White & Case
  Dr. Assimakis Komninos
Local Partner
Brussels

T: + 32 2 239 25 55
F: + 32 2 219 16 26
E:
Practice Experience
Assimakis (Makis) Komninos advises on questions of EU and Greek competition law, EU law, international arbitration and litigation and private international law. His practice focuses on complex cases of abuse of dominance and restrictive agreements, as well as on demanding procedural and legal questions arising in EU and national administrative and civil proceedings, including arbitration proceedings with antitrust elements.

He rejoined White & Case in September 2011 after serving for two years between 2009 and 2011 as a Commissioner and Member of the Board of the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC). As a Member of the HCC Board, he decided over twenty antitrust and merger cases. He also headed the Greek delegation at OECD and ICN meetings. In 2010 he was appointed by the Minister of Development a member of the Group of Experts that worked on the preparation of the 2011 new Greek Competition Act.

He was involved before the European Court of Justice in Syfait v. GlaxoSmithKline and Lélos v. GlaxoSmithKline (parallel trade of pharmaceuticals - abuse of dominance), and in GlaxoSmithKline Services v. Commission (parallel trade of pharmaceuticals - Article 101). He was also involved before the EU General Court in Microsoft v. Commission (compulsory licensing of interoperability information), GlaxoSmithKline Services v. Commission (parallel trade of pharmaceuticals - application of Article 101), Chalkor Metal Works v. Commission (copper plumbing tubes) and Public Power Corporation v. Commission (Greek lignites). He has also represented or advised clients in proceedings before the Greek, French and Cypriot competition authorities and Greek, Cypriot, Bulgarian and Latvian appellate courts and has particular expertise in arbitration cases involving EU and national competition issues, and in private antitrust litigation cases in national courts.

Dr. Komninos is currently a visiting professor at IREA - Université Paul Cézanne Aix - Marseille III and a visiting fellow of the Centre for Law and Governance in Europe at University College London (UCL), where he teaches EU competition law. He is often invited to give speeches and seminars on EU competition law, arbitration and Greek law and is a non-governmental advisor to the International Competition Network (ICN).

Other matters in which Dr. Komninos has been involved include:
  • Representing Coca-Cola Hellenic before the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal against a 2006 HCC infringement decision.
  • Representing a Greek company active in the salted snacks market in a complaint before the HCC against a dominant company.
  • Working on the legal defence of Rambus's European Commission case on the alleged failure to disclose patents in the context of standard-setting for "Dynamic Random Access Memory" chips (DRAMS).
  • Advising major pharmaceutical companies on their distribution systems.
  • Working on the EU competition law side in two major ICC arbitration cases involving liquefied natural gas supply and digital TV services.
  • Advising the major companies of a services market on EU competition law limitations of industry association meetings
  • Advising a major energy company on EU merger control and EU competition issues.
  • Advising a non EU government on EU agricultural policy issues, in particular on imports of butter to the EU.
  • Conducting EU competition compliance audits for major companies in the construction materials, cosmetics and food and drinks markets.
  • Advising a bank on questions of EU state aid law and on their relevance to an ICC arbitration proceeding.
  • Representing United States Council for International Business (USCIB) in its application to intervene before the European Court of Justice in the legal professional privilege Akzo case.

Bars and Courts
Brussels Bar (E list), 2004
Athens Bar (Greek Supreme Court), 1997

Education
LLB, University of Athens, Greece, summa cum laude, 1988-1992
LLM, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK, Onassis Foundation Scholar, 1993-1994
LLM, New York University School of Law, USA, Onassis Foundation & Fulbright Scholar, 1994-1995
PhD, European University Institute, Italy, 1998-2003

Professional Associations and Memberships
Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA)
Hellenic Branch of the International Law Association
Vice-president of the Brussels Chapter of the EUI Alumni Association
2007-2009: Executive director and finance officer of the Institute for Studies in Competition Law and Policy (IMEDIPA)
International Bar Association

Selected Publications

Click here for a full list of publications.

Books:
EC Private Antitrust Enforcement, Decentralised Application of EC Competition Law by National Courts, Hart Publishing, Oxford/Portland, 2008
Associate Editor, EC Competition Law: A Critical Assessment, Hart Publishing, Oxford/Portland, 2007 (General Editors: Giuliano Amato & Claus-Dieter Ehlermann)
Co-editor, The Euro: Law, Politics, Economics, The British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London, 2003 (with Jean-Victor Louis)

