Van Bael & Bellis

Competition, Trade

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.

In 1975, Jean-François Bellis started his practice in Brussels, specialising in EU competition and EU trade law. From 1979 - 1980, he served as Legal Secretary to Lord Mackenzie Stuart at the Court of Justice of the European Communities (now Court of Justice of the European Union) in Luxembourg. In 1986, he co-founded Van Bael & Bellis with Ivo Van Bael.

Jean-François speaks French and English

Member of the Brussels Bar

University of Michigan Law School – LL.M., 1974 University of Brussels (ULB) – Law Degree, 1972