Andrzej Kmiecik is a partner with Van Bael & Bellis, in their Brussels office, where he heads the competition law practice at the firm. He has particular expertise in merger control, cartels, dominance, distribution, pricing and intellectual property. He represents clients before the European Commission, the EU Courts and in national competition law proceedings. Andrzej’s practice covers a wide range of industries, including the automotive sector, pharmaceuticals, paper and board products, office equipment, consumer electronics, aerospace, shipping, petrochemicals, clothing and footwear, and financial infrastructure. Some of the high profile EU merger control cases he has handled include: Boeing/McDonnell Douglas; Enso/Stora; Boeing/Hughes; Caemi/Mitsui/CVRD; Boeing/Lockheed/ULA; SABIC/Huntsman; SABIC/GE Plastics; DFDS/CRO Ports/Älvsborg; Canon/IRIS (Art. 22 referral); Deutsche Börse/London Stock Exchange (for a complainant); and Boeing/Embraer. His experience in EU cartel investigations includes acting as defence counsel in: Newsprint; Amino Acids (also on appeal); Carbonless Paper (also on appeal); Publication Papers; Fine Papers; and Occupant Safety Systems (among other investigations in relation to car parts). He has handled both full adversarial and settlement proceedings, as well as making leniency applications at EU and national level. Andrzej has also successfully defended clients against complaints of exclusionary conduct before the European Commission, including Canon (ink jet consumables) and Honda (racing engine technology). He has a very active practice in the field of vertical agreements, and recently acted as defence counsel in one of the first cases in which the Commission’s novel cooperation procedure was used achieving a substantial reduction in the fine for the client. He also developed a niche practice in the field of motor vehicle distribution: he counsels and defends a number of manufacturers, combining extensive experience with in-depth industry knowledge. His experience extends to acting as counsel in major EU antitrust investigations involving the life sciences sector, including: Becton Dickinson/Novo Nordisk (diabetes care); Lederle/SKB (vaccines) and Chiron/DRK (blood screening). He was actively involved in the Commission’s pharmaceutical sector inquiry. He regularly lectures and writes on competition law matters.