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Laura van Kruijsdijk

Laura van Kruijsdijk is an associate who advises national and international companies from a wide variety of industries on all aspects of international and Belgian antitrust law, including multi-jurisdictional merger control, cartel and leniency issues, abuse of dominance cases and compliance.

Laura has represented clients before the European Commission, the General Court of the EU, the Belgian Competition Authority, the Belgian courts, and the Flemish media regulator.

Laura completed several internships in national and international law firms. In the spring of 2017, Laura completed a traineeship at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition.

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In Enel, a judgment of 12 May 2022 (C-377/20), the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) complemented the framework for analysing exclusionary abuses developed in earlier case-law, notably where it applies to a context of market liberalisation:

  • Abuse: The concept of “abuse” relates to conduct that departs from “competition on the merits”. Conduct that an equally efficient competitor can replicate is generally not abusive (“equally efficient competitor test”).
  • Anti-competitive effects: While it is not necessary to demonstrate actual anti-competitive effects or the company’s intention to carry out an exclusionary strategy, such factors are relevant in assessing whether the conduct is abusive or not.
  • Harm: Conduct that harms consumers indirectly as a result of its effect on the structure of the market is per se abusive; it is not required to demonstrate an actual or potential direct harm to consumers.
  • Objective justification: The prohibition set out in Article 102 TFEU does not prohibit   conduct that is objectively justified and proportionate, or where the behaviour is counterbalanced or outweighed by pro-consumer efficiency-benefits.

The judgment largely endorses the opinion of Advocate General Rantos (see our blog post), but adds some important nuance.Continue Reading The CJEU sets out an analytic framework on exclusionary abuses in the context of market liberalisation