


Ingrid Vandenborre
Ingrid Vandenborre is a partner at Skadden based in their Brussels office. Her practice focuses on EU and international merger control and competition law enforcement. Ms. Vandenborre has been consistently named as a leading practitioner in Who’s Who Legal guides in both competition and life sciences, as well as repeatedly in Chambers Global, Chambers Europe and The Legal 500 EMEA. In 2022, she was named Lawyer of the Year by Global Competition Review and, in 2021, was named to GCR’s Women in Antitrust list and recognized for her representation of Aspen Pharmacare in relation to the European Commission’s Article 102 investigation of the company’s pricing practices, which was named European Behavioural Matter of the Year by the publication. In addition, she was named a 2021 Competition MVP by Law360, a 2021 Litigation Star for Belgium - Competition/Antitrust by Benchmark Litigation Europe and Competition Lawyer of the Year at Benchmark Litigation Europe’s 2020 Awards, which also recognized her work advising Aspen as an Impact Case of the Year. She currently serves as nongovernmental adviser to the intergovernmental International Competition Network.
Distinctions
Nominee, 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Private Enforcement
Nominee, 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Mergers
Nominee, 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, General Antitrust
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Procedure
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Private Enforcement
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Mergers
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, General Antitrust
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, Private Enforcement
Nominee, 2018 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, General Antitrust
Nominee, 2017 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Procedure
Winner, 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Procedure
Nominee, 2015 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, Dominance
Nominee, 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, General Antitrust
Nominee, 2013 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Unilateral Conduct
Nominee, 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Anticompetitive Practices






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Articles
25319 Bulletin
394
Starting today, October 12, 2023, the mandatory notification requirements under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) apply. M&A deals involving businesses that (i) have been granted certain levels of financial support from non-EU governments and (ii) meet prescribed financial (...)
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On 12 July 2023, the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) enters into force. The FSR allows the European Commission (EC) to investigate and remedy subsidies received from non-EU countries that distort the EU internal market. The FSR introduces a new merger review regime, separate from and (...)
152
On April 25, 2023, the UK Government published its long-awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (Bill) which, among other things, introduces a new ex ante regulatory regime for digital markets. The Bill largely follows the Spring 2022 proposals made in the government’s (...)
103
On 25 April 2023, the UK government published the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (Bill), which will introduce wide-ranging amendments to the UK competition and consumer law regimes that expand the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and significantly alter (...)
1569
Since the last special edition of e-Competitions on restrictions of parallel trade, there have been a number of national competition authority cases that have helped clarify and confirm this area of antitrust law. Often these have been in familiar sectors where parallel trade has been in the spotlight historically, such as pharmaceuticals and household products. We highlight some of the most interesting ones below. And in a world where offline and online channels overlap and the treatment of online sales has particular implications for the assessment of trade restrictions, perhaps of most significance overall has been the European Commission’s decision in Guess and the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (‘‘VBER’’), which came into force on 1 June this year. Trademark exhaustion has also regularly come up in the context of parallel trade restrictions and we highlight a number of recent cases in this foreword. Brexit, of course, has brought trade between the UK and European Union into sharp focus, also with respect to trademark exhaustion. Here the future remains somewhat uncertain, as we discuss below.
51
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 12 October 2022. The legislation, which regulates large technology platforms, enters into force on 1 November 2022 (20 days after publication) and the notification and review process by which the (...)
202
If you (i) receive some form of financial support from foreign (non-EU) governments, and (ii) have activities or are planning to acquire a business in the EU, then you will want to read on. Following political agreement among legislators, the European Union (EU) Foreign Subsidies Regulation (...)
119
EU and UK Revamp Antitrust Rules on Distribution Arrangements* Significantly updated antitrust rules governing common distribution practices took effect in both the European Union and U.K. on June 1, 2022. These constitute a significant change in policy and provide greater clarity to (...)
