Claire Simpson
Partner
d: +32 (0)2 790 48 50
m: +32 (0)473 13 00 91
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Areas of expertise
Industries
Languages
English
French
Dutch
Claire is a barrister with over 25 years of courtroom and advisory experience in EU/EEA competition, State aid and internal market law.

She brings clients a diverse perspective: she has worked in private practice (in barristers’ chambers in London), in-house (as Group Head of Competition Law at Euroclear) and most recently as EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) senior counsel, responsible for the pursuit and defence of competition and internal market cases before the EFTA Court and European Court of Justice (CJEU).

Claire’s advocacy work has covered complex competition cases and major cases on a wide range of substantive and procedural EU/EEA law issues. These include privacy and GDPR, free movement and consumer protection, tax law, financial services, fundamental rights, sport, State aid and principles of effectiveness and proportionality.

Among the landmark cases Claire has acted on are Google Shopping, Alphabet (Android Auto), Illumina/Grail, the Apple Ireland State aid tax case, Banco BPN and CK Telecoms. She has appeared regularly before the CJEU grand chamber.

In addition to her litigation expertise, Claire has an established track record of advising international business teams – whether on day-to-day pricing and product strategies or on novel cross-border projects involving multiple regulators and filings. Her time at Euroclear has given her a commercial understanding of the complexities of operating in a highly regulated sector.

Claire has an in-depth understanding of how the EU and EEA institutions work and reason. She worked particularly closely with the European Commission and national competition authorities during her time at ESA, where she advised its Competition and State Aid Directorate on procedural, jurisdictional and substantive issues relevant to complaints, investigations and dawn raids.

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Representative matters 

  1. Advised Gedeon Richter on its strategic acquisition of 100% of the shares in Estetra and Neuralis, as well as certain assets of Mithra Recherche et Développement, from Mithra Pharmaceuticals.
  2. Supported Nissha Metallizing Solutions in the negotiation and drafting of collective labour agreements.
  3. Assisted Indigo with its strategic acquisition of 100% of the shares in Apcoa, including a 50% stake in ParcBrux and Maatschap Parkeren Leuven.
  4. Acted for Bidfood in its strategic acquisition of 100% of the shares in the VDS Food Group.
  5. Provided assistance to Sopra Steria during information and consultation procedures related to the acquisition of Ordina, Tobania, and Python Predictions.

Professional

  1. Admitted as barrister, England and Wales, 1999
  2. Admitted as barrister, Ireland, 2018
  3. Admitted to Brussels Bar (Dutch-speaking section, EU-list), 2025

Academic

  1. LL.B. (Hons), University of Edinburgh, 1996
  2. LL.M. European Law, College of Europe, 1997
  3. LL.M. Competition Law and Economics, Brussels School of Competition, 2014, summa cum laude
  1. European Circuit
  2. Honourable Society of Inner Temple

Publications

  1. CJEU Revisits its Case-Law to Find Damages Can Be Claimed Before National Courts for Air Freight Cartel, Also During the Transitional Period: Case C-819/19 Stichting Cartel Compensation, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, Volume 14, Issue 1, January 2023, 28-30
  2. Judgment in C-617/17 PZU Zycie: ne bis in idem – First Steps towards a Twofold Test for idem?  Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, Volume 10, Issue 6, June 2019, 367-369
  3. Dominant firms and selective discounting in the EU: When is “meeting competition” a defence? European Competition Journal, 2016, Volume 12, Issue 1, 1-27

 

Speaking engagements 

  1. Information Exchange after Price Hunters and C-298/22 Banco BPN, CompLaw Nordic, Informa Connect, Stockholm, 25 March 2025 (panellist)
  2. Limits of Merger Control for the Quest of Contemporary Political Discourse, Merger Control for Competitive Europe, GCLC and W@Competition, Brussels, 16 January 2025 (panellist)
  3. Digital Markets Act: Practitioner Perspectives, Competition Law in the Digital Economy, CompLaw Advanced EU, Informa Connect, Brussels, 25 November 2024 (panellist)
  4. Judicial Review in EU Competition Law, Evidence, Proof and Judicial Review in EU Competition Law (2nd ed. book launch), EU Law Live and Elgar Publishing, Brussels, 29 May 2024 (panellist)
  5. Merger Control, Practical Perspectives: Article 22 EUMR, Illumina/Grail, CK Telecoms, CompLaw Nordic, Informa Connect, Stockholm, 14 March 2024 (panellist)
  6. Dominance and (Ab)use – Latest from the EU Courtroom, W@Competition Masterclass “Exercising Power”, Brussels, 30 November 2023 (speaker)
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Claire has acted in landmark cases, with broad and deep experience of representing private and public actors, commercial and non-commercial bodies before the EU courts across the spectrum of EU/EEA law.