EU, Competition & Antitrust
With the enlargement of the European Union and the proliferation of legislation and regulations governing contractual relationships and transactions, competition and antitrust considerations affect a growing number of businesses in more and more jurisdictions around the world. Our EU and Competition law practice is a substantial part of our business. PI Partners’ Bucharest and Sofia offices are actively engaged in advising on the effects of Romania and Bulgaria joining the European Union in 2007. Lawyers in our Istanbul office have built an extensive track record in advising on the compatibility of all types of commercial agreements with competition regulations. We represent our clients in their applications before the European Court of Justice and active contestations against the Competition Committee’s decisions. Our team is highly specialized: Xenophon Paparrigopoulos is the Head of the Department of EU Studies of the Scientific Service of the Hellenic Parliament, with responsibility for the briefing of Parliament on important developments in EU law and for the review of national bills to ensure conformity with EU legislation. We advise on:
- applications for clearance of a merger or acquisition
- state aids and subsidies
- governmental or regulatory barriers to trade
- offensive and defensive strategies to antitrust legislation
- consortia
- dominant market positions and cartels
- monopolies and oligopolies
- pooling of interests
- anti-dumping laws
- free movement of goods, capital and employees
- tax issues and fiscal harmonization
- production and distribution of goods and services in markets under regulation, including telecommunications, energy, transportation and post
- the effect of EU legislation on mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, commercial contracts, labor relations and market operations