European Competition Law

Over the years, the influence of European law on our national legislation has gradually increased. Areas such as agriculture, trade and transport were already affected heavily, but legislation now also has a direct impact on the lives of civilians as it touches legal areas such as migration, criminal law and family law. European Law (or Union Law) is now found in legal fields and sectors hitherto unaffected.

Pels Rijcken employs attorneys who have closely follow and stay on top of these developments and they know Brussels' procedures and how to play by the EU's institutional rules. They carefully examine the meaning of the Union's legislation and are quick to see where there is room at the national level for additional or deviant measures.

In our advisory practice, state aid is one of the focal points. Where a proposed measure involves government guarantees for housing corporations, saving banks or drafting a partnership agreement for an area development project, the question of whether this measure is "state aid-proof" always arises. We have public sector clients and increasingly act on behalf of provincial authorities and large municipalities. A recurrent question that arises in our advice practice is how to safeguard certain public interests when acting within the  state aid framework. There,Pels Rijcken's attorneys always manage to provide their clients with concrete solutions.

Pels Rijcken EU law specialists spend most of their time litigating before both administrative courts as well as the civil courts, handling cases that range from transport concessions to food safety. The most fundamental cases the team handles are those in which the court is requested to test national legislation against European Treaty provisions such as free movement of capital. Dealing with this wide variety of lawsuits has also reinforced the broad focus of the team's advisory practice.

Recommendations

• "Pels Rijcken‘s team has demonstrated exceptional expertise in the energy sector, consistently delivering high-quality and well-researched legal work." - Legal 500, 2025
• "Their in-depth understanding of the industry's complexities allows them to navigate regulatory and commercial challenges with precision." - Legal 500, 2025
• "Pels Rijcken supports us tremendously by being flexible towards constantly changing political and legal angles, and the team knows how to translate very complex matters into comprehensible advise." - Chambers Europe, 2025
• "We can contact Pels Rijcken for expertise at a specialist level for almost any field that is relevant to our practice." - Chambers Europe, 2025
• "Knowledge, speed and collaboration are key attributes of this team of, above all, friendly lawyers." - The Legal 500, 2024
• "The team has a broad knowledge of the law of the public sector and is a full-service firm with exceptional litigation skills." - The Legal 500, 2024
• “The work of Pels Rijcken is very good.” - Chambers Europe, 2024
• “The team is extremely responsive.” - Chambers Europe, 2024