Mr Alvaro RAMOS, Alumnus of the College of Europe (LLM European Law), is Legal Director at Cisco, dealing with antitrust, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and litigation across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to this he worked for more than 10 years as counsel representing companies on antitrust matters, including cartels, dominance and merger across a range of industries.
Mr RAMOS is Associate Professor in an International MBA programme on ‘Business strategy’ and ‘Antitrust’ and lectures in several programmes, seminars and workshops across Europe. He holds a Diploma in Economics of Competition Law from King's College London.
Taking the opportunity of the upcoming College of Europe Executive Education summer course where he teaches, ‘EU Competition Law’, from 6 to 10 July 2015 in Bruges, Professor RAMOS agreed on replying to our questions:
How long have you been teaching at ‘EU Competition Law’ Executive Education course?
I started teaching at the College of Europe in 2010 and specifically in this Executive Education training programme since its inception in 2012. I have seen how this programme, which is considered one of the best in Europe, has only got better each year.
Which is the main added value you think a participant can take from the course?
Those participants who already have a sound antitrust knowledge can further improve this knowledge by having an update of what has been happening in the last few years. This not only helps to refresh and further their understanding of antitrust but more importantly it provides students the tools required to continue building on their antitrust education after the programme has concluded.
Which are the main topics that are treated by the programme?
The course deals with the main antitrust topics, agreements (horizontal and vertical conduct), abuse of dominance (unilateral conduct), merger control and State Aids. Within these topics the course goes into great detail to provide students with the latest developments in each area. Again, the goal is not only to refresh and further the participants knowledge but also to enable them to continue learning once the programme has concluded.
Speaking about e-commerce, where the European Commission is inquiring whether there is anti-competitive situation, and will not hesitate to take enforcement action under EU antitrust framework, what do you think the next steps will be?
The Commission is undertaking a great effort in gathering information which will allow it to come to a better view as to some antitrust concerns it has identified in relation to e-commerce. This inquiry is no small task and it is a remarkable effort to try to better understand the impact that some of the identified concerns have had in Europe. Once this inquiry is concluded, the Commission will then issue a report explaining its conclusions. The Commission will also decide whether further enforcement action is required.