Sebastian F.A. Vos

March 2021

As the legal, regulatory, and commercial implications of coronavirus COVID-19 continue to evolve, our lawyers and advisors are helping clients navigate the complex considerations that companies around the world are facing and develop plans and strategies in response. Reach out to our COVID-19 task force at COVID19@cov.com. Below is a compendium of resources ...

March 2021

Since the beginning of the Brexit process in 2016, Covington’s Brexit Task Force–comprised of over 40 lawyers and former senior diplomats and policymakers, in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Dublin, and Washington–has advised clients in a wide range of industries on the challenges and opportunities created by this historic event. While the EU-UK negotiations have ...

April 9, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Tuesday, MEPs of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (“LIBE”) will have their first debate with...… Continue ...

March 22, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a mixed week with committee meetings and plenary sessions in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Tuesday, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (“ECON”) will have a debate...… ...

March 12, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Monday, during a meeting of the Committee on Environment, Health, and Food Safety (“ENVI”), Commission Deputy Director-General for ...

March 10, 2021, Covington Alert

Traditionally, the logic of trade policy within the EU was driven by economic efficiency considerations: lower tariff and non-tariff barriers to international trade would facilitate mutual gains through the theory of comparative advantage. The EU’s new trade policy approach—“open, sustainable, and assertive”—has shifted tack to incorporate non-economic concerns ...

March 8, 2021, Covington Alert

The European Commission’s recently concluded Trade Policy Review (“TPR”) commits the EU to a more “open, sustainable and assertive” approach to trade. The EU’s emphasis on assertiveness is made credible by a series of reforms that give the EU and Member States new legal enforcement powers and institutions. This reorientation toward enforcement was echoed after a ...

March 5, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a plenary week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Monday, the plenary will debate on the report of MEP Wolters (NL, S&D) on corporate due diligence and corporate...… Continue Reading

February 27, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a mixed week of committee and political groups meetings in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Thursday, the MEPs of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (“ECON”) will...… Continue ...

February 26, 2021, Global Policy Watch

For the European Union, data is a core priority for economic growth, whether to facilitate personalized medicine or autonomous vehicles.  Between 2018 and 2025, the value of the data economy in Europe is projected to nearly triple, from €301 billion to €829 billion, and the number of data professionals is expected to nearly double. Given...… Continue Reading

February 19, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Monday, the European Parliament will host an inter-parliamentary conference on economic stability, coordination and governance in the ...

February 5, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a plenary week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Tuesday, the Parliament will debate and vote on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (“RFF”), the main pillar of the...… Continue Reading

January 22, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be a committee week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Monday, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (“ECON”) will have a structured dialogue with Commissioner for Financial ...

January 15, 2021, Global Policy Watch

Next week will be plenary week in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place. On Monday, MEPs will debate and vote (Tuesday) on a report on strengthening the EU’s capabilities to enforce its rights under...… Continue ...

January 14, 2021, Covington Alert

This year will see the European Commission put forward legislative proposals on mandatory human rights and environmental supply chain due diligence as well as on sustainable corporate governance (“SCG”). The EU’s Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders, confirmed this timeline when launching a public consultation on how the Commission should approach this ...

January 2021, Covington Guide

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (EUTCA) reached on December 24th is a wide-ranging and complex agreement. Our Brexit Task Force offers these "bite-sized" recordings to give a snapshot of what you need to know in each area. Though the EUTCA provides the overall architecture of the future relationship in a number of areas, much of the detail must still ...

December 28, 2020, Covington Alert

On December 24, 2020, exactly four and a half years after the result of the UK’s EU Referendum, the UK and the EU reached an agreement on their future trade and cooperation arrangements: the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“EUTCA”). The transition period that has run since the UK left the EU in January 2020 will end at midnight Central European Time on ...

December 2, 2020, Covington Alert

Seizing a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to work with the Biden-Harris team—potentially the most transatlanticist administration in decades—the European Commission and the European External Action Service today adopted a detailed and comprehensive plan to reinvigorate and reimagine the transatlantic partnership. The proposed strategy will be further debated, ...

November 24, 2020, Covington Alert

On November 20th, the Commons’ Treasury Select Committee launched an Inquiry looking at the future of financial services regulation in the UK after departure from the European Union. In this alert we set out the scope of the Inquiry and how companies can contribute evidence that may influence the Committee’s findings. The Committee is appointed by the House of ...

November 16, 2020, Covington Alert

Latest Developments In the latest tit-for-tat action in a long-running trade dispute between the United States (“US”) and the European Union (“EU”), the EU announced that effective November 10, 2020 it would apply a 25% tariff on products found in 136 8-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule (“HTS”) numbers ranging from vitamins to video game consoles. (The full list ...

November 3, 2020

LONDON–Ambassador Thomas Reilly has joined Covington’s Global Public Policy Practice in London as the head of the firm’s UK Public Policy team. Ambassador Reilly most recently served as the British Ambassador to Morocco between 2017 and 2020, building deeper political and economic ties between the two countries. During his time as ambassador, he led the ...

October 22, 2020, CleanEquity Monaco 2020

Covington & Burling's Gary Guzy, Sebastian Vos, and Lindsay Brewer discuss policy considerations and implications surrounding decarbonisation in the EU and U.S. This presentation premiered at the recent CleanEquity Monaco 2020 conference. Once the presentation begins, you may hover over the table of contents icon in the bottom right for links to advance the ...

Spring 2020, Covington Guide

As businesses across Europe prepare to reopen following the COVID-19 lockdown, Covington is providing practical resources and guidance on the broad array of issues companies face as employees return to the workplace, including employment, privacy, competition, policy, environmental and regulatory considerations at the EU level, with a focus on Germany and the ...

