Bram Hoorelbeke

With regard to EU competition law, Bram advises clients on a wide variety of competition law issues including merger notifications, Article 101 and 102 TFEU cases and advise on state aid cases. Bram also has extensive experience in government procurement procedures launched by the European Union institutions. In addition, Bram deals with follow-on damage actions and competition law-related claims before Belgian courts of Law. Besides these competition law-related matters, Bram advises clients on general EU law, such as free movement, customs, etc.

With regard to Belgian competition law, Bram assist clients in the notification and follow-up of concentrations, and in complaints and procedures before the Mededingingscollege/Collège de la concurrence (Belgian Competition Council) and Belgian courts of law.

His sector experience includes fast-moving consumer goods, automotive industry, telecoms, chemicals, and financial technologies.

• Successfully represented an elevator company before Belgium courts in several damages actions following the elevators and escalators cartel.
• Assisted a client in the sector of animal feed phosphates in the first-ever "hybrid" cartel settlement case adopted by the European Commission.
• Acted for a large multinational retail chain in the Belgian Competition Authority's first cartel settlement decision concerning the Belgian grocery sector.
• Represented several companies in the ongoing procedures before the General Court seeking annulment of the European Commission's decision regarding Belgian Excess Profit Rulings (SA.37667 Excess Profit exemption in Belgium – Art. 185§2 b) CIR92).
• Assisted an investment fund owned by the Flemish Government in ongoing state aid investigations.
• Advised Flemish investment fund on compliance with state aid rules regarding multiple investments.
• Represented several EU institutions, bodies or agencies before the General Court and Court of Justice regarding contested public procurement procedures.
• Represented several clients before the Belgian Competition Authority in merger proceedings.