Stijn is a partner at Geradin Partners. Before joining the firm, Stijn was Legal Director at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

At the CMA, Stijn built up extensive experience leading complex competition investigations. Stijn led the legal teams in a number of high-profile investigations in the life sciences sector, including Hydrocortisone, which featured a record-breaking £260m penalty, Fludrocortisone in which the CMA secured a multi-million settlement for the National Health Service, and Quantum Pharmaceuticals.

Stijn has significant experience in procedural issues, including successfully defending the CMA in the High Court and Court of Appeal in the first ever challenge against a judicial warrant to enter business premises. He has conducted many compulsory interviews with company directors and, before joining the CMA, acted for clients subject to inspections by the European Commission.

Stijn also led the CMA’s legal preparations for Brexit, advising the UK Government on all legislation and guidance required to prepare the UK’s competition regime for Brexit. In addition, he represented the UK in its final competition intervention in the EU Courts in the landmark merger appeal in Case T-399/16 CK Telecoms v Commission. Stijn also advised the UK Government on the Exclusion Orders issued by the Secretary of State to the Groceries, Healthcare and Transport sectors in response to the coronavirus crisis.

At the CMA, Stijn was a speaker/lecturer at a number of seminars, lectures and workshops at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Queen’s University Belfast, the OECD, the Law Society, the International Competition Network and the China Institute of International Antitrust and Investment.

Stijn is Dutch-qualified and fluent in Dutch and, prior to joining the CMA eight years ago, advised clients in relation to Dutch and EU-related issues at Houthoff, a leading independent Dutch firm.

• Investigation into excessive pricing and market-sharing agreements in relation to hydrocortisone tablets, resulting in record-breaking £260m in penalties.
• Investigation into market-sharing agreements and exclusionary abuse of dominance in relation to fludrocortisone tablets, in which a multi-million settlement for the NHS was secured by the CMA.
• Brexit: Advising the UK Government on all competition law legislation and guidance required as a result of the Referendum vote, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
• Covid-19 guidance on business cooperation.
• Advice to UK Government on exclusion orders under the Competition Act 1998 for the UK supermarket, healthcare and transport sectors and for the Premier League.
• Successful defence of dawn raid challenge in the High Court ([2018] EWCH 3448 (Ch)) and Court of Appeal ([2018] EWCA Civ 1881) in Concordia v Competition and Markets Authority.
• Intervention in the General Court in CK Hutchison’s appeal against the European Commission’s decision in the Three/O2 merger (T-399/16 CK Telecoms v Commission).
• Cartel investigation in relation to office fit-out services, which led to the disqualification of six directors.
• Investigation into market-sharing in relation to the supply of medicines to care homes.
• Merger investigations including BT/EE and Three/O2.
• Abuse of dominance investigation (rebates) in the pharmaceutical sector.Investigation into exclusionary abuse of dominance in relation to the supply of petrol and diesel.
• Extensive experience in conducting inspections, issuing information requests, and interviewing directors and staff of companies under compulsory powers.
• Before joining the CMA, Stijn advised on Dutch and EU competition law for companies including Nordic Capital, Eneco, Scania (Trucks cartel) and Janssen de Jong, as well as conducting litigation in relation to freedom of information requests and private damages.

Brussels School of Competition, Brussels (LLM, magna cum laude) (2012)

Erasmus University, Rotterdam (LLM) (2008)

Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Université Paul Cézanne, Aix-en-Provence (LLB) (2007)

_{Stijn Huijts has registered competition law in the Netherlands Bar’s register of legal practice areas (rechtsgebiedenregister). Based on this registration, he is required to obtain ten training credits per calendar year in this legal practice area in accordance with the standards set by the Netherlands Bar.}

The Hague, the Netherlands.

English, Dutch

• Lecture to judges at Competition Appeal Tribunal on consequences of Brexit for public competition enforcement (2021).
• Joint lecture with European Commission at London School of Economics on Brexit (2021).
• Speech at the Law Society on the CMA’s Brexit guidance (2021).
• Speech at the American Chamber of Commerce, Brussels, on Brexit (2020).
• Speeches on the Google/Streetmap and Remicade cases at the China Institute of International Antitrust and Investment, Beijing (2019).
• Guest lecturer on UK competition law at Queen’s University Belfast (2018 and 2019).
• Panellist at OECD workshop on information exchange, Budapest (2016).
• Moderator at ICN workshop on refusal to deal, Istanbul (2015).
• Panellist at UNCTAD workshop on competition and consumer law, Addis Ababa (2014).
• Article on consequences of Brexit for Dutch practitioners in Markt & Mededinging (in Dutch) (2021).
• Article on impact of Brexit on EU citizens in Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad (2017).
• Article on Intel v Commission in Competition Law Journal (2015).
• Chapter on parental liability in competition law in Derecho de la Competencia (2013) (L. Ortiz Blanco (ed.)).
• Article on Toshiba v Commission in Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Europees Recht (in Dutch) (2012).
• Article on developments in Dutch competition law in European Competition Journal (2012).
• Article on Aalberts v Commission in Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Europees Recht (in Dutch) (2011).

Email: shuijts@geradinpartners.com.