Georgeta Dinu

Georgeta Dinu

Partner

georgeta.dinu@nndkp.ro
+40 21 201 1200

Practice Areas

Expertise

Georgeta has been with NNDKP team for 19 years and she is a Partner in our Competition, State Aid and EU Law Practices.

In dealing with such highly sensitive matters, she combines thorough academical preparation with practical experience in high profile cases before authorities and courts.

Her expertise covers:

Competition/Antitrust

  • cartels, abuse of dominance and other restrictive practices
  • investigations (dawn raids, leniency, commitments, defenses to the investigation teams’ statement of objections, hearings before the competition authority)
  • competition litigation before national courts
  • representation before EU courts
  • merger clearance
  • competition compliance and trainings

EU law

  • general EU law matters (material and institutional law, procedures before EU courts)
  • cases resulting from failure to implement or improper implementation of EU law or from measures restricting the freedoms of the internal market
  • harmonization of legislation in the context of or for the purpose of avoiding infringement proceedings
  • matters related to fundamental rights

State aid

  • assessment of existence of aid: state resources and imputability, selectivity, advantage – market economy investor principle, distortion of competition and effect on trade
  • state aid schemes and procedures
  • role of national courts

Unfair competition

  • enticing of clientele or employees
  • denigration of competitors or of their products
  • procedures

Industry Focus

Representative Cases and Transactions

Competition/Antitrust

  • successful intervention before the General Court of the European Union on behalf of a major multinational IT&C company, in support of a European Commission decision rejecting a complaint against the company for abuse of dominance
  • defense of a major oil company in a competition investigation for an alleged concerted practice of limitation of sales and subsequent court challenge in the largest case to date in terms of the fines imposed by the competition authority, resulting in a 23% reduction of the fine by definitive court decision
  • court challenge on behalf of a major bank resulting in a 40% reduction of the Competition Council’s fine imposed for providing inaccurate information during an investigation
  • court challenge on behalf of a reputable private pensions company sanctioned for client sharing,  in the first case in which the competition authority ascertained a breach of the Treaty
  • representation of the second largest cash and carry retailer and several major multinational producers (beverages, dairy, other food products) in the Competition Council’s food retail investigation, and subsequent court challenge, in a case on price fixing during promotions
  • defense of the leader of the small household appliances market in a competition investigation on price fixing and limitation of sales in buy-back campaigns for electric and electronic equipment, and subsequent court challenge
  • assistance in ongoing investigations regarding potential breaches of the law by companies in various sectors, such as: media; insurance; food retail; milk; private medical services; cost allocation meters for heating; aerospace, defense, security and surveillance; production and sale of fire detection and voice alarm products and systems; production and sale of electricity meters and ancillary measuring equipment
  • successful rejection on behalf of a distributor of pharmaceutical products of the sanctioning proposals for alleged collective boycott in the Competition Council’s investigation regarding the members of the Association for the Distribution of Medicines
  • successful rejection on behalf of a major insurance company of the sanctioning proposals for alleged price fixing in the Competition Council’s investigation on the market for privately managed pension funds
  • assistance to a major multinational pipeline equipment and services company in a competition investigation regarding alleged bid rigging in auctions organized by Transgaz and Romgaz, resulting in a finding of no violation by the client

EU Law

  • assistance with the court challenge against fiscal measures imposed following transposition of a Directive in a manner contrary to EU law
  • assistance with preliminary ruling requests addressed to Romanian courts
  • advice on national transposition of pricing regulations in the agricultural field, in the context of the aims of the relevant EU regulations and the particularities of the agricultural policy
  • advice on relationship between the protection offered by ECHR to fundamental rights and the guarantees under the Chart of fundamental rights of the EU to the access to file in investigations performed by administrative authorities having sanctioning competencies
  • assistance relating to absorption by the exporting producer of anti-dumping duties – qualification and procedure

State aid

  • assistance in consortium with a reputable international law firm in connection with the state aid aspects of an ICSID arbitration initiated by certain investors, under the rules on supporting investments in deprived areas, in the context of EU accession
  • assistance in court defense against a damages application filed by a competitor, alleging state aid
  • advice to clients in various industry sectors (such as gaming or management of waste of electric and electronic equipment) in raising the state aid issues of draft laws, including before the competition authority
  • assistance to a major energy company in connection with the state aid aspects of the establishment of a joint venture having as object the generation of electricity, together with other strategic investors and a State-owned company
  • advice to a major Romanian bank in connection with the state aid aspects of its envisaged loan in favor of a major Romanian company, under the Commission Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty
  • advice to a leading company in the energy and natural resources industry in connection with the potential qualification of a taxation measure as state aid
  • state aid assessments for clients in various industry sectors, in terms of possibility to benefit from financing for projects under national state aid schemes
  • state aid assessments upon M&A projects, in terms of requirements to be observed in order to continue to benefit from state aid obtained prior to the transactions
  • state aid assessments regarding potential consequences of the opening of insolvency proceedings on the financing granted
  • state aid assessment with respect to the impact of receiving unjust financing and the consequences of embezzlement of state funds

