About Joost Houdijk
Joost Houdijk is an attorney-at-law at AKD who is part of the EU and Competition Law team. He advises and litigates on cartel arrangements and abuse of dominant positions. In addition, he regularly assists enterprises with M&A notifications to the European Commission and the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), as well as the Belgian Competition Authority (BMA). Joost also represents enterprises and public authorities in litigation before Dutch courts and the European Court of Justice.
Another specialist area Joost focuses on, in addition to competition law, is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). His practice further encompasses the EU freedom of movement law, EU transportation law and consumer protection law.
Clients value Joost for his razor-sharp analysis of complex legal issues, and for his ability to immerse and familiarise himself with the specific circumstances of their organisations. They appreciate his ambition, maximum commitment and creativity to get the best result possible.
Clients refer to Joost as ‘a particularly strong counsel. He is very responsive, client-focused and sees the bigger picture’, ‘an excellent lawyer with great understanding of competition law’, with one client remarking: ‘We appreciate his very fast and concrete reactions and his knowledge of our market’ (Chambers & Partners Europe Guide). Another client noted that: 'Joost Houdijk is a knowledgeable professional that gives advice that is best suited to our business. He is always very punctual and friendly. He always manages to make time to assist us in urgent matters’ (The Legal 500). Yet another client mentioned that: ‘He is a lawyer with extensive knowledge on competition law. In addition, he also has a great understanding of the business interests at stake’ (Chambers & Partners Europe Guide).
Recent work
Joost supervised successful ACM merger notifications to the Dutch and Belgian competition authorities, and coordinated international merger control notifications with favourable results. These include the acquisition by VDL of the coach and touring car divisions of Van Hool, and the acquisition by Standard Investment Netherlands of Tank Newco/Verwater, a company active in the construction and maintenance of tanks for chemical and petrochemical installations. Joost also represents companies making FDI notifications, both in Belgium and the Netherlands. He assisted a number of healthcare enterprises that were being investigated by the ACM for cartel practices. The investigation was completed without any of the organisations involved being indicted. A company he assisted in comprehensive cartel practices investigations into the agribusiness sector was VanRijsingenGreen. In addition, Joost drafts distribution agreements and strategies for companies active in the area of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and other consumer goods.
Education, activities and memberships
Joost regularly lectures at universities and private education institutes, such as the Radboud University of Nijmegen. He has numerous publications to his name, published in dozens of national and international journals. Joost has also co-authored books and reports. In 2009, Joost obtained a doctorate from the Radboud University of Nijmegen, successfully defending a dissertation on the involvement of public interests in competition law.
He has additionally been a long-standing editor of the multilingual Benelux journal Le Droit des Affairs/Het Ondernemingsrecht (DAOR), which addresses all aspects of economic and corporate law. His memberships include the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Dutch Competition Law Association.