September 22, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week will be a political group week and a committee week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will hold meetings with their respective political party to prepare the next plenary session, to be held from October 2 to 5, in Strasbourg. A few interesting discussions will take place in...… Continue Reading

September 15, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week is constituency week for Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”).  MEPs will go back to their home countries to handle national issues, or convene in their parliamentary delegations to work on matters related to non-EU Member States. However, this week was a plenary in the European Parliament.  A number of interesting votes...… Continue ...

September 15, 2017

BRUSSELS—Sir Michael Leigh has joined Covington’s Global Public Policy and Government Affairs practice as a Senior Advisor. Dr. Leigh was Director-General of DG Enlargement at the European Commission from 2006 to 2011 and as such served as chief European Union negotiator with candidate countries. From 2003 to 2006, he was Deputy Director-General of External ...

September 13, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Brexit and International Policy Developments The usual quiet of Brussels’ August recess was disturbed by the arrival, in the middle of the month, of a flurry of position papers from the British government. The two most important of these dealt with the EU’s customs union and the border between Northern Ireland and the republic of...… Continue Reading

September 8, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week, there will be a plenary sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Several significant debates, votes and committee meetings will take place. On Tuesday, MEPs will debate a report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (“ITRE”), authored by Carlos Zorrinho (S&D, PT) on the proposal for a regulation on...… Continue ...

September 1, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week will be a committee and political groups week in the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will slowly increase their activities ahead of the plenary sitting, to be held from September 11 to 14 in Strasbourg. On Monday, the Subcommittee on Security and Defence will host a Public Hearing on...… Continue Reading

August 25, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  All Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will slowly resume their activities.  Only a few committee meetings will take place as MEPs gear up for the increase in activities during the week of September 4 ahead of the plenary sitting, to be held...… Continue Reading

August 8, 2017, Global Policy Watch

The annual G 20 summit took place on July 7 and 8 under the presidency of Angela Merkel in the city of Hamburg, which had been put under siege by violent anti-globalization demonstrations. Tensions on trade issues and the rejection of the Paris agreement on climate change by the U.S. President, Donald Trump, made it...… Continue Reading

July 17, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Brexit and Elections in the UK and France The legislative elections in the UK on June 8 resulted in what few observers expected: Theresa May, who was hoping to increase her majority in the house of Commons, instead lost it.  In order to ensure a majority for the confidence vote in her new minority government,...… Continue Reading

July 7, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  Next week will also be the last week of parliamentary activities before the Summer break.  There will be interesting votes in committee, as well as public hearings, as the Parliament seeks to “clear the decks” before the summer. The Parliament will resume its...… Continue Reading

June 30, 2017, Global Policy Watch

Summary Next week Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather in Strasbourg for the last plenary sitting before the Summer break. Interesting votes and debates will take place. On Tuesday, MEPs will vote on the own-initiative report voted in the Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (“IMCO”) on European Standards.  ...

May 10, 2017, Financial Times

Sebastian Vos is quoted by the Financial Times in an article which examines Brussels' resistance to its EU counterparts' request for the European Commission to create additional hurdles for foreign investment, particularly in China.  Vos indicates that an EU mechanism to monitor foreign investment "would be an interesting tool for the commission to have in ...

March 30, 2017, Covington Alert

Today, the UK Government published a White Paper envisaging an initial continuation of EU law in the UK “wherever practical and appropriate” on withdrawal from the EU (“Brexit”). Today’s White Paper comes one day after the UK notified the EU of its intention to leave which triggers the two-year Brexit negotiation period.

The UK Government intends on achieving this continuation through legislation in the form of the “Great Repeal Bill.” At the same time as removing the legal supremacy of EU law and the formal influence of EU laws in the UK, the Great Repeal Bill will convert the body of existing EU law into UK domestic law. The effect will be that on day one of Brexit, “wherever practical and appropriate,” the same rules and laws of the EU will apply in the UK. Thereafter, the UK Government will review those laws derived from EU law and seek to either amend, repeal, or maintain those laws. Today’s White Paper sets out the UK Government’s plans. The scope of the Great Repeal Bill will likely change once it is proposed as a draft Act of Parliament later this year and after it is debated and reviewed by the UK Parliament.

March 29, 2017, CNBC

Following the triggering of Article 50, Sebastian Vos was interviewed by CNBC to discuss the Brexit negotiation process. According to Vos, “It’s a very compressed timeline.” He adds, “The aim is to achieve a mutually beneficial post-Brexit relationship between the EU and UK, but…the various member states have to take account of differing national interests.”

