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06 Jun

Join us for an exclusive garden gathering!

โ˜€๏ธ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฏ๐ข๐›๐ž๐ฌ @ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญย 

Ben je een 1ste of 2de master rechtenstudent, en ga je volgend academiejaar verder studeren? Dan nodigen we jou graagย uit voor een exclusief tuinevent bij ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ op ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ง๐ขย van 16:00 tot 20:00. ๐ŸŒผย 

Ontspan na de stressvolle examenperiode in onze mooie tuin en leer ons kantoor en collegaโ€™s beter kennen tijdens een walking dinner met heerlijke tapas en verfrissende mocktails. ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿ˜‹ย 

๐‡๐ž๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐šย 

16:00 - 17:00 โ€ข Tuinreceptie met onze junior associates en het HR-teamย 
17:00 - 17:45 โ€ข Introductie van ons kantoor door de counselsย 
17:45 - 18:30 โ€ข Walking dinner op ons terrasย 
18:30 - 19:00 โ€ข Rondleiding door het kantoorgebouw door de seniorsย 
19:00 - 20:00 โ€ข Dessert met onze partnersย 

Check onze video op LinkedIn.

๐’๐œ๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฃ๐Ÿ ๐ฃ๐ž ๐ก๐ข๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ง๐ž๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง.

#lawstudents #rechtenstudenten #LLM #legalcareerย #networking #studentcorner #meetcontrast

Event Students
05 Jun

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 mulลฃumesc or thank you to them for hosting this event and to Anca Buta Musat from MuลŸat & Asociaลฃii, 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

Event
28 May

Student event 'summer vibes @ contrast'

Are you a law student in your first or second masterโ€™s and continuing your studies next academic year, including an LL.M. or Manama? Join us for a summer garden gathering! ๐ŸŒฟโœจ

๐Ÿ“… Date: 26 June 2025
๐Ÿ•“ Time: 16:00 - 20:00
๐Ÿ“ Location: ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ, 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. ๐Ÿน๐Ÿด

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ญ?
โ€ข Informal conversations with team members from all our practice areas (competition & EU | corporate & M&A | commercial | conflict management)
โ€ข Meet and greet with our partners and our HR team
โ€ข Guided tours of our offices
โ€ข Tips for your studies and career
โ€ข Connect with other students
โ€ข 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!

๐Ÿ‘‰ ๐’๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐žย ๐Ÿ‘ˆ

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

Event Students
26 May

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 deliciousย food-sharing dinner. ๐Ÿด

A big thank you to our vibes team, particularly to our colleagues Simone Goyvaerts and Karlien De Ryck, for making all of this possible! ๐Ÿ‘

Check out the fun photos here.

#teamspirit #teambuilding #lawfirm #colleagues #contrastvibes

contrast vibes People
22 May

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

๐ˆ๐ฆ๐š๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ž ... ๐Ÿ’ญ

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?

๐–๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž? Read our latest #inthepicture โ€˜Stop-the-clock for sustainability reporting?โ€™ 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

Publication
19 May

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:

โ€ข ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ƒ๐ฒ๐ง๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐ฌ: The chairman emphasises the positive dynamics and strengthening of the BCA team, which have not gone unnoticed.
โ€ข ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐ˆ๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ: 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.
โ€ข ๐‚๐จ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ: 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 Competitioโ€™s colleagues Melissa Van Schoorisse and Grรฉgoire Ryelandt for this interesting discussion!

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

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

Publication People
16 May

Winter internship applications for 2026 are open!

๐‘๐ž๐š๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ง๐จ๐ฐโ€™๐ฅ๐ž๐๐ ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ? โ„

We are happy to announce that the winter internship applications for 2026 at ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ 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 ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ 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!

๐ˆ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐? Donโ€™t miss out on this unique opportunity and apply quickly via our website ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://lnkd.in/eG6maJ2W

We are eager to meet you!

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

Students
09 May

Landmark ECJ decision on exclusive distribution rights

๐˜๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐„๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‰๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ง ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ž๐ฑ๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐š๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ซโ€™๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐›๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ (๐‚-๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ/๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘).

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 Heijnโ€™s position.

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

๐€๐ง๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ? Milena Varga and Herlinde Burez are happy to help!

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

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