Dirk Schroeder’s practice focuses on EU and competition law including EU and German merger control, cartels, and monopolies.

He represents clients before the European Commission, the German Federal Cartel Office, the European Courts and German courts. He has extensive experience in the postal, telecommunications, media, chemical, oil, energy, and health care industries.

Dirk joined the firm as a partner in 2003 and became a senior counsel in 2022.

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Notable Experiences

  • Baxter, a health care company, on various competition law issues including on the merger control aspects of its acquisition of Gambro.

  • Deutsche Telekom in its appeal before the General Court and the Court of Justice of the EU regarding an EU Commission decision concerning Slovak Telekom’s behavior on broadband internet access markets.

  • The Dow Chemical Company on various matters, including Dow and DuPont’s merger of equals.

  • International Post Corporation with respect to intercompany pricing in the postal industry.

  • Masco Corporation in the appeal against the European Commission’s decision finding an infringement of EU competition law in the bathroom fixtures and fittings sector before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

  • Otis Elevators (a UTC company) on a number of follow-on damages claims related to the elevator cartel before various German local courts.

  • Valeo on a follow-on damages claim related to the thermal systems cartel before the First Regional Court in Munich.

  • Whiteland in preliminary ruling proceedings before the Court of Justice of the EU brought by the Romanian Court of Justice.

  • Several industry associations on the antitrust aspects of their activities.

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SELECTED ACTIVITIES

  • Co-editor, Frankfurter Kommentar zum Kartellrecht
  • Co-editor, Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb, 2006-2022

  • Professor, University of Cologne
  • Board Member, Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht (German competition law association), 2000-2018, Honorary Member since 2019
  • Member, Professional Rules Committee, Deutscher AnwaltVerein (German Lawyers Association), 1988-2018

Publications

§ 36 Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (commentary on substantive German merger control law), in: Frankfurter Kommentar zum Kartellrecht, W. Jaeger, J. Kokott, P. Pohlmann, D. Schroeder, D. Seeliger (ed.), instalments 99 and 100, 2021.

Note on the Federal Court of Justice’s CTS Eventim/Four Artists decision of January 12, 2021, in: Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb (WuW) 2021, p. 354 et seq.

„Innovationswettbewerb in der Fusionskontrolle“, in: Festschrift für Gerhard Wiedemann, p. 521 et seq., 2020.

Wettbewerbsbeschränkende Vereinbarungen zwischen Konkurrenten (horizontale Vereinbarungen), Einzelfragen, in: G. Wiedemann (ed.), Handbuch des Kartellrechts, § 9 A-D, 4th ed., 2020.

Art. 4 EU-Fusionskontrollverordnung (commentary on Article 4 EUMR), in: Münchener Kommentar zum Wettbewerbsrecht, F.J. Säcker, F. Bien, P. Meier-Beck, F. Montag (ed.), 3rd ed., 2020.

„Weniger Wettbewerbsfälle in Luxemburg und was sich dagegen tun ließe“, in: Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb (WuW) 2018, p. 362 et seq.

Art. 101 AEUV (konzerninterne Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen, kooperative Gemeinschaftsunternehmen, Vereinbarungen zwischen Wettbewerbern), in: Grabitz/Hilf/Nettesheim, Das Recht der Europäischen Union, para. 450-844, 2018.

“Finanzkraft in der Fusionskontrolle”, in: Liber amicorum Michael Oppenhoff, p. 299 et seq., 2017.

“Der SIEC-Test in der deutschen Fusionskontrolle”, in: Festschrift für Wulf-Henning Roth, p. 583 et seq., 2015.

“Die Behandlung von Optionen in der Fusionskontrolle”, in: Festschrift für Cornelis Canenbley, p. 411 et seq., 2012.

“Der Prognosezeitraum in der Fusionskontrolle”, in: Festschrift für Franz Jürgen Säcker, p. 985 et seq., 2011.

“Antitrust Damages – Where Does Europe Stand in Relation to the US?”, in: C. Baudenbacher (ed.), Current Developments in European and International Competition Law – 17th St. Gallen International Competition Law Forum 2010, p. 435 et seq., 2011.

“Normative and institutional limitations to a more economic approach”, in: J. Drexl, W. Kerber and R. Podszun (ed.), Competition Policy and the Economic Approach – Foundations and Limitations, p. 279 et seq., 2011.

“Die Anwendung des SIEC-Tests in der EU-Fusionskontrolle”, in: Festschrift für Georg Maier-Reimer, p. 639 et seq., 2010.

“The Merger Control Patchwork”, Legal Issues of Economic Integration [37], p. 5 et seq., 2010.