Pauline Kuipers

I am a partner in our NL office, based in The Hague, where I was one of its founding lawyers in 2001.

Today, I lead our International Competition and EU Law Group and head our Competition Group in the Netherlands, providing our clients with wide-ranging expertise in EU & competition law, particularly in regulated sectors and on the interface between IP and competition law. I am also a member of our ESG steering group.

On the basis of my EU law expertise, I advise many global companies on ESG regulatory developments, particularly CRSD and CSDDD, and help them understand how these regulations affect their business and what it means in terms of compliance.

In The Netherlands, I lead the team dealing with cartel procedures, abuse of dominance matters, and merger notifications to the Dutch competition authority and European Commission. We also co-ordinate multi-jurisdictional merger filings and foreign investment screenings, and deal with private enforcement actions, regulation of network industries.

Meanwhile, my expertise in IP law enables me to advise in matters at the convergence of competition law and intellectual property, such as licensing arrangements and other technology transfer agreements, standardisation discussions, 'refusal to license' issues, FRAND licensing, and abuse of IP rights.

In addition, we advise on competition rules on undertakings granted special or exclusive rights by the state, including state aid and foreign subsidies.

I teach competition law in the Professional Education for In-House Lawyers courses and publish regularly on competition law topics. Over the years I have served on the board of the Dutch Competition Law Association and been Secretary General of the International League of Competition Law.