March 29, 2017, Covington Alert

Today, the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, formally triggered the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (“Brexit”) by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This is the first time an EU Member State has used the Article 50 mechanism. This marks the beginning of the two-year period in which an arrangement for Brexit must be agreed and finalized. If no agreement is reached—and if there is no unanimous agreement among all other EU Member States to extend the two-year period—the UK will cease to be a member of the EU with no replacement or transitional arrangement in place. The letter triggering Article 50 has been described by Prime Minister May as “one of the most important documents in [the UK’s] recent history and will start to deliver the result of the referendum and set the tone for [the UK’s] new relationship with Europe and the world.”

January 6, 2017, Law360

Sebastian Vos is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the launch of a Global Blockchain Business Council at this year’s World Economic Forum by Covington and The Bitfury Group. “Blockchain has the potential to be the next great technological innovation, revolutionizing areas from cross-border payments, trade finance and land registries to government records,” ...

October 10, 2016

LONDON—Lord Francis Maude, the former UK Minister for Trade and Investment in Prime Minister David Cameron’s government, has joined Covington as a Senior Advisor in the firm’s Public Policy and Government Affairs practice. With a political career spanning almost 40 years, Lord Maude has held a number of high profile government positions, including Financial ...

2017

Our Brexit Task Force is staffed by senior lawyers and advisors across London, Brussels, and Washington to monitor events and to keep clients apprised of legal, regulatory, and policy developments. We are advising clients across a wide range of businesses and industries on the impact and implications of Brexit, including on strategic policy and regulatory ...

June 24, 2016, Covington Alert

The UK has voted to leave the European Union in an advisory referendum. 52% leave - 48% remain. Were the UK to leave the EU, this would have significant implications for the UK and for international businesses operating in the UK. The longer term impact of the decision on the regulatory framework for the UK will depend, in part, on the relationship that the UK ...

June 6, 2016

BRUSSELS—Ambassador Péter Balás, the former Deputy Director-General of DG Trade at the European Commission between 2005 and 2014, has joined Covington as a Senior Policy Advisor. Recently Ambassador Balás also held the position of Head of the Support Group for Ukraine at the European Commission. He was previously Ambassador and Permanent Representative of ...

May 23, 2016, CDR News

Timothy Hester, Carl Bildt, and Sebastian Vos are quoted in a CDR News article regarding the arrival of Carl Bildt as a Senior Policy Advisor in the firm’s global Public Policy and Government Affairs practice. According to Vos, “In ever more complex regulatory regimes, the implementation of such regulation will often be very important. In this context, what the ...

May 19, 2016

BRUSSELS — Carl Bildt, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, has joined Covington as a Senior Policy Advisor in the firm’s global Public Policy and Government Affairs practice. Most recently, Mr. Bildt served as Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2006 and 2014. As Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr. Bildt led the government that negotiated and signed ...

February 8, 2016

BRUSSELS — Erika Mann, a former Member of the European Parliament and policymaker with over 20 years of experience, has joined Covington in its Brussels office as a senior European policy advisor in the firm’s global Public Policy and Government Affairs practice. Most recently, Ms. Mann served as Managing Director of Public Policy for Facebook in Brussels from ...

December 21, 2015, Covington Alert

December 17, 2015, Covington Alert

October 1, 2015, Covington Alert

September 14, 2015

BRUSSELS, September 14, 2015 — Ambassador Karel Kovanda has joined Covington’s global public policy and government affairs practice as a Senior European Policy Advisor. He will be based in the firm’s Brussels office. Ambassador Kovanda served as Deputy Director General of External Relations (now the European External Action Service) at the European Commission ...

August 25, 2015, Covington Alert

6/25/2015, Covington Alert

June 1, 2015, Law360

May 6, 2015, Covington E-Alert

September 22, 2014, Commercial Dispute Resolution

Covington's Peter Camesasca, Johan Ysewyn, Melissa Van Schoorisse, Jennifer Boudet, Miranda Cole, Henriette Tielemans, Sebastian Vos, and Jean De Ruyt are mentioned in this article on the growth of Covington's Brussels office: "April was a busy month for Covington & Burling’s competition lawyers, marking, as it did, the welcome return of Peter Camesasca – who ...

June 16, 2014, Bloomberg

International public policy professional Sebastian Vos is joining Covington & Burling LLP to lead the European division of the firm’s global public policy and government affairs practice in Brussels. Vos, who works for Fipra International, will focus on competition and technology-related public policy issues and continue his public policy work involving emerging ...

June 12, 2014, The Lawyer

Sebastian Vos is feautured in this article regarding his recent move to Covington in the firm's Brussels office.

June 12, 2014, Politico

"The law firm Covington & Burling has brought on European public policy expert Sebastian Vos as a partner in the firm’s Brussels office. In his new role, he’ll lead the European division of the firm’s global public policy and government affairs practice. He’ll lead a team that includes former Ambassador Jean De Ruyt, former EU Parliament member Wim van Velzen ...