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Damien Gerard

DG COMP (Brussels), College of Europe (Bruges)

Case Handler & Visiting Professor

A graduate of the University of Louvain, the College of Europe and New York University, Damien Gerard was a Research Fellow affiliated with the Chair of European law of the University of Louvain (UCL, Belgium). He is currently a case handler in European Commission and a visiting professor at the College of Europe. He is a member of the New York Bar and fully qualified in Brussels where he practiced for five years with Cleary Gottlieb LLP. In 2003-2004, Damien Gerard clerked for Judge Lenaerts of the European Court of Justice. In 2008-2009, he was a Visiting Lecturer in EC Competition Law at University Paris V - Descartes. In 2009-2010, he visited Harvard Law School as a Fulbright-Schuman Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for Global Law & Policy, as well as the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, Germany, on a Max Planck grant. His most recent scholarship focuses on EU competition law enforcement, including systemic aspects pertaining to judicial review and the operation of the European Competition Network, and the theory of the European integration. A list of his publications is available at www.uclouvain.be/damien.gerard

Distinctions

Nominee, 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, General Antitrust

Nominee, 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, General Antitrust

nom-2014 nom-2012

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Articles

3319 Bulletin

Damien Gerard The EU Commission relies on antitrust enforcement to regulate leading web search engine (Google)

5 February 2014 375

The Google commitments and the transformation of EU antitrust enforcement* The proceedings brought by the European Commission against Google are nearing a – provisional – end with the prospect of a decision making binding on Google a revised set of commitments (see here for the Commission (...)

Damien Gerard The Belgian Supreme Court upholds the severability of anticompetitive provisions in a distribution agreement (Bauer, Dubraco)

28 June 2012 506

On June 28, 2012, the Belgian Supreme Court (Hof van Cassatie/Cour de Cassation) rendered a short judgment in a contractual dispute involving a distribution agreement entered into in 1993 by Bauer, a German manufacturer of compressors, and its Belgian distributor Dubraco. In essence, the (...)

Damien Gerard The EU Court of Justice applies effects-based approach to claim of exclusionary pricing abuse (Post Danmark)

27 March 2012 157

Looking back at a 2012 highlight: Post Danmark* Looking back at 2012 antitrust developments and browsing through this blog, I was surprised not to see any posting on what was in my view a major highlight of the past year, namely the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment in Post Danmark (...)

Damien Gerard EU Court of Justice Advocate General Kokott renders her opinion in the Czech gas insulated switchgear case holding that the principle ne bis in idem does not preclude NCAs from prosecuting the same cartel with respect to different territories or periods (Toshiba)

8 September 2011 530

AG Kokott’s Opinion in Toshiba: framing the application of the ne bis in idem principle in EU competition law enforcement* One of the main concerns raised by the decentralization of EU competition law enforcement related to the risk of different competition authorities prosecuting and (...)

Damien Gerard The CJEU Advocate General Sharpston addresses the scope of the EU Courts’ jurisdiction over antitrust cases and fines (KME Germany)

10 February 2011 35

AG Sharpston’s Opinion in KME: a new step toward full appellate jurisdiction in antitrust cases (imposing fines)?* On February 10, Advocate General (AG) Sharpston issued her Opinion in the KME case (C-272/09 P – here), an appeal brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against a (...)

Damien Gerard The ECJ Advocate General Sharpston addresses the scope of the EU Courts’ jurisdiction over antitrust cases and fines (KME Germany)

10 February 2011 921

Damien Gerard The EU Competition Commissioner speaks on due process and competition enforcement underlining the importance of judicial review by European Courts

17 September 2010 390

The scope of judicial review in question* In a speech delivered on 17 September 2010 at the IBA annual competition conference, Commissioner Almunia engaged the audience on the sensitive topic of due process and competition enforcement. Among the reasons justifying his overall satisfaction with (...)

Damien Gerard The EU Court of Justice sets aside the first judgment of the General Court annulling a commitment decision and dismisses breaches of the principle of proportionality and due process standards by the Commission (Alrosa)

29 June 2010 405

Alrosa, negotiated procedures and the procedural economy/due process conundrum – one step forward, three steps back?* Friends of the blogosphere: greetings! There was something refreshing in the judgment rendered in 2007 by the General Court (GC) in the Alrosa case (T-170/06). If somewhat (...)

10226 Review

Damien Gerard Damages Claims for the Infringement of EU Competition Law

December 2015 3487

Damages claims for harm caused by the infringement of EU (and national) competition law have become a practical reality. These claims significantly increase companies’ financial exposure for antitrust violations. Their emergence has disrupted in many ways the competition law enforcement (...)

Damien Gerard EC competition law enforcement at grips with the financial crisis: Flexibility on the means, consistency in the principles

February 2009 6739

La crise financière constitue actuellement la préoccupation majeure des dirigeants politiques et économiques en Europe et dans le monde. Elle a fait l’objet de nombreux commentaires ces derniers mois, en ce compris à propos de la contribution de l’Union européenne à la définition d’une possible (...)