EU and UK Competition

Steptoe's competition practice helps clients manage risks and challenges associated with doing business in Europe across many industries, including in particular regulated sectors, for which we provide market-leading legal support.

We provide in-depth advice on vertical issues at different levels of the supply chain, such as distribution and licensing, as well as horizontal arrangements, such as joint research and development efforts, specialization agreements, trade associations, as well as mergers and joint ventures. We advise on the antitrust aspects of environmental, social, and governance matters, especially on sustainability issues.

Clients also call upon our in-depth experience at the intersection of antitrust with sector-specific regulation and on emerging issues associated with the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, the General Data Protection Regulation and AI.

We defend corporations in investigations before the European Commission (DG COMP) as well as before national competition authorities, such as the UK Competition and Markets Authority and the German Bundeskartellamt, in appeals before the EU Courts, the European Free Trade Association Court and in follow-on litigation in civil courts in the UK and in EU Member states. 

Our Competition Experience at a Glance

In a nutshell, members of our EU and UK competition team have handled:

• multiple dawn raids.
• Dozens of cartel investigations.
• 6 sector inquiries.
• More than a dozen follow-on cartel damages litigation cases, including class actions.
• Multiple abuse of dominance investigations and complaints.
• Over 100 compliance initiatives.
• Some 200 merger control cases.

We help clients with:

• Dawn raids, alleged infringement defense advocacy, antitrust infringement fine settlement proceedings, follow-on civil litigation.
• Merger filing analysis, phase I and II merger review, foreign direct investment regulations, and remedies negotiations.
• Self-assessments and advice on pricing, distribution, and IP licensing strategies.
• Compliance for trade associations and standard-setting organizations.
• Coordination of responses to investigations by EU Member State national competition authorities.

Antitrust Investigations and Dawn Raids

Our antitrust team has a strong reputation in the market place and has worked on a large number of landmark cases in front of the Commission and the EU Courts. This includes market investigations, mergers and significant State aid cases. Putting a special focus on unannounced inspections ("dawn raids") in antitrust matters, partner Robert Klotz has extensive experience from his time as a Commission official in DG Competition, where he was actively involved in more than a dozen dawn raids, including as team leader. This included high level investigations into beer distribution, computer chips, air cargo, mobile roaming, fixed telephony tariffs, gas and electricity transmission and distribution, among others. He had a leading role in the first ever seal breach investigation that started during a dawn raid in the energy sector and led to a high fine being imposed.

Our team has devised dawn raid compliance handbooks and provided on the spot training to clients in several industries. Members of our team have successfully defended a client in EU investigations for certain forms of conduct during a dawn raid with regard to blocking email traffic and computer access. We have successfully defended clients in administrative proceedings before the European Commission and litigation before the EU Courts.

Advice and Counseling on Horizontal and Vertical Agreements

Businesses have seen significant changes in the competition arena over recent years, including as a consequence of Brexit (for the UK and the EU). There have been active developments from the UK and the EU in introducing new verticals regulations and guidelines; guidelines on horizontal arrangements, new EU market definition guidelines; the EU's Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act and Data Act, not to mention guidelines on green claims and other consumer protection legislation.

We advise businesses, trade associations and consortia on the impact of the competition rules across all of their activities. With our strengths in regulated sectors and supply chain management, our antitrust team has supported clients in updating, re-structuring, training and implementing both vertical and horizontal distribution and supply systems, reflecting changes in technology, market developments and climate change drivers. 

Merger Control

We advise businesses on potential and anticipated mergers and joint ventures, including advising on possible market analyses, potential regulatory hurdles and identifying possible ways to navigate those hurdles. We also coordinate engagement with both competition authorities and regulatory agencies across multiple jurisdictions. Our support includes advice on and establishment of clean teams, antitrust due diligence exercises, avoidance of gun-jumping, possible behavioral and structural remedies

State Aid

We advise businesses, public authorities, and industry associations through the complexities of all kinds of State aid compliance issues and investigations. The prohibition of selective economic advantages to companies by EU Member states is an important instrument for the achievement of the Internal Market and as such it is unique in the world. Any State aid granted without notification or approval must be recovered from the beneficiaries by the granting authority concerned upon formal decision by the Commission. State aid can take many divers forms and has gained a lot of importance under the recent crises. 

Our services encompass strategic navigation of State aid clearances, European Commission investigations, effective engagement with public authorities in Member States, and representation in litigation before EU and EFTA Courts. Additionally, we offer guidance on new and developing regulations, like the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, in close cooperation with our trade team. Our advice includes notably:

• The drafting of complaints to the European Commission on behalf of third parties suffering from selective economic advantages being granted to their rivals.
• Assisting national authorities willing to grant State aid and beneficiaries receiving such aid with submitting the required notification forms to the European Commission.
• Responding to information requests from the European Commission on behalf of granting authorities and/or beneficiaries of State aid, providing active submissions in support of the clients' perspective.
• Assessing the compliance and compatibility of proposed State aid measures, be it in the form of general aid schemes or individual support measures with the current primary and secondary EU State aid rules.
• Identifying and assessing State aid related risks and advice on restructuring of support measures to bring them in line with EU State aid principles.
• Litigation before EU and national Courts on contentious State aid decisions by the European Commission.

The combined Steptoe Brussels/London team is also well-positioned to handle any investigations related to the recently adopted Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). This is due to our extensive trade expertise, our State aid capabilities, our substantive knowledge of all relevant aspects of EU competition law, and DG Competition enforcement practice and procedures.