Join us for an exclusive garden gathering!

☀️ 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬 @ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 

Ben je een 1ste of 2de master rechtenstudent, en ga je volgend academiejaar verder studeren? Dan nodigen we jou graag uit voor een exclusief tuinevent bij 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 op 𝟐𝟔 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐢 van 16:00 tot 20:00. 🌼 

Ontspan na de stressvolle examenperiode in onze mooie tuin en leer ons kantoor en collega’s beter kennen tijdens een walking dinner met heerlijke tapas en verfrissende mocktails. 🍸😋 

𝐇𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚 

16:00 - 17:00 • Tuinreceptie met onze junior associates en het HR-team 
17:00 - 17:45 • Introductie van ons kantoor door de counsels 
17:45 - 18:30 • Walking dinner op ons terras 
18:30 - 19:00 • Rondleiding door het kantoorgebouw door de seniors 
19:00 - 20:00 • Dessert met onze partners 

Check onze video op LinkedIn.

𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐣𝐟 𝐣𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧.

#lawstudents #rechtenstudenten #LLM #legalcareer #networking #studentcorner #meetcontrast

Filip Tuytschaever spreaks on vertical agreements in Romania

Today, our competition partner Filip Tuytschaever will speak alongside two other panellists, Iulia Dascultu and Roxana Orza, members of the Competition Council, on vertical agreements at a training session on competition law in Bucharest.

The event is organised by the Romanian Association of Competition Lawyers (ARCON), the National Institute for Magistrates and the Romanian Competition Council.

A special mulţumesc or thank you to them for hosting this event and to Anca Buta Musat from Muşat & Asociaţii, also a DLC - Distribution Law Center contributor, for the invitation.

Also interested in vertical agreements? Order a copy of the new edition of our book on verticals at a reduced price. With the code AUFLY30, you can enjoy a 30% discount. Get yours here: https://lnkd.in/eNzb-5Ft

#competitionlaw #antitrust #EUlaw #verticalagreements #legaltraining #meetcontrast

Student event 'summer vibes @ contrast'

Are you a law student in your first or second master’s and continuing your studies next academic year, including an LL.M. or Manama? Join us for a summer garden gathering! 🌿✨

📅 Date: 26 June 2025
🕓 Time: 16:00 - 20:00
📍 Location: 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭, Minervastraat 5, 1930 Zaventem (We provide various transportation options, including taxis in combination with public transport.)

Relax after the exam stress and enjoy an insightful evening in our beautiful garden. Get to know our firm and our team during a pleasant walking dinner with delicious tapas and refreshing mocktails. 🍹🍴

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭?
• Informal conversations with team members from all our practice areas (competition & EU | corporate & M&A | commercial | conflict management)
• Meet and greet with our partners and our HR team
• Guided tours of our offices
• Tips for your studies and career
• Connect with other students
• A relaxed atmosphere with summer vibes

Don't miss this opportunity to network and learn more about our firm in an informal setting. We look forward to meeting you!

👉 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 👈

#lawstudents #summervibes #networking #futurelawyers #meetcontrast #studentcorner #legalcareer

Culinary tour through Antwerp

Last Friday, we enjoyed a fun culinary teambuilding in Antwerp, savouring some local delicacies and refreshing drinks while exploring the city along the way.

We ended the evening with a delicious food-sharing dinner. 🍴

A big thank you to our vibes team, particularly to our colleagues Simone Goyvaerts and Karlien De Ryck, for making all of this possible! 👏

Check out the fun photos here.

#teamspirit #teambuilding #lawfirm #colleagues #contrastvibes

In the Picture - Stop-the-clock for sustainability reporting?

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 ... 💭

For some time now, your inbox has been flooded with newsletters reminding you of the mandatory sustainability reporting obligation for companies. In 2026, your company must also draw up its first sustainability report. You have already started preparing for this report.

To your surprise, you read in the latest newsletter in your inbox that the reporting obligations have been postponed for 2 years. Moreover, your company will probably no longer fall within the scope of the reporting obligations. Should you pause your preparations?

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞? Read our latest #inthepicture ‘Stop-the-clock for sustainability reporting?’ here: https://lnkd.in/grR_Y5MT, or contact our corporate associates Karlien De Ryck and Charlotte Van Weehaeghe.

#Sustainability #CSRD #CSDDD #contrastcares #SDG #ESG #contrastpublications

Exclusive interview with Axel Desmedt, the new chairman of the Belgian Competition Authority

The latest edition of the leading Belgian journal Competitio has just been published. It features an exclusive interview with Axel Desmedt, the newly appointed chairman of the Belgian Competition Authority, by three editorial board members of Competitio, including our competition partner Sebastien Engelen.