374
On April 20, 2022, the U.K. government announced amendments to the U.K. competition and consumer law regimes. Changes to merger control include: Expanded conditions for killer acquisitions, which will eliminate the need for a U.K. overlap in acquirer and target activities intended to cover (...)
294
The European Commission (Commission) is accepting public comment on its proposed revisions to European Union regulations and guidance on common competitor cooperation arrangements, which are due to expire on 31 December 2022. Cooperation agreements among existing or potential competitors (...)
398
On January 26, 2022, the EU General Court (the Court) annulled the European Commission’s (the Commission) decision that Intel had abused its dominant position regarding its x86 central processing unit (CPU) computer chips and the imposition of a €1.06 billion fine. The judgment demonstrates (...)
302
On September 22, 2021, the European General Court issued its judgment upholding the decision by the European Commission (Commission) to fine Altice for gun-jumping in the acquisition of Portugal Telecom (PT) in 2015. The General Court did grant Altice a limited 5% reduction of part of the (...)
260
On September 22, 2021, the European General Court issued its judgment upholding the decision by the European Commission (Commission) to fine Altice for gun jumping in the acquisition of Portugal Telecom (PT) in 2015. The General Court did grant Altice a limited 5% reduction of part of the (...)
720
The U.K. government is consulting on far-reaching reforms to U.K. competition and consumer laws, which would substantially expand the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and reduce procedural protections. Key proposals include: Merger control jurisdiction enlarged: The CMA (...)
256
1. Summary The European Union and the United Kingdom have each proposed modifications of their antitrust rules on distribution. The proposals diverge significantly on common distribution practices, creating legal challenges for distribution agreements caught by both sets of rules. Dual (...)
563
The European Commission (EC) has proposed legislation to curb M&A, public procurement and market conduct by foreign-subsidized companies that may distort the European Union’s internal market. New requirements include: Mandatory notification of acquisitions where the target’s EU turnover (...)
1797
The new Article 22 EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) Guidance released by the European Commission (EC) enables the EC to review any acquisition, even those that do not qualify for notification under national (or EU) merger control rules. Summary The new guidance indicates that the EC will (...)
60
Takeaways More than 50 countries now have the discretion to conduct competition reviews of mergers below mandatory notification thresholds, and the European Commission, EU member states, the U.K. and others are using this authority more frequently. As a consequence, companies whose merger (...)
386
The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has released new merger assessment guidelines that confirm the U.K. regulator’s intensified approach to merger control. The guidelines largely codify the CMA’s recent output, which includes record-high numbers of prohibitions and deal (...)
372
Commissioned by the U.K. government to review its antitrust regime, Conservative Member of Parliament John Penrose’s “Power to the People” report proposes streamlined, modest changes rather than wholesale reform to the current regime. The report’s recommendations are outlined below: Merger (...)
463
The European Union (EU)-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) governing post-Brexit trade relations between the U.K. and the EU includes provisions regulating EU/U.K. antitrust enforcement and cooperation effective January 1, 2021: Anticompetitive practices and mergers. The TCA provides (...)
114
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has advised the U.K. government to create additional competition rules for large tech firms and platforms: Large tech firms considered to have “strategic market status” (SMS) should be subject to an enforceable code of conduct to prevent (...)
120
Following its review of a series of global deals in the digital markets space, the U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (the CMA) has launched a consultation on revised merger assessment guidelines (the draft guidelines) codifying its evolving practice in the digital sector and (...)
215
Sustainability issues are increasingly high on the list of competition policy priorities both at the European Union and member state levels. The European Commission (EC) and national competition authorities are actively rethinking how competition policy can better support the transition to (...)
197
The European Commission (EC) has proposed far-reaching new powers to investigate and sanction foreign subsidies that have allegedly distortive effects on the European Union’s (EU) internal market. The proposals include: (i) mandatory notification of acquisitions, including potentially (...)
