Christopher Jones
Biography
Christopher Jones is a Senior Energy and Competition Consultant in the European Competition and Regulatory Law Practice Group in the Brussels office. He joined Baker McKenzie in 2018.
Prior to joining Baker McKenzie to head up their energy and climate regulatory and antitrust practice, Christopher's career spanned more than 30 years at the European Commission, focusing on energy policy and competition policy. From 2018 he was a principal for energy regulation and antitrust at Baker McKenzie, and a part-time professor of energy law and policy at the Florence School of Regulation, EUI.
During the last two decades, Christopher has held a wide range of key energy posts, including director for renewable energy, energy research and energy efficiency, deputy head of Cabinet for the Energy Commissioner, and deputy director general for energy.
He has been at the forefront of many major key energy and competition law decisions and innovations. He played a key role in the evolution of EU competition law towards the more economic and market-based instrument it is today, and he was instrumental in the successful implementation of EU merger control. He was the central EU official in opening up energy markets to competition, as well as developing and implementing the core of the EU's energy policy as it is today, driving the "20-20-20" renewables and energy efficiency decarbonisation agendas, and setting the gas strategy and research policies.
Christopher is also an expert on competition policy, having spent 11 years in the field, including responsibility for antitrust and mergers in the Cabinet of the Energy Commissioner, and as personal policy assistant to two director generals.
He is a leading academic in the competition and energy areas, as a part- time professor at the European University Institute, editing and co- authoring a number of standard textbooks on competition law and energy markets, the internal energy market, and EU renewable law and policy, as well as books on merger control, and the standard competition law reference work, the EU Competition Law Handbook.
Practice Focus
At Baker McKenzie, Christopher works closely with the Energy, Mining & Infrastructure, Projects and Competition teams in the EMEA region.
He is active in assisting a wide range of clients, notably on all energy regulatory and antitrust issues.
Representative Legal Matters
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Advised, on a retainer and matter-specific basis, a wide range of energy production, utility, network, manufacturing, transport, and industrial companies on all aspects of EU energy and climate law. Issues included understanding the impact of proposed and existing law on business activities and how to benefit from/minimize the cost of EU energy and climate law on their activities. This covers, among other things, electricity and natural gas legislation and policy, hydrogen, renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon capture use and storage, electricity pricing, and energy security legislation and infrastructure issues.
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Assisted a wide range of companies in understanding and complying with detailed environmental legislation and other requirements in relation to ETS, renewable energy (GOOs, Delegated Act and GHG requirements, additionality), hydrogen, biofuels and renewable fuels of non-biological origin.
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Advised a number of EU and non-EU companies on the impact of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, including on how to comply with reporting obligations and develop a strategy to minimize the future financial expose to the charge.
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Assisted a wide range of companies in ensuring compliance with, and avoiding negative consequences of, the new EU framework on Environmental and Social Governance obligations, including Corporate Sustainability Reporting, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, Taxonomy and Green Claims Regulations.
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Assisted non-EU companies on preparing for the entry into force of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, putting into place cost-effective reporting mechanisms.
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Advised a wide range of companies on the EU's emerging renewable and low-carbon hydrogen market, from project design and strategy to detailed issues of compliance with detailed regulatory requirements on sustainability and GHG requirements.
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Successfully assisted a number of companies in their applications for project funding, including the ETS Innovation Fund, CEF, and national support schemes, covering, among other things, hydrogen, battery and network investment projects.
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Assisted a number of companies in state aid applications before the European Commission, from designing the scheme to ensure success, to defending it before the Commission.
Education
- College of Europe, Bruges (DAES) (1984)
- University of Reading (LLB) (1983)
Languages
- English
- French
- Dutch