Unfair competition

  • unfair competition assessments for clients in various industry sectors, especially concerning enticing of clientele or employees and denigration of competitors or their products

Accolades

Included in international rankings since 2009; most recently:

  • Leading Individual, EU and Competition (Legal 500, 2023)
  • Top Ranked, Competition/Antitrust (Chambers and Partners, 2023)
  • Top Ranked, Competition/Antitrust (Chambers and Partners, 2022)
  • Leading Individual, EU and Competition (Legal 500, 2022)
  • Included in Who’s Who Legal: Competition (2021)
  • Included in Who’s Who Legal: Competition – State Aid (2021)

“She has strong legal knowledge and is business-oriented. Also, she is a good listener and a very good negotiator.”
(Chambers and Partners, 2023)

“Very deep knowledge and understanding of competition and antitrust regulations.”
(Legal 500, 2022)

She is appreciated for being “very hands-on” as well as “knowledgeable and helpful”.
(Chambers and Partners, 2022)

A client praises her “excellent European and local competition law knowledge.”
(Chambers and Partners, 2021)

“Very good knowledge of the competition law environment, good relationship with the client.”
(IFLR 1000, 2020)

Education

  • University of Bucharest Law School, Law Degree
  • Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Collège Juridique Franco-Roumain d’Etudes Européennes, Law Degree (Maitrise en Droit, Droit Européen)
  • King’s College, University of London, Masters Degree in EC Competition Law
  • Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Masters Degree in International and European Business Law

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Bucharest Bar
  • Lex Mundi Antitrust, Competition and Trade Group
  • SEE Legal Competition Practice Group

