Our lawyers have been trailblazers for the new enthusiasm to integrate sustainability values into antitrust thinking. For many years a point of debate in academic circles, our team has shone a light where regulators and practitioners are now actively moving forward. Safe harbors are being identified in which businesses are able to cooperate in pursuit of environmental and social goals, without fear of being accused of collusion.
Recent Recognition
A Brussels-based Dechert team was recognized by the Financial Times in its “Innovative Lawyers Awards for Europe 2021” for achieving changes in competition law to accommodate sustainability initiatives requiring industry-wide coordination, such as promoting good environmental practices or paying a living income to farmers. Acting pro bono for the Fair Trade organization, the team advocated for a shift in the way the issue is treated by European competition authorities, so as to reassure those businesses that feared antitrust repercussions for cooperating with rivals over joint initiatives.
Recent Activities
Annual Symposium: Applying sustainability and environmental
considerations in competition analysis - a path to explore? European Law
and Economic Analysis (ELEA): the Competition Society — Bruges, Belgium (April 13, 2023)
Competition Law and Sustainability: Where Have We Reached? – Concurrences: Sustainability and Competition Policy (February 2023)
Event: Competition Policy and Social Sustainability event synopsis and recording (Fair Trade Advocacy Office; March 28, 2022)
Article: Hand in hand: EU competition policy embracing (environmental) sustainability (Spring 2022)
Event: GCR Connect: Sustainability & Cooperation 22 (February 23, 2022)
Event: GCR Interactive: Sustainability and Cooperation - Greenwashing or Virtue-Signalling? (April 2021)
Article: Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Sustainability and Competition Law (February 2021)
Chapter: Can Environmental Interests Trump an EUMR Decision?, Competition Law, Climate Change & Environmental Sustainability (February 2021)
Webinar: Sustainability Goals and Antitrust: Finding the Common Ground (September 2020)
Article: Cooperation on Climate Goals Can Expose Companies to Antitrust Risk (May 2020)
Chapter: CPI Antitrust Chronicle: Sustainability (Alec Burnside, Guest Editor) (July 2020)
Event: Sustainability and Competition Policy: Bridging Two Worlds to Enable a Fairer Economy (October 2019)