124
The European Commission’s (EC) June 2020 white paper proposing wide-ranging controls over foreign-subsidized companies’ access to Europe’s internal market has received fresh impetus. In a report issued earlier this month, the European Union’s (EU) audit body faulted the EC for a hitherto (...)
52
In this series, “Critical Thinking in the Time of COVID-19,” our European tax practice examines the next stage of analysis for corporates that have begun digesting the economic and legal impact of COVID-19 on their businesses. This edition covers the area of European fiscal state aid. EU (...)
164
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly around the world, and countries take unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the disease, businesses are increasingly struggling with the economic impact of this crisis. While airlines, tour operators and event businesses have been among the (...)
255
The UK Court of Appeal Overturns the CAT & Imposes Agency Discretion on Excessive Price Benchmark* On March 10, 2020, the England and Wales Court of Appeal (CoA) handed down a significant ruling that reintroduces agency discretion in the methodology used to establish the unfairness of (...)
118
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published “Guidance on the Functions of the CMA Under the Withdrawal Agreement” (Guidance), which sets out the regulator’s approach to merger and competition cases during the Brexit transition period that will run until at least through (...)
246
A recent decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), Tobii AB (publ) v. Competition and Markets Authority, confirms a deferential standard for the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in its merger prohibitions. The CMA is widely regarded as a thought leader among merger (...)
106
This article has been nominated for the 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. A recent Court of Appeal decision has reignited the prospects of a £14 billion class action against Mastercard. In a much-anticipated ruling, the court has (...)
61
On April 4, 2019, the European Commission published a report prepared by three special advisers (the Advisers) appointed by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to explore how EU competition policy should evolve in the digital age. In the report, the three authors, all academics, (...)
207
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued its first antitrust decision since obtaining competition law powers four years ago. The decision is a controversial one. It sets the FCA up as a strict enforcer on the type of information that competing investors can share when making (...)
130
This article has been nominated for the 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. On 26 July 2018, US company Qualcomm Inc announced the abandonment of its proposed acquisition, through its subsidiary Qualcomm River Holding BV (Qualcomm), of (...)
840
On November 23, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) dealt a blow to the European Commission’s (Commission) power to close antitrust investigations with commitment decisions, with its ruling in Case C-547/16 Gasorba et al. v. Repsol. The Court of Justice ruled (...)
425
On 26 October 2017, the European Commission (the Commission) opened an in-depth investigation into UK statutory rules that exempt certain financing income earned by foreign subsidiaries of UK corporate taxpayers from UK tax. The Commission’s investigation will focus on whether the UK (...)
936
On September 6, 2017 ,the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) quashed the 2014 judgment of the General Court (GC) that upheld a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel Corporation Inc. (Intel) for abusing a dominant market position by implementing loyalty rebates based on (...)
561
On 10 May 2017, two years after launching its e-commerce sector inquiry on 6 May 2015, the European Commission published its final report (Final Report) on the inquiry. The inquiry was opened in the framework of the Commission’s broader Digital Single Market strategy, which was aimed at (...)
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The German Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) has announced that it has initiated proceedings against Facebook for the company’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in a market for social networks. The FCO appears to be taking the position that, as a firm with a possibly dominant position, (...)
856
On October 6, 2015, the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) issued an important judgment clarifying the application of Article 102 to retroactive loyalty rebates (Post Danmark AS, Case C 23/14). The case, which had been referred to the ECJ by the Danish Commercial Court, concerned rebates for (...)
765
This article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. China’s Anti-Monopoly Law requires businesses to notify transactions to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) for merger control review, so long as the parties (...)
