Litigating for the European Commission

Litigating for the European Commission

Speaker: Fernando Castillo de la Torre (Director, Legal Service, European Commission)
Chaired by Dr. Stavros Makris, UCL Laws

About this talk

Based on the Fernando's extensive experience in pleading many of the most important competition cases over the last two decades and his current role as head of the team of lawyers litigating all competition cases, the lecture will explore different aspects of how the Commission litigates in EU Courts. It will cover inter alia the development of court proceedings in practice, the Commission’s “strategy” and daily practice in handling cases, maintaining consistency across all court cases, the asymmetry of means when litigating against “deep pocket” applicants, the importance of having a principled approach when discussing evidence, the role of economic evidence and economists in EU courts, showing confidence in one’s case while being critical enough to spot the weaknesses, different styles of pleading and the benefits of a more deliberative style, how academic writing may contribute to being a better litigator, and many other things.

Fernando has published widely on competition law and litigation in EU Courts. Among his recent publications in English

• F. Castillo de la Torre and E. Gippini Fournier, Evidence, Proof and Judicial Review in EU Competition Law, Second Edition, Elgar Publishing, 2024 (the first chapter is freely available online).
• F. Castillo de la Torre, “Predicting the Future: Evidential Basis for Prospective Assessments in EU Merger Control” (draft December 10, 2024). Forthcoming in Judging & (Re) Thinking European Union Law-Liber Amicorum in Honour of Nils Wahl, L. Prete, L. Rezki (eds.), Springer 2025, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5050949 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5050949
• F. Castillo de la Torre, “Preliminary references in competition law: some views from the European Commission’s Legal Service”, forthcoming in Preliminary Ruling in EU Antitrust Law, A. Vernet, V. Pereira, K. Strouvali and N. Brüggemann (editors) (2025, Elgar Publishing)
  Available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5100716

About the speaker

Fernando Castillo de la Torre is Director-Principal Legal Adviser in the Legal Service of the European Commission and heads the team for competition and mergers. He has been working in the Legal Service since 1996 in the teams for internal market, competition, external relations, and agriculture, fisheries and animal and plant health. He studied both law and political science in Madrid (Spain), graduating in 1989 and 1990 respectively. He subsequently undertook postgraduate studies at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium). He worked in the chambers of the President of the European Court of Justice between 1997 and 2002. He has been agent for the European Commission in almost 500 cases in the European Court of Justice, and has pleaded for the Commission in many of the most important competition cases over the last 20 years. He has published widely on competition law, judicial review and litigation before EU Courts, the relationship between legal orders (international, EU and national), external relations of the EU and the internal market.

About the series

The Centre for Law, Economics and Society (UCL) and the UCL competition law team are delighted to announce this new series of seminars topics on public and private enforcement, and complex competition law litigation. In this series we will be inviting prominent practitioners, regulators, enforcers and judges to share their experiences from litigating competition law matters.

Fees

Standard Ticket: £25.00
Public Sector Ticket: free of charge **
Full Time Student Ticket (non-UCL): £8.00
UCL Students & Staff: free of charge

** Public sector tickets are for full time employed academic or those working in academic institutions, members of the judiciary, competition authorities or tribunals, government legal departments. You must sign up using your institutional email for this ticket.

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Executive Education (June 2025)

Competition Law, Public Policy and Technology: A Complexity Perspective

In June 2025 we are offering a course with high-level insights into the evolving field of competition law, equipping professionals with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate and influence regulatory landscapes. The course will explore the major public policy challenges that competition authorities worldwide confront and provide participants with a deep dive into the latest developments and case studies.

Read more about this course

Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund

The Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund honours the memory of a much loved exceptional scholar and advocate. Explore the opportunities that we believe best honour the spirit Valentine Korah embodied, and the legacy she left at UCL Laws. The new fund will:

• support the Valentine Korah Scholarship
• support an annual Valentine Korah Prize in competition law for undergraduates
• support a Valentine Korah Collaboration Space in Bentham House
• support an annual Valentine Korah Lecture
• support the creation of academic positions in competition law or policy

View full details of the opportunities available and how to donate can be found at:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/remembering-professor-valentine-korah