Yves Botteman

Described by The Legal 500 EMEA as 'a very passionate young partner with brilliant knowledge of antitrust law and cases,' Yves Botteman represents companies in high-profile cartel investigations and has secured early termination without fines or very favorable outcomes in several recent European Commission proceedings. In that capacity, he works in close coordination with his US colleagues in order to devise the most effective defense strategy on both sides of the Atlantic, taking into account the benefits of cooperation and settlements with the antitrust regulators. He also advises companies in abuse of dominance litigation and antitrust commitments proceedings and has been instrumental in obtaining the necessary merger approvals in several large acquisitions and strategic joint ventures. With more than 15 years of experience in Brussels and Washington, Mr. Botteman has gained substantial exposure to the transport, media & internet, chemicals, automotive, mining, insurance and consumer products industries. Mr. Botteman frequently advises on competition issues arising from:

• Data-collection and information sharing activities within trade associations
• Patent and know-how licensing (including FRAND royalties in relation to the licensing of standard essential patents), and IP settlement agreements
• Distribution (in particular on online sales restrictions, resale price maintenance and most-favored-nation clauses)

He also frequently assists clients in implementing antitrust compliance programs and conducting audits. Mr. Botteman regularly speaks at the American Bar Association and other global antitrust fora on topical issues of EU competition law and lectures on the antitrust aspects of IP licensing. Mr. Botteman is admitted to practice in Belgium and in New-York. Representative matters

• Advising Rockwell Collins Inc. on the EU and third country merger control aspects of its acquisition of ARINC Inc
• Representing Japan Airlines on the 'metal neutral' joint venture with British Airways and Finnair on Europe/Japan routes
• Advising a leading provider of mobile satellite communications on EU and national merger control aspects of its acquisition of a leading supplier of martime data-link communications services
• Securing a favorable outcome for the REEL Group, a French engineering group, in the EC antitrust investigation against Rio Tinto Alcan
• Advising and representing an EU-based e-payment solution provider and an EU banking association in the EC antitrust investigation into e-payments
• Securing early termination of a number of EC cartel investigations without fines on behalf of a leading Asian chemical company
• Representing Japan Airlines in the EC probe into international passenger services between Europe and Japan
• Acting for Japan Airlines in the Commission's investigation into price-fixing in the air cargo sector
• Counseling various industry trade associations on standardization initiatives and on the compilation and dissemination of industry statistics

Publications

• Resale Price Maintenance and Most-Favored Nation Clauses: The Future Does Not Look Bright, CPI Antitrust Chronicle - November 2013 (Laura Atlee and Yves Botteman). The article reviews the European Commission (EC) and National Competition Authorities' (NCA) negative view of resale price maintenance and most-favoured nation clauses and concludes that businesses and practitioners that use either should be prepared for more antitrust investigations.
• Towards a More Sustainable Use of Commitment Decisions in Article 102 TFEU Cases, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement - 2013 (Yves Botteman and Agapi Patsa). The article explores the reasons underlying the European Commission's increasing reliance on commitments to conclude Article 102 TFEU investigations and analyses the detrimental effects that a commitment-based enforcement policy may have on EU competition law.
• Injunctive Relief as an Antitrust Violation or as an Enforcement Tool: An EU Antitrust Perspective, CPI Antitrust Chronicle - March 19, 2013 (Yves Botteman and Jean-François Guillardeau. The article explores the use of injunctive relief either as an antitrust violation or as an enforcement tool. The authors take a critical look at the possible theories of harm that the European Commission (EC) may put forward in the context of injunctive relief viewed as a violation of antitrust rules. The article then explores why interim measures have remained an unexploited enforcement tool and looks at whether the EC has alternative tools available for enforcing the antitrust laws in the face of threats of imminent and irreparable harm to competition.
• Access to File: Striking the Balance Between Leniency and Private Enforcement Tools, The European Antitrust Review 2013 | Global Competition Review - 2013 (Yves Botteman and Paul Hughes). The article addresses the issues raised by private plaintiffs' requests for access to the antitrust agency file, in particular leniency materials, in European civil damage litigations and their impact on antitrust agencies' ability to investigate and prosecute cartels.
• The Jurisdictional Reach of EU Anti-Cartel Rules: Unmuddling the Limits, European Competition Journal - August 1, 2012 (Yves Botteman and Agapi Patsa). The article provides an assessment of the European Commission's approach in asserting extra-territorial jurisdiction in cartel cases.
• "You Can't Beat the Percentage" ' The Parental Liability Presumption in EU Cartel Enforcement, The European Antitrust Review 2012 ' A Global Competition Review Special Report, 2011 - EU: Cartels and Leniency (Yves Botteman and Laura Atlee). The article discusses the EU General Court's June 16, 2011 judgment overturning the Commission's decision holding Air Liquide liable for the participation of its subsidiary Chemoxal in the Hydrogen Peroxide and Perborate cartel.
• "The European Commission's New Horizontal Co-operation Guidelines: Good Faith Disclosure and FRAND Commitment in the Context of Standardisation Agreements in the EU", EuroWatch - May 31, 2011 (Yves Botteman and Agapi Patsa).
• Allocating Cartel Fines Among Companies of a Group, Competition Policy International - May 12, 2011 (Yves Botteman and Laura Atlee). In this article the authors explore how the resulting fine ought to be allocated among a parent and its subsidiaries. In Siemens AG Ã?sterreich, the General Court (the "Court") clarified that when the Commission attributes joint and several liability to a parent it must consider: (i) the periods during which the parent effectively exercised control over the subsidiaries; and (ii) allocate, if need be, the amount covered by joint and several liability among those entities in order to reflect their liability for the infringement.
• (Minimum) Resale Price Maintenance Under the New Guidelines: A Critique and A Suggestion, The CPI Antitrust Journal, June 2010 (1) - June 15, 2010 (Yves Botteman). In this commentary, the authors discuss the Commission's new approach toward RPM. We also discuss an alternative approach to the assessment of RPM. Before doing so, it is important to note that, although much has been written since Leegin about RPM by economists and legal practitioners alike, there is relatively little empirical evidence on the actual effect of RPM on consumer welfare. At the same time, there seems to be broad recognition that RPM is generally harmful to consumers where there is either a certain degree of market power or a widespread use of RPM in a given market. Conversely, it is equally recognized that RPM can generate efficiencies overriding the negative price effect when it is used by a single or only a handful of suppliers without market power.
• Guidance On Enforcement Priorities Regarding Exclusionary Abuses: A Comparative Overview, Competition Policy International - December 2008 (Yves Botteman and Kenneth Ewing). The article discusses the new Guidance on enforcement priorities in relation to exclusionary abuses that the European Commission adopted on Wednesday 3 December 2008.

Back to Lexis®PSL Competition

About Lexis®PSL