This week, the Investment Control Commission – appointed by the Norwegian government in 2022 – delivered its report concerning Norway's foreign direct investment laws. The report proposes significant changes to the current system, ostensibly in order to protect national security interests, and would bring Norway's rules on FDI more in line with some of its European neighbours.

The European Commission (the "Commission") has decided not to extend the EU legal framework which exempts specific liner shipping consortia from the EU antitrust rules (the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation or the "CBER"). The CBER has historically permitted shipping lines, under certain conditions, to enter into cooperation agreements to provide joint cargo services, also known as "consortia".

In most instances, only transactions with an EU dimension - that is transactions where the parties involved exceed certain turnover thresholds - qualify for review by the European Commission ("the Commission") under the EU Merger Regulation ("the EUMR"). However one mechanism, found in Article 22 EUMR, allows one or more Member States to request the Commission to examine, on behalf of those Member States, any concentration that does not have an EU dimension but affects trade between Member States and threatens to significantly affect competition within the territory of the Member State(s) making the request.

The Foreign Subsidies Regulation ("FSR") (Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market) aims to expand EU/EEA state aid control to financial contributions from third countries, in order to prevent "foreign subsidies" from distorting the internal market.

When we think about competition law in M&A, we often jump straight to considering merger control and whether a transaction might need notifying to one or more competition authorities. If notifications are not required, for example because the parties do not satisfy relevant jurisdictional (e.g., turnover) thresholds, then in nearly all cases this provides legal certainty that a transaction can close without a competition authority having an opportunity to review the deal.

On Friday 31 March, the Government submitted a bill proposing amendments to the Norwegian Security Act. The proposed changes may mean that far more transactions will be subject to FDI screening, and changes in the procedural rules may have a major impact on deals, not least with respect to deal timetable.

In the Norwegian Supreme Court's first judgment in a merger control case, it has sided with the merging parties against the competition authority. Why?

Foreign direct investment and national security

State Aid and EU/EEA

Competition Law

Specialist Counsel

Stuart is an experienced competition lawyer, used to handling large and complex competition law matters. Stuart advises on all aspects of competition law, with a particular focus on multi-jurisdictional merger control and investigations where he has significant expertise.

Stuart is a qualified solicitor of England and Wales as well as a Norwegian qualified lawyer, and has previously worked in the competition law team at a major international law firm in London as well as for the UK competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority. He has also spent time working in Brussels during his 10+ years of experience of working exclusively with competition law.

Stuart is recognised as one of Norway's leading competition lawyers, and has been ranked as a "Rising Star/Leading Associate" in the field by Legal 500 since 2021, where he is described as "very responsive & helpful, a technically strong lawyer" and "'incredibly knowledgeable' with a track record in handling multi-jurisdictional investigations and merger control mandates". Stuart was also recently awarded a Lexology "Client Choice" award for 2024, as well as being named a "Future Leader (Non-Partner)" by Who's Who Legal.

Stuart speaks at conferences and has written several articles on topical competition law issues, including on merger control, the application of competition law in the renewable energy space, and developments in FDI and foreign subsidies regulations. Stuart is the current author of the Norwegian merger control and Norwegian FDI chapters for Lexis+, and the author of the chapter on merger control within the EEA for Practical Law.

Outside of his fee earning work, Stuart is also the Chair of Wikborg Rein's LGBTQ+ Network, which works to promote the interests of LGBTQ+ people working at the firm as well as conducting outreach and projects with third parties, and is a member of the Committee for International Lawyers at the Norwegian Law Society.

Oslo

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Stuart is an experienced competition lawyer, used to handling large and complex competition law matters.