Notable Contributions

  • “An ‘unprecedented scope and ambition’ of the European Commission’s Competition Policy review – What’s next for businesses?” (Which Lawyer, 2021) (co-author)
  • contributor to NNDKP – COVID-19 Legal & Tax Resource Center
  • speaker at “Competition in Public Procurement – Competition Risks and Practical Remedies Conference”, organized by the Competition Council in partnership with AmCham Romania (2020)
  • speaker at the Romanian Competition and Antitrust Forum 2020, organized by Govnet (2020)
  • speaker at the “Legal&Tax Videoconference, 4th edition – How does Romania handle the global pandemic’s impact on its local economy”, organized by NNDKP and Ziarul Financiar (2020)
  • speaker at “Competition Law Central & Eastern Europe” virtual conference, organized by Informa Connect (2020)
  • speaker at “Your Business in OnLine – How to respond to the challenges of a business activity in the virtual space?” webinar series, organized by NNDKP and Business Mark (2020)
  • speaker at the “M&A transactions: key legal, tax and business aspects” conference, organized by NNDKP and Business Mark (2019)
  • speaker at the Competition and Antitrust-Cartels Forum, organized by Govnet (2019)
  • speaker at the event Global Competition Review (GCR) Live 4th Annual State Aid, organized by Global Competition Review (Brussels, 2019)
  • speaker at the conference “EU and National Trends in the Competition Policy”, organized by American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham) and Competition Council (2019)
  • speaker at the Training for National Judges in EU Competition Law, organized by Academy of European Law (2018)
  • speaker at the conference “Conformity with the competition law rules – a debate for and with the trade associations”, organized by Govnet (2018)
  • speaker at the seminar “Impact of Competition Rules in Public Procurement Procedures”, organized by NNDKP (2018)
  • speaker at the conference “Competition in Public Procurement – Practical Aspects”, organized by the Competition Council in partnership with AmCham Romania (2018)
  • speaker at the “ZF Retail” conference, organized by Ziarul Financiar (2018)
  • speaker at the seminar “Is fine the only cost in case of competition law breaches? – Damages Claims for Competition Law Breaches”, organized by NNDKP (2018)
  • speaker at the conference “Competition in Public Procurement – Rules of the Game for Consortia”, organized by the Competition Council and AmCham Romania (2017)
  • speaker at the debates “Mergers with Commitments” (Legal Debates-Juridice.ro) (2017), “An acknowledged action is half-forgiven?” (Legal Debates-Juridice.ro) (2016) and “Settlement in antitrust law: urban legend or positive law?” (Legal Debates-Juridice.ro) (2015)
  • speaker at the 2nd international conference “The role of national judges in the application of European competition rules and cooperation between the regulatory authorities and the players in the legal field” as part of the program “Improving the application of competition law in Romania – Specialized conferences for European judges”, co-financed by the European Commission – presentation on “Role of Preliminary Ruling Mechanism in Competition” (Freedom House, Romanian Competition Council and National Institute of Magistrates) (2016)
  • speaker at NNDKP Lex Atelier Conferences – “Recommended conduct in day-to-day activity and in competition investigations. Company and management liability” (2015)
  • speaker at the Competition Council’s conference, in a session organized together with the American Chamber of Commerce, on the topic of Pro-competitive Legislation for the Business Environment (competition authority’s endorsements to draft laws) (2013)
  • speaker at 6th IMEDIPA International Conference on Competition Law and Policy, in the panel on Pricing practices and abuse of dominance (2012)
  • speaker at the Practical Aspects regarding the Application of Competition Rules conferences organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, the Competition Council and the National Magistrates Institute, with the presentations “The Application of the Standard of Proof for Cartels” and “Agreement versus unilateral conduct in the case law of EU courts: When there is a concurrence of wills?” (2012)
  • speaker at NNDKP Lex Atelier Conferences – “Specific ways of closing competition investigations with no or reduced fines – waiver in fact of the right to address to the court?” (2012) and “Communications between competitors – should they be limited to the weather forecast?” (2011)
  • “Romanian Competition Council announces study on the effects of sharing economy business models” (NNDKP, October 2018) (co-author)
  • “CJEU guidance in merger cases: qualification of a measure as gun-jumping requires contribution to a lasting change in control of the target (CJEU preliminary ruling of 31 May 2018 in C-633/16 E&Y)” (Lexology, BizLawyer, June 2018) (co-author)
  • “The Court of Justice of the European Union clarifies by way of preliminary ruling the assessment of ‘competitive disadvantage’ for finding abusive discrimination” (BizLawyer, April 2018) (co-author)
  • “By object restrictions of competition in the pharmaceutical industry in the context of off-label use of medicines (CJEU preliminary ruling in F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Others v Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato)” (BizLawyer, January 2018, co-author)
  • “Lex Mundi Global Merger Notification Guide – Romania Chapter” (2017) (author)
  • “Global Competition Review – Romania’s authority performance” (2017)
  • “Competition Law in Romania”, International Encyclopaedia of Laws (Wolters Kluwer, second edition, 2015) (co-author)
  • “The Romanian Competition Authority accepts commitments closing mobile operators’ price investigation (Orange Romania)” (Institute of Competition Law, e-Competitions Bulletine/ e-Concurrences, 2015)
  • “Legal Practice Guides – Competition – Cartels: Romania – Law & Practice” (Chambers and Partners, 2015) (co-author)
  • “The Romanian Competition Authority rejects a complaint regarding on refusal to supply in the pharmaceutical sector (Roche / GSK)” (Institute of Competition Law, e-Competitions Bulletin/ e-Concurrences, 2013) (co-author)
  • “How to Approach the Competition Council’s Investigations and Dawn Raids” and “How to Avoid Practices Prohibited by the Competition Law” (online professional development program developed in partnership with Ziarul Financiar – Mediafax Group, 2013)
  • “The Romanian Competition Authority sanctions five companies for bid rigging in road construction projects (C.N.A.D.N.R)” (Institute of Competition Law, e-Competitions Bulletin/ e-Concurrences, 2012) (co-author)
  • “The Romanian Competition Authority makes binding commitments made by the Central Depository on registry services to securities issuers” (Institute of Competition Law, e-Competitions Bulletin/ e-Concurrence, 2012) (co-author)
  • “Cartel Regulation – Romania”, “Private Antitrust Litigation – Romania” and “Intellectual Property and Antitrust – Romania”, Global Competition Review – Getting the Deal Through (Law Business Research, 2012) (co-author)
  • “International Legal Comparative Guide to Cartels and Leniency – Romania” (Global Legal Group, 2011) (co-author)
  • “EU harmonization and beyond”, Guide to Competition and Antitrust (International Financial Law Review, 2010)
  • “The Romanian Competition Authority imposes an 8% fine to an Association of undertakings for price fixing and refers for the first time to criminal investigation bodies (Association of the Depositories of Cereals)” (Institute of Competition Law, e-Competitions Bulletin/ e-Concurrences, 2010)