1250
Since the last special edition of e-Competitions on restrictions of parallel trade, there have been a number of national competition authority cases in the good old familiar sectors – for example the automotive or fast moving consumer goods sectors. Where the foreword to the last special edition remarked that national authorities seemed at times to be taking a permissive approach to limitations to parallel trade by the standards of the European Commission, enforcement in recent years has shown a more stringent approach towards restrictions on parallel imports. However, issues surrounding restrictions of parallel trade have recently risen to the forefront of the EU Commission’s agenda tackling the challenges posed by the increasing importance of digital commerce. And it would seem only appropriate to say a few words on those in what has been one of the first digital EU competition law magazines…
206
On May 6, 2015, the European Commission (Commission) launched an antitrust sector inquiry into the e-commerce sector. This sector inquiry is part of the Commission’s broader Digital Single Market Strategy, which aims inter alia to improve access for consumers and businesses to online goods and (...)
620
Introduction A review of the Article 102 TFEU decisions at the member state level in the last years shows that the challenges of applying competition law rules in the digital economy or in relation to patent rights have not been reserved exclusively for the EU Commission. The EU Commission has (...)
284
The Electronic Intellectual Property Center of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released a draft “Template for Intellectual Property Policies in Industry Standardization Organizations” (the Draft Template), seeking public comments by January 30. The Draft (...)
191
The Dutch competition authority (the Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM) has issued two decisions imposing fines on private equity firms for the participation of their portfolio company in the so-called flour cartel. The ACM’s decisions apply EU competition law in imposing parental (...)
1733
This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. On July 9, 2014, the European Commission published its proposal (White Paper) outlining the approach it intends to adopt with respect to the application of the (...)
883
In a long-awaited judgment issued on June 12, 2014, the General Court upheld in its entirety the European Commission’s May 13, 2009, decision imposing a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel for abusing a dominant position in the market for x86 CPUs. In particular, the court upheld the (...)
564
In a judgment that may expand civil damage liability for cartel participants significantly (Case C-557/12, Kone AG and Others, judgment of June 5, 2014), the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) has ruled that a cartel’s members are liable for “umbrella damages,” which are caused by price (...)
302
EU Institutions Reach Compromise on EU Directive on Private Damage Actions* On March 18, 2014, representatives of the European Commission (the Commission), the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a compromise in relation to key provisions of the proposed EU (...)
734
On June 20, 2013, the European Commission (Commission) launched a public consultation on a number of significant proposed changes to the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR). The proposed amendments relate to (i) the possible review of non-controlling minority shareholdings under the EUMR; (ii) the EU (...)
492
This article has been nominated for the 2013 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. 1. Introduction Regulation 1/2003 obliges member states to apply Articles 101 and 102 to commercial practices which have an effect on interstate trade in (...)
303
This article has been nominated for the 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Competition authorities around the globe are taking an increasingly active part in the pursuit of civil claims for damages for antitrust infringements. The (...)
174
On December 14, 2010, the European Commission (the Commission) published a package of measures containing revised rules and guidelines for the assessment of cooperation agreements between competitors (horizontal cooperation agreements). In particular, these measures provide new and more (...)
466
On September 9, 2010, the General Court of the EU (the Court) issued its judgment in Tomra vs. Commission (Case T-155/06), dismissing an appeal brought by Tomra against a European Commission decision imposing a €24 million fine for abuse of its dominant position in Germany, Austria, Sweden, (...)
245
On June 9, 2010, the EU’s General Court (Court) issued its judgment on an appeal by Editions Odile Jacob (EOJ) against a decision by the European Commission (the Commission) refusing to disclose certain documents relating to the Commission’s review under the EC Merger Regulation of the (...)
307
On April 20, 2010, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted its new, long-awaited Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (the VBER) and accompanying guidelines applicable to distribution agreements in the EU. The VBER, which will enter into force on June 1, 2010, replaces Regulation (...)
5137 Review
1433
Big data is changing the competitive landscape of the banking industry. Banks are using new technologies (blockchain, artificial intelligence) and exploit large databases to offer new services to their clients. New players (FinTechs, Big Techs) are also able to offer banking services online (...)
3704
The mandate of EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is slowly reaching an end. Undoubtedly it has been remarkable by the number of large scale merger, antitrust and state aid cases that made the headlines across both sides of the Atlantic. In this interview, Commissioner Vestager (...)
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