Chillin'Competition

Living and working in Brussels offers the opportunity to talk and meet with practitioners from all sides. In this context, a lunch with colleagues may help bring new perspectives on issues.

On second thoughts, and as a matter of principle, one may question whether the appointment of a former official of the Commission’s legal service as hearing officer is as appropriate as mentioned in my tweet two days ago. Nothing to do with Wouter Wils’s brilliant legal skills (I am a great fan of his academic work). But in terms of neutrality, it is somewhat odd to appoint as a referee someone  who spent years defending the Commission’s decisions in Court against companies. I guess this may create a bias (or am I the one with a suspicious bias )? Much to the advantage of the companies facing Commission proceedings, however, is the fact that this particular hearing officer knows the case-law on fundamental rights inside out.