Bas is a partner at bureau Brandeis, leading the European & Antitrust team. Bas has nearly 25 years of experience in the field of (European) competition law. He is a recognised specialist in the field of regulated markets (especially telecoms, media, mail and parcels, transport, data and mobility). Bas represents companies and their management in civil proceedings as well as before the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) and the European Commission. He has represented clients in more than 150 (both administrative law and civil) cases in the field of competition law, consumer law and economic regulation, before both Dutch and European courts.

Bas defends companies in (alleged) cartels and during dawn raids and advises and litigates almost daily on Foreign Direct Investments (Wet Vifo), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), consumer law, forms of collaboration, distribution agreements, state aid and various regulatory issues regarding access, tariffs, and administrative enforcement. Bas is actively involved in several follow-on competition cases (cartel damages cases), including in the financial and tech sector. Bas is seen as a trusted advisor and also often acts as counsel’s counsel for specific matters of (European) competition law, for example in the context of takeovers and joint ventures.

Bas studied in Leiden, Paris and London and was called to the bar in 2001. Before joining bureau Brandeis, he was a long-time employee of Allen & Overy (Amsterdam and Brussels) and was one of the co-founders of a niche firm focusing on competition law. Bas has a great many publications to his name and regularly holds lectures. He has for many years been recommended by prestigious lawyer guides such as Legal 500, Chambers & Partners because of his knowledge of European competition law and regulated sectors. In 2018 and 2021, Bas won a Client Choice Award for “excellence in client service”. Bas is also recommended for European competition law and telecommunications law by Who’s Who.

Bas is a member of the bureau Brandeis executive board.

Reviews on Bas in these guides include:

• “He is an outstanding lawyer”
• “He is combining an impressive skillset and knowledge with a very down to earth manner of working“
• “He will tailor his approach and advice to exactly what the client and case at hand need“
• “Highly skilled”
• “Highly intelligent”
• “Bas is a real fighter!”
• “He has an impressive practice.”
• “He has a very sharp legal mind”
• “Very capable and thorough lawyer, combining competition skills with insights in regulatory work
• “He offers practical and to-the-point advice and has thorough knowledge of and broad experience with competition law”
• “He receives glowing praise for his ‘knowledge, easy communication and transparent approach”

Relevant experience

• Winning on behalf of ice-skaters Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt and sports trade union EU Athletes a landmark case before the Grand Chamber of the the Court of Justice in Luxembourg in relation to a decision of the European Commission on the admission rules of the International Skating Union (ISU) and the role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS);
• Obtaining second phase unconditional merger control clearance of the ACM for mobile virtual network operator Youfone in relation to its acquisition by incumbent operator Royal KPN;
• Obtaining unconditional clearance from the Dutch Bureau for Verification of Investments (BTI) for a Dutch Eindhoven-based high-tech company, after an eight-month investigation in which the company succeeded in overturning a negative draft advice into a positive advice to the Minister;
• Extensive litigative experience in the field of cartel cases, including on procedural aspects such as the ACM’s investigative powers, the ACM Digital Working Procedure and procedures on publications of fining decisions in both consumer law and competition law cases;
• Successful defence of Joh. Enschedé Amsterdam in a cartel case, obtaining a very significant reduction of the cartel fine from almost € 2 million to € 10.000,-;
• Successful representation of an online travel agent in a consumer law case regarding the unsolicited provision of services, in which the ACM, for the first time ever handed out a symbolic fine of € 1.000,-;
• Successful representation of an apparel company regarding allegations of misleading sustainability claims; the case was settled with a commitment decision without a fine;
• Preliminary ruling proceedings at the Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of Article 101 of the TFEU (the prohibition of cartels), the role of European recommendations in the telecoms sector and tariff regulation in the postal sector;
• Competition law support in various complex takeovers, at both the European Commission and the ACM and for both merging parties and complainants. Bas has played an active role in complex (often second phase) takeovers such as Booking/E-traveli, Sunweb/Corendon, PostNL/Sandd, Vodafone/Ziggo, Ziggo/Liberty, T-Mobile/Tele2, KLM/Martinair, Holland Pharma/FACO and KPN/Tiscali;
• Successful representation of clients in important civil competition law proceedings for the likes of T-Mobile, Canal+ and Prijsvrij (in procedures against both Thomas Cook as well as Corendon);
• Successful representation of Eredivisie Media & Marketing (Fox Sports) as third party in KPN and CAIW appeal proceedings against a decision by ACM on the exploitation of the broadcasting rights for Dutch premier league football matches;
• Successful assistance of RadioCorp, the owner of two Dutch radio channels and co-owner of One Media Sales in a probe by the Dutch competition authority on alleged abusive loyalty discounts for radio advertisements. The case was settled with a commitment decision without a fine;
• Representation of the Portuguese company Fapricela in cartel damage proceedings (follow-on cartel case) in relation to the (alleged) prestressing steel cartel;
• Representation of the FX Claims foundation in a follow-on cartel case regarding the Forex cartel.