Damien Gerard (Belgian Competition Authority): For a rigorous and effective competition policy anchored in market realities

Since becoming Prosecutor General of the Belgian Competition Authority in December 2021, Damien Gerard and his team have not been idle. The authority has been dealing with a flurry of merger reviews, including nearly issuing its first ever prohibition decision (before the transaction was abandoned by the parties) and seeing its (conditional) clearance decisions being challenged and upheld on appeal on two occasions by the Brussels Market Court. In addition, the Belgian Competition Authority has also been busy on the antitrust front, opening new investigations and also advancing and closing off pending cases. In this interview, Damien Gerard reflects on merger control enforcement in vertical and conglomerate cases, the acceptance of behavioural remedies as well as the use of Article 22 EUMR