Antitrust

The Economic and European Law Department assists undertakings in relation to practices, behaviour or situations that may give rise to problems with regard to the competition regulations, including the drafting or review of their vertical agreements, various forms of horizontal co-operation agreements (specialisation agreements, research and development agreements, purchase and marketing agreements between competitors, standardisation agreements, environmental agreements, etc.) or conducting "competition due diligence" to produce an appraisal of the relevant agreements and practices.

The Department also advises market leaders on the specific difficulties that they may face with regard to the rules prohibiting abuses of dominant position and of economic dependency. In addition to its work in an advisory capacity, the Department's lawyers appear regularly before both French and European competition authorities and courts, representing complainants in direct referrals to the European Commission or the Competition Council, or defending the undertakings against which such complaints are filed before the same authorities. The Department can also mobilise specialist work groups in France and various other European countries to handle matters concerning practices in restraint of trade involving several countries.

Merger Control

The Department acts regularly in transactions involving corporate amalgamations or the creation of joint venture companies, whether listed or unlisted, applying for the approval of the relevant competition authorities in France and Europe. The Department has a perfect knowledge of the various analytical tests applied by the regulatory authorities, including the "creation or strengthening a dominant position" test, analysis of portfolio effects on related or complementary markets, the "substantial reduction in competition" test, the "unilateral effects" test, etc. The Department advises undertakings as soon as they begin structuring their transaction in order to identify the nature of the transaction (concentration, full-function joint venture, joint venture that may or may not trigger co-ordinated behaviour requiring additional specific analysis) and in order to co-ordinate the notification time schedule with the acquisition time schedule and, if required, the stock exchange time schedule. The Department works alongside undertakings at the various stages of the notification procedure, including informal talks with the competition authorities, pre-notification and formal notification, care and control of the transaction in Phase I and Phase II (representation before the French Competition Council) and, if required, organising and defending the interests of the notifying parties in the event of an appeal against the decision to the courts.

European Control of State Aid

In co-operation with the Brussels Office, the Department works alongside governments and undertakings receiving State aid in proceedings brought by the European Commission. The Department also assists complainants with their applications to the European Commission for it to take action to stop payments of unlawful aid. The Department has acquired an in-depth knowledge of the various public aid schemes, especially aid to companies in financial difficulty, aid to the motor vehicle sector and regional aid.

State Monopolies / Deregulation

In co-operation with the Brussels Office, the Department has developed expertise in the restructuring of monopolies and the opening up of public corporations to competition. The Department regularly acts for companies active in markets that have recently been opened up to competition, such as the energy and telecommunications sectors. The Department also handles problem scenarios concerning access to infrastructure, the signature of gas and electricity supply agreements with so-called eligible customers and the rules governing the conduct of the previous monopolies in these areas.

Contacts
Philippe Xavier-Bender
Antoine Choffel
Joëlle Salzmann
Yann Utzschneider
Emmanuel Reille