In the Picture - The knock is still at dawn, the search is digital. The digital dawn raid.

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 ... 💭

You are the CEO of a company that designs and installs professional sound and lighting systems for music festivals and live events. Spring is when everything accelerates. Contracts are signed, crews are scheduled, equipment is tested. After months of preparation, the festival season is about to begin.

All is well ... until one morning, without warning, police officers and officials from a competition authority appear at your reception with a search warrant. They announce an unannounced inspection in a competition investigation. The questions come fast: can you explain how your IT environment works? Can you grant us access to it? Do employees use personal devices for work? Someone else mentions a legal hold. Panic creeps in as your mental checklist overloads. How does this work exactly, and what are you supposed to do now?

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞? Read our latest #inthepicture ‘The knock is still at dawn, the search is digital. The digital dawn raid’ here, or contact our competition & EU senior associate Michèle de Clerck.

#competitionlaw #dawnraids #competitioncompliance #contrastpublications

Turn the cold season into something ice-traordinary with a winter internship at contrast

As warmer weather approaches and spring settles in, we are happy to announce that winter internship applications for 2027 at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 are officially open!

Are you studying abroad next term, and are you looking to gain valuable legal experience in 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟕? Join 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 for an inspiring internship in one of our practice areas: competition and EU law, corporate and M&A, commercial law or dispute resolution.

You will gain hands‑on experience by working on engaging cases, with continuous coaching from a dedicated team.

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity and apply quickly via our website.

We look forward to meeting you!

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

Belgium issues competition law guidelines on sustainability cooperation between competitors

On 2 April 2026, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) adopted new guidelines on sustainability cooperation, covering both general sustainability agreements and sustainability agreements in the agricultural sector.

The guidelines follow a public consultation launched after the publication of draft guidelines in October 2025. Our Competition and EU team submitted observations on the draft, several of which were taken on board by the BCA, including closer alignment with the European Commission’s sustainability cooperation guidelines and clarifications on the “soft” safe harbour for sustainability standards.

The final guidelines also refer, by way of example, to the first informal view of the BCA President on sustainability cooperation (COMEOS and KOFFIECAFE, December 2025), which our team was instrumental in obtaining.

👉 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: the guidelines are available in French and Dutch on the BCA website.

👉 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Feel free to reach out to our competition team or your usual contact person at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭.

#competitionlaw #sustainability #antitrust #compliance #BCA #BMA #contrastupdate

Vertical Agreements now available on Oxford Law Pro

We’re happy to share that our book ‘ 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐔 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐰’, now in its 4th edition, is available on 𝐎𝐱𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐏𝐫𝐨.

𝐎𝐱𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐏𝐫𝐨 provides access to quality-assured legal research. It includes more than 9,000 articles and 600 peer-reviewed books, supported by an AI research assistant that helps you navigating.

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5U4hMuY

#OUP #oxfordlawpro #legalresearch #lawfirm #competitionlaw #verticalagreements #contrastpublications

Ranked in all practice areas in The Legal 500

The Legal 500 EMEA rankings are out.

In short: all our practices are ranked, we are still the only team in Band 1 for Competition Belgium, Herlinde Burez is recognised as Leading Partner in Competition, and you’ll find our retail practice as new entrant in Band 2.

This recognition adds extra sparkle to our 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲. We very much thank our clients and peers for their trust, and each contraster for the work that makes recognitions like these possible.

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬? 👉 https://lnkd.in/ewz-dwfB

We’ll stop bragging now and go back to work. 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭, more than ever!

#legaldirectories #legal500 #thelegal500 #lawfirm #teamwork #clientsatisfaction #contrasttalent #20yearscontrast

Litigation workshop at KUL

Last week, our commercial senior associate Lise Ryckaert and dispute resolution associate Marie-Julie Kormoss gave an interactive litigation workshop for law students.

The students got a taste of the art of pleading, the use of AI in legal proceedings, the unfolding of a real court case, and much more.

A big thank you to ELSA Leuven for organising this event, and to the students for their active participation. It was a great session!

Don’t want to miss any news about workshop, career opportunities and useful tips and tricks? Make sure to subscribe to our Student Corner 👉 https://lnkd.in/erM_TgfC

#litigation #disputeresolution #lawstudents #workshop #ELSALeuven #meetcontrast #contraststudentcorner

In the Picture - CSRD and CSDDD: a smaller universe and clearer boundaries

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 ... 💭

You are head of the ESG team of a large multinational company and are finalising the consolidated sustainability report for the 2025 financial year.

A few months ago, you acquired a company that is not subject to sustainability reporting under the CSRD. As the new subsidiary did not collect specific sustainability information prior to the acquisition, integrating it into your consolidated sustainability report is proving more difficult than expected.

However, you have heard that the European legislator has made changes to the CSRD and that you may not need to include this company in your sustainability report straight away. Is this correct?

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞? Read our latest #inthepicture ‘CSRD and CSDDD: a smaller universe and clearer boundaries’ here, or contact our corporate associates Karlien De Ryck and Astrid Jamaer.

#CSRD #CSDDD #EU #sustainability #corporatelaw #corporatesustainability #Omnibus hashtag#ESG #contrastpublications

EU Inc. - European Commission unveils the long awaited 28th Regime framework

𝐄𝐔 𝐈𝐧𝐜. – 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝟐𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

Yesterday, the European Commission presented its highly anticipated proposal for 𝐄𝐔 𝐈𝐧𝐜., forming the cornerstone of the envisaged 𝟐𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞.

The proposed 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 introduces an optional, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐔-𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦, designed to exist alongside the other 27 national company law regimes. Companies would thus be able to choose between the new EU Inc., identical and able to operate seamlessly across all Members States, or an existing national company form.

For key elements of EU Inc., see our slides below.

In addition, the European Commission also adopted a 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 outlining ongoing and future initiatives to complete the 28th Regime in other policy areas and a 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 on definitions of innovative enterprises, startups and scaleups.

𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬: the proposal will now follow the ordinary legislative procedure, with the European Parliament and the Council invited to reach an agreement 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Feel free to reach out to our corporate team or your usual contact person at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭.

#EUInc #28thRegime #SingleMarket #CorporateLaw #Digitalisation

Chambers and Partners - Europe Guide 2026

🌟 We’re proud to share that Chambers and Partners Europe has once again recognised our firm’s expertise.

In Competition-Belgium, we are honoured to retain our Band 1 ranking for the 14th consecutive year.

We also congratulate Filip Tuytschaever (Competition) and Bart Bellen (Corporate) on being individually ranked for the 14th time, reflecting consistent recognition over the years.

A special congratulations to Herlinde Burez and Sebastien Engelen, who have both moved up in the Competition-Belgium ranking. Their well-deserved recognition reflects their dedication and deep expertise.

A heartfelt thank you to our clients and referees for their continued trust and support. 🙏

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬 👉 https://lnkd.in/ewz-dwfB

#Chambersandpartners #ChambersEurope #legalranking #contrasttalent #contrastlaw

Legal developments to improve the enforcement of Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) rules in the agri-food sector

A new Regulation has been adopted to improve the enforcement of cross-border unfair trading practices. The Council and the European Parliament have also reached a provisional agreement to establish rules on the protection of ‘meat’ terms and the use of marketing claims such as ‘fair’ and ‘equitable’.

For an overview of the developments, take a look at the slides here.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Feel free to contact our commercial partner Milena Varga and counsel Laurence Vanhyfte.

#eulaw #unfairtradingpractices #agrifood #foodsupplychain #consumerprotection #utp #contrastupdate