Stibbe represents Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)
Stibbe represented the Dutch railway operator NS in a seminal case in the Netherlands concerning alleged abuse of dominance.
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) imposed a record fine of EUR 41 million on NS for an alleged abuse of dominance on the 'main railway network' in the Netherlands by committing two separate infringements in relation to a public transportation tender in 2014.
NS (with the support of its shareholder the Dutch Ministry of Finance) filed an appeal against the ACM decision at the District Court of Rotterdam. On 27 June 2019, the Rotterdam Court overturned the ACM fine, the largest-ever abuse of dominance fine. The court ruled that the ACM failed to prove that the NS abused its dominant position in the 2014 tender process.
