Regulatory. |

Access to Sports Results.

We assisted a sector federation with EU competition law advice regarding access to sports results.

In one of the world’s most popular sports, we assisted an athletes’ trade union organization representing the interests of its members (male and female) on a worldwide basis. We submitted a complaint against the global federation of the sport concerned based on the anti-competitive nature of the transfer system. This complaint has allowed our client to sign a landmark agreement with the sports federation to improve worldwide governance in the sport concerned.

DNS-Blocking and Gaming.

We represented an online gaming company before the Belgian courts to challenge the lawfulness of the state-imposed DNS-measure to block access to its website.

Platform Economy: Uber.

Our lawyers have co-represented a Belgium-based taxi company in commercial law proceedings before the Belgian courts against Uber, dealing in particular with competition law issues as well as arguments concerning the compatibility with EU law of the local decree regulating taxi transport.

Landmark EUCJ Fraud Case.

We successfully represented the Kingdom of Belgium before the Grand Chamber of the EU Court of Justice (Case C-359/16, Altun, EU:C:2018:63) in what is generally considered as a landmark case concerning the EU Member States’ fight against social security and employment fraud. The case has general implications for other types of fraud, e.g. tax or regulatory evasion.

Strategic IT Procurement.

We provided strategic and competition law advice to a National Employment Office regarding the renewal of the agreement concerning the IT system that manages the payments to all unemployed persons in the EU Member State concerned.

Trade Associations and Unions in Sports.

Our lawyers have advised a trade union for professional football players of a major EU Member state on EU law matters.

Anti-doping.

We have successfully defended athletes, in particular in road cycling, in proceedings before national disciplinary bodies relating to violation of anti-doping regulations. This specifically involved the scope of ATUs.

Admission to Sports Competitions.

We have represented a Pro Tour cycling team against various European organizers of cycling competitions regarding a ban on the team on grounds of alleged illegality of its sponsor. This also included the coordination of litigation teams in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Italy.

GDPR and Business Operations.

We have advised on strategies to comply with GDPR requirements in the framework of sales, marketing and prospecting operations in a Business-to-Business and Business-to-Government context.

In-app and In-session Purchases.

We have acted as part of a legal taskforce that had to assess all consumer protection and trade practices legislationapplying to the purchase of VOD subscriptions and ensuing in-app or in-session purchases. This also involved collaboration with design and marketing teams to come to a compliant ordering and purchase handling process.

Creating a Level Playing Field in Gaming.

Our lawyers have assisted various gaming companies and sector federations in drafting complaints on national gaming and sports wager legislation infringing the EU internal market freedoms, inter alia in relation to Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. This also involved formal and informal meetings with the relevant services of the European Commission.

State Aid for Broadcasters.

We were part of the lead team representing a major European broadcaster before the EU Court of First Instance (now General Court) in matters related to the financing of public service broadcasters.

Writing E-commerce Legislation.

We advised a Eurasian Nation on the implementation of the e-commerce Directive into national law, in particular the rules on liability for ISPs. This included the actual drafting of the proposed implementation bill, including provisions on liability for copyright violations.

Belgium v Facebook

We represented the Kingdom of Belgium before the EU Court of Justice in Case C-645/19 (Facebook Ireland a.o.) in what is one of the first cases concerning GDPR (and more specifically the one stop shop mechanism).