EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation: Cutting-edge cases and insights

This webinar will help you understand how to identify potential risks, avoid common pitfalls and be well prepared for navigating the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation. 

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) is a measure designed to prevent distortions in the EU's internal market by non-EU government subsidies. All companies operating in the EU must disclose any foreign subsidies related to mergers or public procurement activities that meet specific criteria. Non-compliance can lead to provisional measures, corrective actions, information requests, inspections, and hefty penalties of up to 10% of a company’s turnover. 

In this webinar we will discuss the procedural and legal risks under the FSR, share firsthand experiences and best practices. We will examine recent cases and first impressions of how the European Commission is operating and provide insights into how companies are responding to the FSR. Our aim is to equip in-house lawyers, as well as M&A and public procurement specialists, to effectively navigate the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation. Topics covered will include:

• Understanding the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), its relevance and implications 
• The FSR’s impact on M&A transactions, recent cases and how to prepare
• The FSR's impact on public tenders and its implications for companies as well as contracting authorities
• Q&A

Feel free to submit your questions via the registration form ahead of the webinar.

Speakers:

Morten Nissen

Partner

Bird & Bird – Copenhagen

Morten Nissen is co-head of Bird & Bird’s international Competition group, also leading the competition law team in Denmark and Sweden. With over 12 years of legal experience based in Brussels, he applies competition and EU law to achieve business objectives, focusing on State aid, competition restricting agreements, abuse of dominance as well as merger control. He also assists clients with the new EU foreign subsidies regulation. His international outlook has resulted in successful navigation of many complex cases across Europe and Asia, particularly in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, media, and telecoms. His litigation record includes winning four appeal cases against the EU Commission.

Dániel Arányi

Partner

Bird & Bird – Budapest

Dániel Arányi heads up the Competition and Projects & Energy teams of Bird & Bird’s Budapest office. His focus on regulatory and competition matters in the energy sector is complemented by his in-depth experience in the tech & comms sector. Dániel and his team have a keen interest in energy and thrive when working with the technical and business experts of Hungarian and international clients, to make sure that every aspect of the matter is covered, and all the pieces fall into their right places at the right time. He assists a variety of clients active in virtually the entire electricity and oil and gas supply chains, guiding them through complex cross-border and domestic projects and transactions, be it an M&A deal, project development, financing or corporate restructuring. Dániel has represented clients before the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority, the Euratom Supply Agency and the European Commission.

Janneke Kohlen

Partner

Bird & Bird – The Hague

Janneke Kohlen specialises in Public Procurement law, as well as Competition Law, advising on contentious and non-contentious matters for a broad variety of companies. She guides clients through public procurement processes, representing them in court when required. Internal investigations in bids proposed to public authorities is another area of her expertise. She also routinely advises on joint bidding in public tenders. From a competition law perspective, her areas of expertise include merger control, cartel cases and abuse of dominance. Janneke also acts as a compliance officer in meetings with competitors, advises on distribution agreements and delivers in-house competition compliance training. Additionally, she handles the FDI notification obligations in the Netherlands.

Tialda Beetstra

Senior Associate

Bird & Bird – The Hague

As a Senior Associate in Bird & Bird's Competition and Regulatory groups in the Netherlands, Tialda Beetstra has a strong focus on regulated markets and is an expert in the field of competition law, energy regulation and public procurement law. Her focus is on the technology, communications, and energy & utilities sectors. Tialda excels in complex competition law matters, foreign direct investment screening, merger control, competition law compliance and administrative enforcement. She has significant experience representing and advising clients in enforcement proceedings and other legal disputes, notably at the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets. Her understanding of client needs has been greatly enhanced by her secondments to clients in the energy sector. Tialda is a member of the Dutch Administrative Law Association (VAR), the Dutch Competition Law Association (VvM), the Dutch Energy Law Association (NeVER) and the Dutch Investment Screening Association (VVI).

Gábor Kutai

Senior Associate

Bird & Bird - Budapest

As a senior associate in the Competition Law team of Bird & Bird’s Budapest office, Gábor Kutai provides a full range of competition law services to clients at both the Hungarian and EU levels. With over a decade of experience in Hungarian and EU competition law, he guides clients through all stages of cartel investigations, abuse of dominance cases, as well as comparative advertising, and consumer protection cases before the Hungarian Competition Authority. He also has extensive experience advising clients under the Hungarian merger control regime and the EU Merger Regulation in complex domestic and cross-border merger clearance procedures.