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Dr. Robert Hardy, LL.M. (Harvard) is a Local Partner in the firm’s Amsterdam office. He advises clients on matters spanning a wide spectrum of economic sectors, including consumer products, energy, financial services, manufacturing, life sciences, TMT, and transportation.

Robert focuses his practice on:

Antitrust Litigation & Competition Regulation
International Trade
Regulatory & Compliance.

Antitrust Litigation & Competition Regulation

Robert’s practice covers a wide range of issues under European and Dutch competition law. He represents clients before the European Commission (EC), the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM), the Dutch administrative law courts, and the EU courts in matters relating to cartel defense, abuse of dominance, merger control, and State aid proceedings. Additionally, he represents clients before the Dutch civil law courts on issues relating to antitrust damages claims.

International Trade

Robert provides clients with guidance on ex-U.S. foreign investment review – e.g., foreign direct investment (FDI) / national security regimes –, intellectual property – standard essential patents (SEPs) and FRAND licensing disputes before the Dutch civil law courts –, transactions, import and export controls, and sanctions.

Regulatory & Compliance

Robert advises clients on a diverse range of EU and Dutch regulatory frameworks that impact business matters. He provides proactive and responsive advice and legal risk assessments to clients, assisting with day-to-day business transactions, counseling on the applicability and effect of regulations, and providing guidance on how to mitigate the risks of potential enforcement actions – e.g., helping clients build effective yet practical internal compliance programs, and advising companies on commercial agency, distribution, and franchise arrangements.

Robert is a member of the Amsterdam Sustainability Desk. The Sustainability Desk is available daily and provides assistance and support for real estate sustainability inquiries in the Netherlands and the EU. Please visit our dedicated Sustainability Desk page for more information.

On Dec. 15, 2021, the Hague District Court delivered its judgement in incident in Vestel v Philips c.s., published Jan. 18, 2022.2 The judgement in incident is part of a SEPs and FRAND licensing dispute between Vestel, on the one hand, and Philips, Advance, GEVC and IP Bridge on the other.

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For companies subject to U.S. economic sanctions regimes, compliance is complicated by Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 (EU Blocking Regulation), which was updated in 2018 in light of the U.S. position on Iran. An illustration of this can be found in the recent judgement by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) (Grand Chamber) in …

On Jan. 5, Mr. Mohammed Chamin – a Member of the European Parliament and the “rapporteur” on the proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public health and Food Safety (ENVI) – announced that a draft report on the CBAM proposal had been sent to shadow rapporteurs for discussion. This…

In March 2021, the Council of the European Union adopted Directive 2021/514 amending – for the sixth time – Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC). The Directive effectively introduces the seventh version of DAC (DAC7). EU Member States have until Dec. 31, 2022, to transpose the Directive into national…

On Dec. 9, 2021, the European Commission proposed the Platform Work Package, a set of measures intended to improve the working conditions of persons working through “digital labor platforms” in the EU and to support the sustainable growth of these platforms.

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On Nov. 17, 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products. The purpose of the regulation is to ensure that only “deforestation-free” and legal – according to the laws of the country of origin – products are allowed on the EU market.

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