Competition/European Law
Europe Guide 2024 : Netherlands
Band 2
About
Provided by Pels Rijcken
Over the years, the influence of European law on our national legislation has gradually increased. Areas such as agriculture, trade and transport were already affected heavily, but legislation now also has a direct impact on the lives of civilians as it touches legal areas such as migration, criminal law and family law. European Law is now found in legal fields and sectors hitherto unaffected.
Pels Rijcken employs attorneys who have closely follow and stay on top of these developments and they know Brussels' procedures and how to play by the EU's institutional rules. They carefully examine the meaning of the Union's legislation and are quick to see where there is room at the national level for additional or deviant measures.
In our advisory practice, state aid is one of the focal points. Where a proposed measure involves government guarantees for housing corporations, saving banks or drafting a partnership agreement for an area development project, the question of whether this measure is "state aid-proof" always arises. We have public sector clients and increasingly act on behalf of provincial authorities and large municipalities. A recurrent question that arises in our advice practice is how to safeguard certain public interests when acting within the state aid framework.
Pels Rijcken EU law specialists spend most of their time litigating before both administrative courts as well as the civil courts, handling cases that range from transport concessions to food safety.
Chambers Review
Pels Rijcken is best known for its popularity with public sector clients, which sees the competition team representing municipalities and the ACM in state aid disputes and challenges to authority decisions. The law firm also represents corporate clients in behavioural investigations and follow-on damages actions. In addition to its contentious work, the team acts on merger clearance mandates, including phase II investigations and appeals against prohibited mergers.
Work Highlights
- Pels Rijcken defended Mercedes Benz and Daimler in damages actions before the Dutch courts following on from the European Commission's trucks cartel investigation.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"The team is extremely responsive."
"The work of Pels Rijcken is very good."
"It was a very balanced team."
"The team is extremely responsive."
"The work of Pels Rijcken is very good."
"It was a very balanced team."
Notable Practitioners
Erik Pijnacker Hordijk has notable experience in high-profile damages actions, including in disputes about whether a parent company can be held liable for one of its subsidiaries breaching competition law. He offers further expertise in state aid mandates.
"Erik has been a delight to work with."
Jotte Mulder enters the rankings this year on the back of very impressive work that includes representing clients in behavioural investigations and high-profile follow-on damages actions, as well as in phase II merger clearance proceedings.
"Jotte Mulder has an academic background in economics, which was very helpful."
Ranked Lawyers at
Pels Rijcken
Netherlands