Frank Wijckmans

Practice Areas

Frank is senior partner within Faros, handling EU and domestic competition law matters. He handled some of the most notorious cases both at EU level (such as Akzo predatory pricing; Tractors on information exchange; Volvo/Renault and Volvo/Scania on merger control; Trucks on cartels) and the Belgian domestic level (such as Honda on abuse of dominance; Supermarkets on hub and spoke cartels; White Star in the sports field; Kinepolis on remedies in merger control; Volvo/Kant on merger control).

Frank acted as expert advisor to DG Competition of the EC regarding the new EU competition law regime on vertical agreements. His report was published on the DG Competition website.

Frank is assessor at the BCA (appointed in that position by the Belgian government in February 2022).

Frank is professor at the Brussels School of Competition (LL.M.), where he teaches the “Law and Economics of Vertical Restraints”.

He is author of leading monographs such as “Vertical Agreements in EU Competition Law” which is in its third and soon fourth edition and is published by Oxford University Press.

Frank regularly speaks at leading national and international conferences on competition law.

In addition to his competition law practice, Frank has extensive experience in arbitration. He has been designated arbitrator in several ICC, Cepani and ad hoc arbitrations. He has acted as an expert witness on competition matters in arbitration proceedings. He is teaching a workshop on arbitration and competition law at the Brussels School of Competition.

Career

1986-1993: Van Bael & Bellis (Associate)

1993-2006: VWEW (Partner)

2006-2022: contrast (Co-founder & Partner)

In September 2022, he co-founded together with Maaike Visser, Emmelie Wijckmans, Anouk Focquet and Karolien Francken the boutique law firm Faros. The creation of the firm reflects a strategic choice to focus in a very specialized manner on specific areas of practice. In doing so, Faros wishes not only to assist businesses, but also to partner with other law firms not active in these field of practice.

Frank is senior partner at Faros.

Professional Memberships

Member of the Brussels Bar.

Assessor at the BCA (appointed in that position by the Belgian government in February 2022).

Professor at the Brussels School of Competition (LL.M.).

Publications

Frank has published many prominent books related to competition law. His publications include the leading monograph “Vertical Agreements in EU Competition Law” (Oxford University Press) which is in its third and soon fourth edition. With the assistance of local specialists, national versions of this monograph have been published in different local languages.

He is also co-author of “Bos Door De Bomen – Mededingingsrecht” (LeA Publishers). This book (written in Dutch) is the ultimate guide for in-house lawyers, general practitioners and students in the fields of European and Belgian competition law.

Frank is also editor and co-author of the monograph “Horizontal Agreements and Cartels in EU Competition Law” (Oxford University Press).

In 2022, he published “Vertical Block Exemption – Toolbook for Practitioners” (LeA Publishers) in response to the publication of Regulation 2022/720 and the 2022 Vertical Guidelines, which he wrote together with Faros partner Karolien Francken. It presents the new legislative texts in a manner that is easy-to-read and easy-to-consult and contains a handy Q&A that helps to apply the new rules in practice.

His most recent publication is "Horizontal Agreements - Block Exemptions & Horizontal Guidelines - Toolbook for Practitioners" (LeA Publishers) on the revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on R&D and Specialisation agreements (‘HBERs') and the revised 2023 Horizontal Guidelines. He wrote this book together with Faros partners Emmelie Wijckmans, Maaike Visser and Karolien Francken and with Faros Associate Annemie Van de Vliet and Faros consultant Morgane Smets. Just like the Verticals Toolbook, this book contains the new legislation with indications of key words in bold, as well as a practical Q&A.

In addition, Frank also regularly publishes articles on competition law in leading journals. His most recent article is “The new EU Competition rules for supply and distribution agreements: no revolution, but an evolution of the effects-based approach” (2023), which he wrote together with Luc Peeperkorn.