During their insightful conversation, they discussed key competition topics.

Three of the main takeaways from the interview include:

• 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬: The chairman emphasises the positive dynamics and strengthening of the BCA team, which have not gone unnoticed.
• 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Axel Desmedt announces that the BCA intends to proactively identify market issues by conducting sectoral investigation. A couple a weeks after the interview, the BCA opened a general investigation into sectoral price revision and indexation mechanisms.
• 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: Drawing from his experience as the former chairman of the Belgian telecom and postal regulator, Axel Desmedt offered insightful perspectives on the potential benefits and challenges of collaborating with sector-specific regulators. He also discussed the implications of consolidating multiple regulators into a single, overarching entity.

Thank you to Axel Desmedt, and Competitio’s colleagues Melissa Van Schoorisse and Grégoire Ryelandt for this interesting discussion!

Read the full article on our website: https://lnkd.in/e33WP3nQ

#belgiancompetitionauthority #competitionlaw #antitrust #lawfirm #thecontrastisclear #contrastlaw #contrastpublications

Winter internship applications for 2026 are open!

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰’𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫? ❄

We are happy to announce that the winter internship applications for 2026 at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 are officially open!

Are you studying abroad next term, and are you looking to gain valuable legal experience in January 2026? Join us for an inspiring internship programme.

At 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 you gain hands-on experience through interesting cases and continuous coaching from a great team in one of our practice areas: competition and EU, corporate and M&A, commercial law, or dispute resolution!

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity and apply quickly via our website 👉 https://lnkd.in/eG6maJ2W

We are eager to meet you!

#lawstudent #lawstudents #internship #legalinternship #studentcorner #contrastlaw

contrast connects - legal toolbox for B2B relations

Last week, we hosted a workshop on the legal toolbox for B2B relations.

Our partners Herlinde Burez and Milena Varga, and counsel Benjamin Magnus discussed key competition, commercial and litigation aspects, and guided an interactive exchange of practical experiences. Thank you to all participants for their valuable contribution!

Do you have any questions on this topic, or are you interested in connecting with other inhouse counsel and professionals at a 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 connects event? Please feel free to reach out to your regular contact person at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 , or send us a message at contrastconnects@contrast.law.

#meetcontrast #contrastconnects

Landmark ECJ decision on exclusive distribution rights

𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐂-𝟓𝟖𝟏/𝟐𝟑).

Our competition partner Herlinde Burez and commercial partner Milena Varga represented Albert Heijn before the Court against Beevers Kaas, exclusive importer of Beemster cheese in Belgium. In this case, Albert Heijn claimed that Beevers Kaas can only be protected against active sales of Albert Heijn if and when the parallel imposition requirement is fulfilled. Put differently: as long as the supplier of the Beemster cheese has not agreed an active sales restriction with each and every of its resellers in the EU, Albert Heijn cannot be prevented from actively selling Beemster cheese in Belgium.

The Court ruled that an agreement on an active sales restriction cannot be inferred from the simple finding that no other reseller is currently actively selling Beemster cheese in Belgium. The supplier must first demonstrate that it has invited the resellers to comply with an active sales restriction, and secondly, that the resellers have agreed to this invitation. Proof of both elements must be provided by the supplier based on objective and consistent evidence.

The Court thus agreed with Albert Heijn’s position.

For a more detailed read on this interesting judgment as well as the opinion of the Advocate-General, click here.

𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Milena Varga and Herlinde Burez are happy to help!

#ECJ #DistributionLaw #VerticalAgreements #EuropeanCourtOfJustice #CompetitionLaw #CommercialLaw #ExclusiveDistribution #ActiveSales #LegalUpdate #contrastupdate

Session on intellectual property

Last week, our 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 training team hosted an interesting lunch session on the topic of intellectual property law with Ellen Crabbe and Nils Dillemans from the IP agency brantsandpatents as expert guest speakers. 💼

This session allowed us to reflect on various IP rights and their unique characteristics, as well as the relevant procedures for obtaining patents and trademarks. This knowledge is invaluable in helping us better serve our clients and protect their intellectual property rights and innovations.

A heartfelt thank you to Ellen and Nils for sharing their knowledge with us, and to our 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 training team for organising these monthly trainings. 👏

#intellectualproperty #IPlaw #careergrowth #knowledgeexchange #contrasttraining