May 5, 2020, Covington Alert

Every new team entering the Berlaymont to head up the European Commission starts out with bold and ambitious plans. Time after time, reality intervenes, and their plans are upended. This was true for the second Barroso Commission in 2010, when the aftershocks of the Global Financial Crisis and the Greek and Euro crisis that followed came to dominate their ...

April 22, 2020, Politico

Sebastian Vos spoke with Politico about his experience working virtually in Brussels during the COVID-19 pandemic. He says in the early stages of the crisis, things were a bit chaotic and during this adjustment period, it was hard to figure out which files were moving and which weren’t. “It wasn’t that [the Commission] wasn’t well-organized, it was that we ...

February 27, 2020, Covington Alert

On February 19, the European Commission laid out its ambitious plans for regulating data, AI, and the digital sphere. These set the stage for the next five years’ work for President von der Leyen’s Commission in this critically important, and ever expanding, domain. Crucially, in its plans the Commission is making a concerted attempt to call on the “Brussels ...

January 31, 2020, Covington Alert

This evening, at 11:00 p.m. GMT, the UK will leave the European Union. Brexit day marks a beginning, not an end. The UK today embarks on a complex process of negotiating new arrangements for trade and cooperation with the EU and partners around the world. Regulatory divergence seems inevitable, given that the UK will want to make its own decisions on existing ...

September 16, 2019, Covington Alert

Over the summer, Ursula von der Leyen, President-elect of the European Commission since July 16, prepared her 27-member Commission. On September 10, she presented her new team – five years to the day from when Jean Claude Juncker presented the current Commission. If approved by the European Parliament, her new team will take office on November 1, 2019. This ...

April 25, 2019, Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law highlighted Covington's Global Problem Solving team and the efforts of the lawyers who make the capability possible.   Sebastian Vos said the group doesn’t just work on problems for clients, but tries to use its resources to anticipate what problems could arise in the future and craft resolutions for them. “We help unlock a situation where a ...

March 28, 2019

BRUSSELS—Sebastian Vos, partner and co-chair of Covington’s Public Policy Practice, has been named co-chair of the Global Blockchain Business Council’s Legal and Regulatory Working Group. The Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) is the leading trade association for the blockchain technology ecosystem and brings together innovative organizations and thought ...

March 25, 2019, The Law Society Gazette

Sebastian Vos, Francis Maude, and Erika Mann are quoted in The Law Society Gazette regarding Covington’s expansion of public policy work in Europe.   Mr. Vos says, “The firm’s USP is the sheer number of former senior diplomats in our midst, on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Asia and Africa.” He adds, what clients “value most is the combination of law ...

December 13, 2018, Covington Alert

The first EU-level rules on the screening of foreign direct investment (FDI) are about to be agreed. These do not provide for the direct screening of FDI by the institutions of the Union, but rather create a framework for national initiatives and the exchange of information, and impose certain obligations on Member States to ensure a certain harmonization of any ...

December 3, 2018

BRUSSELS—Alexis Lautenberg has joined Covington’s Public Policy practice as a Senior Advisor. Ambassador Lautenberg is a long-serving Swiss diplomat whose career has been focused on European financial services and trade policy. His forty years of public service included postings as Swiss Ambassador to the EU, Italy and the UK. In 2013, he co-founded the Swiss ...

November 15, 2018

The proposed withdrawal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom was published by the European Commission on November 14 (see here). The text runs to 585 pages, and represents a tentative agreement reached between the UK and EU negotiating teams. It is accompanied by an eight-page outline of the proposed political declaration on the future ...

August 8, 2018, Covington Alert

On August 6, 2018, President Trump issued Executive Order 13846 (the “Executive Order”) that re-imposes -- and to a limited extent broadens the scope of -- certain U.S. secondary sanctions targeting Iran that had been suspended in January 2016 pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) with Iran.

June 15, 2018, Covington Alert

As described in our May 9, 2018, alert, the United States determined on May 8, 2018, to end its participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) and re-impose sanctions against Iran that had been suspended as part of this 2015 nuclear agreement between the United States, Iran, Germany, France, the UK, and China.

May 15, 2018, Covington Alert

On May 8, 2018, the United States announced the decision to end its participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) and re-impose sanctions against Iran that had been suspended as part of this 2015 nuclear agreement between the United States, Iran, Germany, France, the UK and China.

May 9, 2018, Covington Alert

On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced his decision to end U.S. participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) and re-impose sanctions against Iran that had been suspended as part of this 2015 nuclear agreement between the United States, Iran, and certain other governments. This action will have far-reaching effects for both U.S. and ...

May 9, 2018, Covington Alert

On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced his decision to end U.S. participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) and re-impose sanctions against Iran that had been suspended as part of this 2015 nuclear agreement between the United States, Iran, and certain other governments. This action will have far-reaching effects for both U.S. and ...

March 14, 2018, Covington Alert

In our March 9 client alert we outlined the proclamations issued by President Trump announcing tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum in the United States, which will go into effect on March 23. The European Union—which is the second-largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States, after Canada—has expressed concern about the imposition of ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

On December 15, the EU institutions finally agreed the text of the new EU data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), completing a process that began in January 2012. The LIBE committee has published the consolidated version of the GDPR text. The GDPR heralds a new era of data protection. It replaces the existing data protection ...

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, 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 temporarily ...

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, 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. “It’s a firm that has a very good reputation ...

June 12, 2014, The Lawyer

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