luff specialises in international trade law, with a particular focus on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy proceedings. He represents clients before the European Commission, the EU Courts and the WTO. Richard has handled more than 150 anti-dumping cases for clients from all over the world, including the US, China, Russia, Korea, Taiwan, Egypt, the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia. His expertise encompasses a wide range of industries, including steel, textiles, chemical products, energy and electronics. In the field of WTO law, Richard advises governments, public institutions and international clients on market access issues and other WTO-related matters, including WTO accession issues. He has assisted WTO Members in WTO dispute settlement proceedings, extending from general anti-dumping and anti-subsidy issues to specific trade restrictive practices. Most recently, he successfully represented Argentina in Certain Measures on the Importation and Marketing of Biodiesel and Measures Supporting the Biodiesel Industry in the EU. He is regularly asked by governments to run training programmes for their anti-dumping and anti-subsidy departments.

Senior Counsel Richard Burton specialises in EU and UK competition law.He advises on a wide range of competition law matters, including cartels, distribution agreements, pricing and other abuse of dominance issues, merger control, and intellectual property licensing.Richard also advises on competition and regulatory matters affecting the aviation and energy sectors in Europe.Richard’s competition law experience covers a broad range of sectors, including basic industries, chemicals, automotive components, consumer electronics, semiconductors, aviation, energy and financial services. He has substantial experience in assisting clients in cartel cases, including involvement in internal compliance investigations, representation before the European Commission, applications for leniency and appeals before the EU Courts.

Associate Samuel Hall focuses on EU competition law as well as EU regulatory law.

Counsel Sara Beutels focuses on all aspects of employment and social security law. Her expertise includes providing legal assistance in the areas of individual and collective dismissals, working time issues, social inspection audits, employee benefits, professional cards and single permits, and the drafting of all employment law-related documentation (such as contracts, work rules and policies). In addition, she often advises on the employment and social security law aspects connected to (cross-border) M&A transactions, including the information/consultation of employee representative bodies and the rights of employees and formalities in the framework of the transfer of undertakings. Sara has developed a niche practice in the area of pension matters (legal pensions and occupational pensions). Moreover, Sara has specific experience regarding the employment law aspects linked to restructuring files such as major judicial reorganisation and bankruptcy files. Sara represents clients in all employment-related matters before the labour courts.

Associate Sarah's practice focuses on Belgian business law, with a particular emphasis on corporate law as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Associate Saud Aldawsari focuses on international trade law and international investment law with a special focus on Middle East clients. His practice focuses on advising companies and governments in anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations initiated by the European Commission and by third countries. He also advises Middle East clients on outbound investments.

Associate Sergiy Beketov specialises in international trade law and WTO matters. His particular focus is on trade defence instruments (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard proceedings) across a multitude of jurisdictions, including the EU, C.I.S. countries, the Eurasian Economic Union, South and East Asia, Africa and Middle East. Sergiy’s expertise also covers the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (panels and Appellate Body proceedings). Sergiy advises clients, including private companies, public institutions and industry associations, on various matters of trade regulations, market access (free trade agreements) and customs law issues as well as on various aspects of international commercial arbitration. His focus covers a spectrum of industries, including steel, chemicals, raw materials, electronics, automobiles and agriculture. Sergiy also develops and conducts training and capacity building programmes for government officials in third countries on trade-defence instruments and international trade law in general.

Associate Shaziea Habibi focuses on Belgian business law, with a particular emphasis on corporate law as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Stephanie Reinart

Senior Counsel Stephanie Reinart focuses on EU and German competition law as well as EU and German regulatory law. German CompetitionStephanie’s experience includes securing merger clearance from the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) in numerous cases and successfully defending clients in investigations of alleged cartel conduct and other anti-competitive practices conducted by the German Federal Cartel Office.EU CompetitionStephanie has handled numerous international cartel cases in which she defended companies in proceedings before the European Commission and the EU Courts. Stephanie’s EU competition law experience extends to advising clients on how to structure agreements, including strategic alliances, cooperation, licensing and supply agreements, in order to achieve compliance with competition law rules. She also frequently counsels companies holding a dominant market position on how to avoid abusive conduct. Stephanie regularly conducts training sessions on competition law matters for company employees throughout Europe. She also prepares antitrust compliance programmes and assists companies with their implementation.State aid Stephanie assists clients involved in State aid investigations launched by the European Commission.

Associate Steve Ross focuses on EU competition law, as well as EU and French regulatory law, including environmental and consumer protection law. His experience extends to international trade law, with a particular emphasis on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.

Thibaut D'hulst

Counsel Thibaut D’hulst focuses on data protection, intellectual property law, pharmaceutical law and competition law. Thibaut is a certified Data Protection Officer and assists clients in the pharmaceutical sector in complying with EU and Belgian data protection rules by conducting data protection audits, drafting company policies, information clauses and processor agreements on data protection, filing notifications, assisting clients in procedures before data protection authorities and advising on the international transfer of personal data. He regularly assists clients in new technology projects regarding compliance with data protection, intellectual property and/or pharmaceutical laws. Thibaut regularly speaks and writes on data protection and intellectual property law.

Thomas de Visser

Associate Thomas de Visser practises trade law, EU competition law and EU customs law.

Partner Tim specialises in EU competition law, with a particular emphasis on abuse of dominance and cartels, as well as distribution and licensing agreements. Tim routinely represents clients in investigations before the European Commission and in litigation before the EU Courts. He has also been called on to provide assistance to local counsel in proceedings before EU Member States and internationally. Tim also routinely assists clients in ensuring that their agreements and unilateral practices comply with EU competition rules. Clients he has assisted include Dole, Microsoft, Nike, Stora Enso, Thai Airways, the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) and various automobile producers. Tim regularly publishes and speaks on competition law matters.

Associate Todor Papanov is a UK qualified solicitor based in our London office. Todor advises on a wide range of competition law matters, including investigations and competition law compliance, merger control under both the UK and the EU competition regimes and the application of competition law to commercial agreements and trading practices. In addition, Todor has advised a variety of UK and international clients on issues, such as State aid, export controls and sanctions. Todor also has experience in competition litigation, representing both claimants and defendants.

Associate Ugur Can Hekim focuses on all aspects of EU and international trade law, with a particular emphasis on trade defence investigations across multiple jurisdictions (including Turkey and the EU). Ugur advises and represents governments in WTO disputes before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. He has also assisted clients in several customs law and competition law matters.

Valérie Lefever

Associate Valérie Lefever focuses on EU competition law, as well as EU regulatory law.

Associate Victor Crochet focuses on trade remedy and WTO law. Victor assists governments in WTO proceedings before panels and the Appellate Body. Victor’s experience also includes advising companies and governments in anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations initiated by the European Commission and by third countries.

Victoria Ciudin

Associate Victoria Ciudin focuses on all aspects of EU law, with a particular focus on EU competition law.

Associate Vincent Reijns focuses on all aspects of Belgian business law, with an emphasis on corporate M&A.

Yuriy Rudyuk specialises in international trade law with a particular focus on anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations, involving exporters from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Over more than a decade, Yuriy has represented key Ukrainian exporters in all major EU anti-dumping proceedings concerning a wide variety of products, including steel, seamless and welded tubes, ammonium nitrate, urea, ironing boards and ferro-alloys. He also regularly represents CIS exporters in trade defence proceedings initiated by other jurisdictions such as Brazil, India, Pakistan, Taiwan and Turkey.