Articles:
"Arbitration and EU Competition Law in the Post-Modernisation Era," EU and US Antitrust Arbitration, Blanke & Landolt (Eds.), Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn, Pages 433-487, 2011
"Chapter 11: The Procedure in the Network," Competition Law of the European Community, Korah (Ed.), Matthew Bender, New York, Pages 11-1 – 11-75, 2010 (with Lefkothea Nteka)
"IP Rights in the EU Microsoft Saga," Competition Law and the Enforcement of Article 102, Etro & Kokkoris (Eds.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, Pages 83-98, 2010 (with Katarzyna Czapracka)
"EC Competition Law and Parallel Trade in Pharmaceutical Products," The Reform of EC Competition Law, New Challenges, Kokkoris & Lianos (Eds.), Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn, Pages 377-408, 2010 (with Anthony Dawes)
"Quantifying Antitrust Damages: Towards Non-binding Guidance for Courts," Study Prepared for the European Commission, December 2009 (with Oxera and Walter Beckert, Eric van Damme, Mathias Dewatripont, Julian Franks, Adriaan ten Kate & Patrick Legros)
"Chapter 10: The Procedure Before the Commission," Competition Law of the European Community, Valentine Korah (Ed.), Matthew Bender, New York, Pages 10-1 – 10-121, 2009 (with Anthony Dawes)
"A Missed Opportunity: Why the Guidance Paper Does not Increase Predictability or Advance the Debate," Concurrences, 2009(2), Pages 23-26 (with James Killick)
"Arbitration and Damages Actions post-White Paper: Four Common Misconceptions," Global Competition Litigation Review, 2(1), Pages 16-28, 2009 (with Markus Burianski)
"The EU White Paper for Damages Actions: A First Appraisal," Concurrences, 2008(2) Pages 84-92
"Effect of Commission Decisions on Private Antitrust Litigation: Setting the Story Straight," Common Market Law Review, 44(5), Pages 1387-1428, 2007
"Interim Measures against Commission Decisions in EC Competition Cases" [in Greek], Hellenic Review of European Law, 25(1), Pages 37-71, 2005
"Article 234 EC and National Competition Authorities in the Era of Decentralization," European Law Review, 29(1), Pages 106-114, 2004
"New Prospects for Private Enforcement of EC Competition Law: Courage v. Crehan and the Community Right to Damages," Common Market Law Review, 39(3), Pages 447-487, 2002
"Arbitration and the Modernization of European Competition Law Enforcement," World Competition, 24(2), Pages 211-238, 2001

Selected Speaking Engagements

Click here for a full list of speaking engagements.

"Relationship between Public and Private Enforcement," Integrating Public and Private Enforcement of Competition Law: Implications for Courts and Agencies, 16th EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop, Florence, 17-18 June 2011
Panellist at Roundtable of Authorities on Specific Issues in a National Context, European Competition Day, Budapest, 30 May 2011
Moderator of Break-out Session on "Investigating a Loyalty Discounts & Rebates Program," 10th ICN Annual Conference, The Hague, 20 May 2011
"Professional Associations and Competition Law," Global Competition Law and Economics Series Conference: Competition Law and the State, Hong Kong, 19 March 2011
Chairman of Sessions III and IV of the Second Topic, "The Judicial Application of Competition Law," FIDE Congress, Madrid, 5 November 2010
"Pricing Policies for Pharmaceuticals in Europe and their Impact upon Parallel Importation," 81st Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group Conference, Athens, 30 September 2010
"The Courts, Cartels and Optimal Enforcement," 9th Conference of the Association of European Competition Law Judges, Athens, 29 May 2010
"Damages Actions for Breach of the EC Antitrust Rules: Specific Issues," Annual Conference on European Consumer Law, Academy of European Law (ERA), Trier, 1-2 October 2009
"Parallel Trade Issues - The GlaxoSmithKline Cases and What They Mean for the Pharmaceutical Industry and Other Sectors," IBC Conference on Dominance and Pricing in Europe 2009, Brussels, 11 February 2009
"Implications of the Damages White Paper for Arbitration," Antitrust Litigation Conference, The Lawyer, London, 25 November 2008
"From Green to White: The Development of Community Policy on Private Enforcement," United Kingdom Association for European Law, Conference on Competition and Private Enforcement: The Next Steps, London, 4 July 2008
"Vertical Restraints, Parallel Imports and the Objective of Market Integration," Conference on Vertical Restraints in Comparative Competition Law, co-organised by University College London and Collège européen de Paris - Université Paris-II Panthéon Assas, Paris, 23 May 2008
"Competition Law Claims in Arbitration Proceedings," Global Competition Law Centre Lunch Talk Series, Brussels, 17 April 2008
"Fair, Reasonable and Non-discriminatory (FRAND) Licensing in the Wake of Microsoft," 2nd European University Institute Competition Day, Florence, Florence, 3-4 April 2008
"EC Competition Law and Parallel Trade in Pharmaceutical Products: Wholesaler Welfare or Consumer Welfare?," International Bar Association, 11th Annual Competition Conference, Florence, 7-8 September 2007
"The Interoperability Side of the Microsoft Case," European University Institute Competition Day, Florence, 25 November 2005
"Non-competition Concerns and Article 81," The Relationship Between Competition Law and (Liberal) Professions, 9th EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop, Florence, 11-12 June 2004
"Arbitration and EC Competition Law," Effective Private Enforcement of EC Antitrust Law, 6th EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop, Florence, 1-2 June 2001

Languages
English
French
German
Greek
Italian

Citizenship
Greece