Areas of expertise

As in other jurisdictions competition law in Denmark is complex and the Danish authorities actively pursue matters of potential interest. This necessitates specialized advice and assistance that is practical and manageable. Both before and after a case arises.

Thomas Klausen has vast experience with Danish competition law and achieves the best results within the framework of the law:

Merger Control

Denmark has a merger control regime where, in some instances, a transaction must be notified to and approved by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority prior to implemenation.

While most cases are cleared in phase 1 an extensive pre-notification phase is standard. This means that the notification process as a whole easily can take significant amount of time and the proceedings should generally be initiated as early as possible.

Thomas Klausen is among the most experienced lawyers in respect of Danish merger control and he has been engaged in all types of cases from simplified notifcations to prolonged phase 2 investigations.

Dawn Raids

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority regularly carries out dawn raids in Denmark targeting both Danish companies and subsidiaries of international groups. While less frequent, the European Commission also conducts dawn raids in Denmark.

It is common practice for Danish entities to engage a competition lawyer immediately in case of a dawn raid. Thomas Klausen has assisted companies numerous times on the day(s) of the dawn raid itself and in the subsequent proceedings.

Further, dawn raid guidelines that can help companies prepare for a possible dawn raid - taking into account the specifics of Danish law - are offered free of charge in both English and Danish versions. Feel free to requests these from Thomas Klausen.

Compliance

Danish companies increasingly focus on compliance training, which is beneficial to both the companies themselves and their employees.

Both direct and indirect costs related to an infringement case are very significant, and resources spent on compliance equal an extremely valuable investment for the company when this risk is reduced.

Not least because some infringements are punishable by imprisonment, at least some basic training is relevant to provide comfort to employees in respect of how to navigate the competition rules.

Thomas Klausen Law Firm operates a concept consisting of various different compliance solutions. The concept is  presented on the Danish language website konkurrenceloven.dk ("konkurrenceloven" meaning "the competition act").

Obviously feel free to contact Thomas Klausen to discuss such compliance solutions.

Vertical relationships

Distribution activities and other vertical relationships are routinely scrutinized by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, which seems to devote a substantial amount of its ressources to these matters.

In particular resale price maintenance matters are constantly monitored and violations very often lead to substantial fines following often quite lengthy investigations by the authorities.

Thomas Klausen has advised on numerous distribution agreements and a very wide variety of matters and questions related to vertical relationships.

Horizontal relationships

Competitor relationships must be considered thoroughly, not least in Denmark where cartel activity is subject to both fines and imprisonment. Virtually all potential cartel cases, no matter how minor the participants, are pursued, and a leniency programme is also implemented in Danish law.

Additionally, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority is generally both sceptic towards and focused on numerous other types of horizontal relationships. This is e.g. evidenced by the approach of the authority in numerous cases as well as published guidelines on both trade associations and consortia.

Thomas Klausen has vast experience advising on horizontal relationships.

Dominance

Danish competition law prohibits abuse of a dominant position.

The number of Danish abuse cases have been limited however substantial fines have been issued and potential matters are pursued by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority.

Thomas Klausen is one of Denmark's most experienced attorneys in respect of dominance matters.