Cani Fernández

Partner, Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira

faculty

Master in European Law, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Ms. Fernández is director of the Competition and EU Law Practice at Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira. She has extensive experience in company acquisitions and mergers, competition and anti-dumping, telecommunications and energy, and EU litigation. She was référendaire at the European Court of Justice from 1994 to 1997. From 2012 to 2014 she has been co-chair of the Antitrust Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). She is currently Vice-chair of the Economics Committee of the Antitrust Section at the American Bar Association (ABA). She is also Non Governmental Advisor (NGA) of the EU Commission and the Spanish Competition Authority (CNMC) before the International Competition Network (ICN).

Ms. Fernández also advises leading Spanish and international companies on Spanish and EU competition law matters, including advice on merger control, antitrust issues (defending clients in investigations by national and European authorities in relation to cartels and abuse of dominance) and litigation in these fields. She has experience in a wide range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food, automotive, financial sector, media, transport, telecommunications and energy. Some of the relevant deals she has handled are as follows: Telefónica/Telecinco/Prisa/Digital+, Enel/Acciona/Endesa, Suez/LaCaixa/Agbar (merger control), bitumen and choline chloride (cartels), Coca-Cola’s undertaking, and Enel Viesgo (abuse of dominant position).

Advising companies, governments and EU institutions on issues of EU law, e.g., public procurement, REACH, plant and crop protection regulation, internal market, she has handled landmark cases such as Codorniu's locus standi action and IQV's action before the ECJ which included interim measures. She has represented Danone to defend its Bio trademark during reform of the regulation on organic production and the European Commission before the ECJ in several public procurement and internal market cases