McDermott Will & Emery Belgium LLP

Axel Schulz focuses his practice on European competition law and has a wealth of experience in merger control, global cartel defence and general antitrust advice in sectors including energy, chemicals, agri-commodities, container shipping, ports, pigments, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Within the pharmaceutical sector, Axel demonstrates exceptional proficiency and industry insight. He has built a solid reputation assisting clients with competition law matters arising around loss of exclusivity; in addition, Axel has advised on distribution, co-marketing, licensing and various forms of vertical and horizontal cooperation agreements. Axel is adept in orchestrating advice across numerous jurisdictions, providing clients with clear and comprehensive solutions. This global aspect of his practice equips him to guide both national and multinational companies through the most intricate challenges.

Hendrik Viaene

Hendrik Viaene focuses his practice on competition law, regulated markets and regulatory law. He advises clients across a wide range of related issues including state aid, cartels, licensing agreements, merger filings, M&A negotiations, abuse of dominance cases, and distribution agreements. Hendrik assists governments as well as privately and publicly owned companies. He has a wealth of experience in a range of sector such as energy, chemicals, paints, automotive, financial data, recycling and waste management, telecom, construction, renewables, media, private equity and the financial industry. Hendrik represents companies before national competition authorities and before the European Commission in state aid, cartel, merger, and abuse of dominance investigations. He also assists governments and companies on defence strategies as well as compliance programmes to avoid fines or having to refund or recover state aid.

Jacques Buhart

Jacques Buhart is a partner, he focuses his practice on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and EU/French competition investigations and litigation out of Brussels and Paris. Jacques has also developed substantial knowledge of various industries, including nuclear, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, paper and energy. He is head of the Firm's Paris and Brussels offices. Jacques has handled a broad range of complex competition matters as well as litigations in the European Courts. On the litigation side, he represented clients in various cases including: the cartonboard cartel case at the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg; the vitamins cartel case at the Court of First Instance; as well as a major drinks manufacturer at the Court of Appeal in Paris against allegations of abuse of dominant position. He acted for an intervening party in the case relating to the legal privilege. On the compliance side, Jacques advised several international companies in their compliance programme as well as at seminars throughout Europe. Among other industries, Jacques has developed a substantial knowledge in antitrust issues affecting the telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries as well as the automobile and paper industries. For further details of Jacques' biography, please view McDermott website here.

Rosa Barcelo

Rosa Barcelo focuses her practice on global data privacy and cyber security. She counsels clients on data protection and privacy, including compliance with the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. She helps companies develop global privacy compliance programs that harmonize GDPR with other international laws such as US privacy legislation (eg., CCPA/CPRA). She regularly advises organizations on structuring international data transfers using SCCs and BCRs, completing Data Protection Impact Assessments, drafting data processor agreements, advising on personal data breaches, and carrying out lead authority assessments. Rosa’s practice has particular focus on cutting-edge IT issues, and she has a wealth of experience counselling clients on privacy in the electronic communications sector (both number dependent and independent services). She has additional skill in data privacy issues related to AI and machine learning, autonomous vehicles, marketing, programmatic advertising, and online tracking technologies. Rosa’s previous experience includes her role as Deputy Head of Unit of the Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Unit of DG CONNECT in the European Commission, where she led legislative deliberations over the proposed e-Privacy Regulation. Rosa’s work with the office of the EDPS focused on a wide range of ICT-related issues. Rosa worked closely with national supervisory authorities participating in the former Article 29 Working Party (now the European Data Protection Board). Rosa has also worked in academia and as a private lawyer in the Brussels offices of various international law firms, where she advised on EU privacy and data protection issues, as well electronic commerce and technology laws. Rosa is a frequent lecturer on data protection, privacy and cybersecurity. In addition, she is a correspondent for the Journal of Computer Law Review International and is acting Chairwomen of the Brussels Chapter of the International Institute of Communications. She teaches a data protection certification course at the Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht. Rosa previously served on the European board of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Stéphane Dionnet

Stéphane Dionnet has over 20 years of experience practicing international competition law, and has experience liaising with competition authorities in the European Union, United States and Asia. Stéphane has advised global corporations on how to navigate complex multijurisdictional merger control matters. He has represented clients in numerous cartel investigations and has also successfully assisted companies in obtaining conditional immunity from the European Commission and other competition law agencies in and outside the European Union. Stéphane has experience across a wide range of sectors including consumer products, energy, entertainment, financial services, technology, pharmaceuticals, retail, e-commerce and telecommunications. Read full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/stephane-dionnet/

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