Regulated industries

Energy, electronic communications, transport, postal services, online gaming - all these industries are subject to specific, complex and constantly evolving rules, not just for technical reasons, but especially because these markets have been opened to competition within Europe, which raises a number of issues.

Competition is regulated according to shared principles and is generally overseen not only by the Government but also, and increasingly, by independent regulatory authorities that have broad powers.

Regardless of your industry, whether you are a historical operator or new entrant, an infrastructure manager or a competitive player, the support we can offer you is based on:

• in-depth knowledge of these markets and their technical-economic specificities;
• a multidisciplinary approach to your legal issues. 

Network industries that, in France, were historically structured as vertically integrated monopolies were opened to competition on the basis of rules that generally originated in European Union law and which simultaneously refer to domestic public law, competition law and the law of civil and commercial obligations: awarding licenses to conduct activities, right of regulated access to rare resources, legal or accounting separation of the various activities, regulated services and price setting, maintenance of a “reserved sector” dedicated to public service missions, contractualisation of relations between market players, organisation of invitations to tender, dispute resolution, development of soft law, etc.

With nine lawyers, two of whom are partners, the regulated industries team has the required expertise to understand your strategic challenges, examine them in light of the applicable legal framework and deliver operational services. We support our clients proactively in all types of assignments related to regulatory issues (advice, public consultations conducted by the regulatory authorities, institutional support, etc.). We also support and represent them in all forms of dispute resolution: administrative litigation, dispute resolution before sector-specific regulatory authorities (ARCEP, CRE, ARAFER, ARJEL), litigation before commercial courts, complaints to the European Commission or national competition authorities and proceedings before the competition authorities.