VVGB Partners

Marco C.E.J. Bronckers

Marco C.E.J. Bronckers has a leading reputation in international trade law and as an EU competition law practitioner. He has argued before EU and national courts, WTO panels and the WTO Appellate Body. Much of his practice has involved a blend of law and policy.

Education

• LLD, University of Amsterdam, 1985
• LLM, University of Michigan, 1980
• JD, University of Amsterdam, 1979

Professional Activities

Mr. Bronckers serves as a part-time professor of law at the University of Leiden, where he holds the chair of WTO and EU international trade law. He is an associate editor of the Journal of International Economic Law, and on the advisory board of the European Journal of Risk Regulation. He is a member of various professional bodies, such as the Brussels Antitrust Group, and lectures and publishes widely. He was a member of the WTO Permanent Group of Experts on Subsidies from 1999-2004.

Honors and Awards

Mr. Bronckers is highly recognized in his areas of practice. A recent selection of nominations includes: Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers (2010); Chambers Europe (2010); International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers (2010); Practical Law Company (recommended as EU Competition and EU Telecommunications practitioner) (2010); Legal 500 for Customs & Trade (2010).

Bar Admissions

• Brussels

Languages

• Dutch
• English
• French
• German

A Selection of Recent Matters

• Represents an Asian multinational company in an EU cartel investigation, and advises on various competition and regulatory matters across the EU
• Represents an Italian company in data sharing negotiations with a Japanese multinational company in the chemical sector
• Advises a French agricultural federation on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
• Represents a US multinational in an EU court appeal regarding an EU antidumping measure
• Advises non-EU producers of fertilizers on national and EU anti-terrorist legislation including potentially discriminatory marketing restrictions

Experience

In international trade law, Mr. Bronckers became the first lawyer in private practice to represent a government in government-to-government litigation before a GATT panel in Geneva (in 1988). He also was the first lawyer to represent a European company in a formal complaint about a foreign trade measure, which ultimately led to GATT-condemnation of a US trade law (the Section 337 case, in 1989). Since the late 1980s he also acted in several trade cases outside the GATT. For instance, he represented the International Federation of Phonogram Industries in an EU complaint against Indonesia following the piracy of the ‘Live Aid’ concert for famine relief in Africa, which led Indonesia to amend its copyright laws.

With the establishment of the GATT's successor, the WTO, in 1995, Mr Bronckers has advised governments and industries on a variety of WTO issues, ranging from agricultural policy, antidumping measures, taxation, subsidies, the protection of intellectual property rights, postal and telecommunications services, biotechnology, and the environment. In addition, he counsels on the classic trade instruments (antidumping, safeguards, cvd, GSP, import and export regulation and customs law). He appeared before WTO panels and the Appellate Body in several cases. Recently he has been involved in the China cars and China intellectual property, the EU's implementation of the Information Technology Agreement, India wine taxes, and EU Bananas disputes before the WTO. He has advised several countries on FTA negotiations with the EU. He has also represented parties in several high-profile settlements (Taiwan-compulsory patent licenses in consumer electronics; Chile-Swordfish). From 1999-2004 he served a term as one of the WTO’s five person Permanent Group of Experts on Subsidies.

In competition law, for many years his practice focused on the liberalisation of the European public utility sectors, to start with in the postal sector in the 1990s.  He also did a considerable amount of telecoms work, and acted on the opening up of the electricity markets. For instance, when his home jurisdiction, the Netherlands, adopted a new competition law in 1998, he successfully represented the complainant, Norsk Hydro, in the first case that led to a (multi-million euro) fine in August 1999, confirmed on appeal in May 2004. He assisted FIFA in negotiations with the European Commission that led to a ground-breaking agreement in March 2001 on a new regime for the international transfers of soccer players. More recently he advised an international consortium on the renegotiation of major bundle of contracts in the natural gas sector.

Publications and Related Information

Marco has published articles on a variety of subjects and has had many speaking engagements. The publications listed at the bottom of this page can be downloaded.

Download some of his publications here

• Legal remedies under the EC’s new chemicals legislation REACH: Testing a new model of European governance
• A Review of the WTO Regime for Telecommunications Services
• Bronckers The Relationship of the EC Courts with other international Tribunals Non-Committal, Respectful or Submissive
• Private Appeals to WTO Law_An Update_Journal of World Trade
• Trade Retaliation is a Poor Way to Get Even

Contact

E-mail:marco.bronckers@vvgb-law.com
Tel.: +32 2 542 0780, +32 2 210 5981
Fax: +32 2 534 5888