Pappas & Associates – Attorneys at Law “Do not advise the pleasant but the correct” -Solon-
Pappas & Associates is a law firm located in Brussels and specialized in European Law.
Its “legal diversity” is based on its particular structure bringing together lawyers and regulatory experts from many Member States, as well as on its European network.
Be it litigation, arbitration or policy advice in the field of European policies, namely in the fields of Competition (Antitrust, Mergers, State Aid), Internal Market, Health and Consumer Protection, Pappas and Associates is your privileged defender and adviser.
Located at the heart of the ‘European Quarter’ of Brussels, Pappas & Associates was founded in 2004 by Spyros Pappas who reverted to private legal practice in 2001 after several years of service as Director-General in the European Commission, where, he held the portfolios of Consumer Policy, Information, Communication, Culture and Audiovisual Policy and finally Education and Culture. Prior to this he was a Professor of Law and Director General at the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA-Maastricht) and a Judge at the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece (Conseil d’Etat).
Pappas & Associates was founded on the conviction that the best way to understand Union Law is to appreciate that it is qualitatively different from its national counterparts. In contrast to national law where legal analysis prevails over other considerations, Union Law is much more the result of the interaction between legal principles and political objectives; it is law that has been formulated and interpreted in a unique, specific and complex supranational political context, and consequently not necessarily amenable to normal methods of legal analysis.
Union Law is applied by the European Commission long before it reaches the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has since its first and fundamental case law a propensity to interpret such laws in a teleological manner, highly sensitive to the EU’s political context. By way of example, Article 258 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (that gives the European Commission the right to bring before the Court of Justice of the European Union a Member State that failed to fulfill an obligation under the Treaties) appears, prima facie, to be a purely ‘legally’ technical provision. However, the final decision on its application rests with the Commission, whose decisions cannot be reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The infusion of dynamic and unpredictable political variables makes the analysis of the implications of Community Law, which is now the source of the majority of laws in the Member States, incredibly complex and challenging. In order to provide its clients with the high quality and relevant legal advice, Pappas & Associates seeks to combine both the judicial attributes of integrity and technical/legal expertise with an acute understanding of the complex political context in which Union Law is formulated, applied and interpreted.
In order to achieve its objectives Pappas & Associates is committed to:
- Creating and maintaining a team of highly qualified and competent professionals who have unrivalled legal experience as well as unparalleled insight into the European Union institutions.
- Guaranteeing and maintaining a high standard of professional and client-oriented service.
- Not only understanding present client needs but also proactively anticipating future concerns establishing a relationship of openness, trust and co-operation between the firm and all its clients.
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Competition Law
Competition law, the core area of community law, is probably the most emerging part of Union Law. Pappas & Associates bears solid experience in all four pillars of competition law, namely state aid; abuse of dominant position; anti-competitive collusion and merger control.
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Internal Market
Internal Market indisputably is the European Union’s cornerstone. Based on the four fundamental freedoms recognized by the Treaties, namely the free movement of goods; the free movement of capital; the free provision of services and the freedom of establishment, internal market lays the basis for economic transactions executed between EU Member States, EFTA Member States also included, and affected by national protectionist measures.
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Health & consumer protection
The area of health and consumer protection is the legislative domain that has and continues to witness the most intense legislative development on the level of the European Union. The applications of this area overlap with other domains of law to such an extent that these in fact tend to be countless.
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Other Domains
– ARBITRATION
– EMPLOYMENT – STAFF CASES
– ENERGY
– ENTERPRISE
– ENVIRONMENT
– IT AND BROADCASTING
– JUSTICE
– REGIONAL POLICY
– SPORTS
– TAXATION
– TRADE
Latest Posts
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T-358/20, Net Technologies Finland Oy v. REA: Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) – The FP7 Guide is not a source of the applicable law but merely a policy instrument, which, in accordance with the principle of performing contracts in good faith, has to be taken into account – Relationship between the participants in a Consortium – Probative value of emails – Eligibility of the costs for the consultants of the subcontractor; criteria of working in the beneficiary’s premises and of remuneration based on working hours; derogation by FP7 from the conditions laid down in the general conditions of the FP
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T-298/20: Civil service- Legal value of Reporting Officer’s Practical dossier – Health problems and duty of care
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T-298/20: Civil service – Appraisal report – Pre-litigation procedure – An internal appeal is not a necessary precondition for bringing legal proceedings before the General Court – GIPs rendering the admissibility of a legal action subject to an obligation of that kind would have the effect of restricting the right to challenge an appraisal report before the Court without first exhausting internal procedures – In addition, it would render the applicant’s fundamental right to an effective remedy and access to an independent tribunal subject to a condition which is not apparent from the applicable legislation or from foreseeable and accessible case-law. infringing thus Article 47 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
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T-347/20: Aides d’État-avantage sélectif pour le bénéficiaire-principe de l’opérateur privé-avantages accordés uniquement à certaines entreprises qui sont déterminées en fonction de leur lieu d’établissement-cadre de référence applicable-cadre national-marché en crise-mesures visant à remédier à une calamité ; intérêts se rapportant aux mesures litigieuses ; dérogation de l’art. 107(2b) TFEU-interprétation stricte-conditions; délai de prescription-demande de renseignements-interruption ; violation du principe de bonne administration – délai déraisonnable- aide accordée sans être notifiée; violation du droit d’être entendu ; motivation ; protection de la confiance légitime et de sécurité juridique; violation du principe de proportionnalité
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C-374/20 P: Approval or renewal of approval of an active substance; confirmatory information according to Regulation 1107/2009; broad discretion of the administration; the admissibility of a dossier by the RMS does not constitute a decision on the quality; supplementary summary dossier; procedure for the approval or the renewal of an active substance; possibility of the RMS to review its assessment; main objectives pursued; applicability of the principle of subsidiarity to active substances.