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Fiona Carlin

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Fiona Carlin is the head of the EU Competition & Regulatory Affairs practice in Brussels. She is the former Chief Executive of much of Baker McKenzie’s EMEA Region and the former Chair of the Firm’s Global Competition and Antitrust Law Practice comprising more than 320 lawyers in over 40 countries. She has remained an active practitioner throughout her various leadership roles with a particular focus on regulated industries.
Fiona is also the Chair of the European Advisory Board of Catalyst, a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to expanding opportunities for women and business. She was a founding and long-standing member of Baker McKenzie's Global Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is dedicated to creating an inclusive high performance culture where the talent of our lawyers and business professionals can flourish.
Fiona has been listed in "The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers" since 2009, and is among Global Competition Review's Top 100 Women in Antitrust. Chambers quotes clients as citing her "legal and pragmatic advice" and describing her as "globally minded".

The new EU foreign subsidies regime will impact all multinational companies regardless of their country of origin. As of 12 October 2023, companies engaging in large transactions and bidding for large public procurement contracts in the EU are obliged to seek prior clearance from the European Commission. Implementing rules provide some welcome reporting relief, but the notification process requires that companies put in place mechanisms to track in real time a wide range of foreign financial contributions granted directly or indirectly from non-EU state funding

On 4 May 2023, Royal Excelsior Virton, a professional football club in Belgium’s second division, announced that it lodged a complaint against competing club SK Lommel with the European Commission under the new Regulation 2022/2560 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (“FSR”). This appears to be the first time the Commission is publicly asked to initiate an ex officio investigation under the FSR.

In a time of recession, competition law regulations do not change in their content or enforcement. On the contrary, it is vital for companies to remain compliant with applicable antitrust laws and continue their commercially independent behavior. We provided an overview perspective on key antitrust and competition trends for emerging markets including, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa and Saudi Arabia in 2023.

In our 60-minute webinar on 14 March 2023 at 3:00pm CET, we’ll help in-house counsel and competition leaders track what to keep top of mind for 2023 in emerging markets, including Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. We’ll also provide practical takeaways to help navigate the new landscape.

2023 is gearing up to be an interesting year for those in the life sciences sector, with upcoming reforms to the established regulatory and IP landscapes that will impact innovator strategies in R&D, commercialization, and patent enforcement. While reforms are currently under draft by the European Commission, the key areas of anticipated change are highlighted in a newly published article in The Life Sciences Lawyer.

EU flag in front of parliament

On 28 November 2022, the EU institutions formally adopted a Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market. The new rules will have a major impact on M&A transactions and will significantly increase the administrative burden facing many EU and non-EU companies doing business in Europe. The Regulation is part of a broader effort to protect the EU’s geopolitical “open strategic autonomy”. It aims to level the playing field by allowing the European Commission to intervene where foreign subsidies granted directly or indirectly by third countries threaten to distort the EU internal market.

The EU has politically agreed on the adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and will likely adopt it before the end of 2022. The CSRD will overhaul the current sustainability reporting landscape for all multinational companies with significant activities in the EU, including those headquartered outside the EU. The reporting obligations of the CSRD will progressively come into force between 2024 and 2028.

On 19 September 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal that would give the EU sweeping new powers to address shortages and supply chain disruptions of crisis-relevant and strategic goods and services in times of crisis. The proposed Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI) is the latest in a series of EU measures that will impact supply chains, including new proposals for rules on foreign subsidies, corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence, carbon taxes, deforestation, and, most recently, a proposal to prohibit products made with forced labor from the EU internal market. Once adopted, the SMEI will impose far-reaching obligations on EU firms.

The Annual Compliance Conference begins next week and attracts over 6,000 in-house senior legal and compliance professionals from across the world. This leading compliance conference will be held across five weeks from 6 September – 6 October 2022. We will be virtually delivering our cutting-edge insights and guidance on key global compliance, investigations and ethics issues. Our global experts will provide practical insights and analysis on significant developments:
• anti-bribery
• corruption and economic crime
• customs and FTAs
• ESG, supply chain and product compliance
• antitrust and competition
• export controls, sanctions and foreign investment

Click here to view the full agenda and register your interest in joining us virtually at this must attend global compliance conference for senior in-house legal and compliance professionals.

On 13 July 2022, the European General Court endorsed the European Commission’s ability to exert jurisdiction over transactions that do not trigger either EU or national merger control thresholds by virtue of the so-called Article 22 referral mechanism (Case T-227/21). With this ruling, the General Court has effectively validated a hybrid ex ante/ex post EU merger control regime. It is hoped that any future Article 22 intervention will remain exceptional.