We provide counselling, litigation, investigation and strategic advice to clients in relation to EU Law and the EU's institutions and courts.
Our clients benefit from the skills of both lawyers and other professionals from disciplines relevant to our clients (accountancy; business research; and science) who have worked in national and international institutions (EU Commission; WTO; European Court of Justice), in-house counsel positions and, of course, many years of private law practice.
Competition laws of the EU, Member States and internationally
We acted for Eurofer, the European steel companies’ trade association, in relation to both its intervention before the European Commission in relation to the offer by BHP Billiton for Rio Tinto and then the proposed joint venture between those parties. In the former the Commission issued a Statement of Objections and in the latter the Commission was going to issue a statement of objections. In both cases, as a result of the parties’ view of the outcomes of the relevant competition authorities’ investigations, the proposals were abandoned.
EU Law & Policy
Mayer Brown’s European Union (EU) law & policy practice assists clients in navigating and shaping EU rules. Our lawyers help companies, industry and trade associations, as well as Governments, understand the intricacies of EU law and policy and define their legal strategies to achieve their competitive objectives. Moreover, Mayer Brown’s unparalleled strength in the cornerstones of EU law & policy that are critical to global business – competition, international trade and EU regulatory law – allows us to develop solutions tailored to our clients’ legal and policy concerns. Lawyers in our EU law & policy practice combine private- and public-sector experience and have a sophisticated understanding of EU institutions and policies. We represent clients from different sectors on a wide variety of matters before the EU institutions and bodies, and relevant bodies of the Member States.
International and Benelux Tax
Our Brussels tax team has been leading the Pan-European structuring and organization of operations of a USD 500 million opportunistic fund with operations in the US.
Regulatory Laws
Our EU Regulatory Team recently published a “Code of Conduct” for REACH Consortia, elaborated in conjunction with major corporations, including Unilever, Procter and Gamble and L’Oreal, to help companies ensure REACH consortia are acting in a manner that is fair, transparent, non-discriminatory and in compliance with EU antitrust rules.
Trade and Customs laws
We represent ZTE, one of the two main producers of ‘dongles’, which unusually is the subject of European Commission anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and countervailing duty investigations.
European Court Litigation
Acting against the European Commission we applied for and obtained from the EU’s General Court an order that the EU institutions produce confidential documentary evidence allegedly supporting the Commission’s findings in an anti-dumping proceeding. This is the first time the EU’s General Court has ordered such a measure - (Case T-249/06).
Whilst the lingua franca of the office is English, our professionals are drawn from several countries and we can work in Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Malayalam, Russian and Spanish.
Corporate and Securities
Our Brussels capabilities are part of our expansive capabilities throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe allowing us to handle complex cross-border deals and, at the same time, use our local market knowledge and deep understanding of industry-specific issues to ensure we provide the best solution for the client anywhere in the world. We provide local law advice and for the larger transactions we use the extensive resources of corporate and securities lawyers in our other European offices.