Competition and EU Law

Being aware of the complex issues faced by businesses in a highly competitive environment, Havel, Holásek & Partners is ready to assist clients in their search for safe and yet non-restrictive business solutions. Our services are advisory and tailored to the economic approach to competition law which is applied by the competition authorities.

The competition law team of Havel, Holásek & Partners ranks among the largest, most experienced and fastest-growing teams in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The competition law and state aid advisory team comprises 10 experienced lawyers, including a former Vice-Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition, a former director of several sectoral departments of the Office for the Protection of Competition and a senior lawyer of the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission, and thus has valuable insight into the practice of the competition authorities.

Havel, Holásek & Partners advises clients on matters relating to merger controls in the Czech and Slovak Republics and in proceedings before the European Commission. We also advise clients that enjoy a dominant market position and give recommendations on contractual and other relationships among businesses with potential competition implications. We have also advised our clients on proceedings before the General Court in Luxembourg.

Together with our clients, we are well aware of the importance of prevention of unintentional breach of competition rules. We prepare and advise on the implementation of competition and antitrust compliance programmes and also carry out competition due diligence of both existing and planned business projects and strategies.

Havel, Holásek & Partners’ competition clients typically operate in the following business sectors:

• Energy
• Telecommunications
• Banking
• Internet
• Transport
• Food industry
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Environmental economics

The scope of our services relating to competition law includes:

• Representing clients before the respective competition authorities
• Advisory on current or planned business policy (competition due diligence and reviews)
• The design, implementation and due diligence of competition compliance programmes
• Advisory on the specifics of proceedings before competition authorities
• Personalised workshops
• Representing clients in actions for damages incurred through anticompetitive practices

in the following areas:

• Cartel issues
• Vertical agreements
• Joint ventures
• Dominant position
• Concentration of undertakings
• State aid
• Abuse of market power

Havel, Holásek & Partners lawyers also have an in-depth knowledge of EU Internal Market and other laws which enables them to navigate their clients through the maze of rules and regulations across a variety of industry and service sectors. Additionally, we draw on the expertise of partner law firms based in Brussels. Within the wide range of EU Law issues, we offer clients legal advice in a large number of fields, including, in particular:

• EU Internal Market laws
• EU Competition law
• State aid
• Financial services regulation
• Electronic communications regulation
• Environmental law
• International trade and antidumping
• Recognition and execution of judgments within the EU
• European private international law vs. cross-border trade
• Consumer protection
• Member State compliance with EU legislation

In our practice we strive to ensure that our clients fully benefit from all fundamental market freedoms (be it freedom of establishment or free movement of goods, people, services and investment/capital), so they can develop their business activities all over the EU. Our lawyers have strong expertise in the corporate M&A, telecommunications, energy or intellectual property and information technology sectors, while they are also ready to provide advice in all other fields of EU regulatory law. They draw on their experience in the conversion of Czech legal regulations with EU law in the course of preparation and implementation of compliance programmes for clients operating in various fields of business, including, among others, pharmaceutical, food or automotive parts manufacturing industries.

We can approach both EU and Member State institutions on behalf of our clients before the adoption of EU or national implementing legislation and when the legislation is incorrectly implemented into national laws. For both private and corporate clients, we assess the implementation of EU directives and the transposition of other EU legal obligations into national laws. When necessary, we ensure that our clients’ interests are properly represented before the EU institutions and the Member State’s courts.

All our lawyers have not only extensive practical experience but many of them have also published articles in prestigious business or law journals both in the Czech Republic and abroad. In addition, Havel, Holásek & Partners representatives are regularly invited to speak at major conferences on EU regulatory, competition, implementation, application and other related matters.