Raphaël De Coninck

Dr. Raphaël De Coninck heads CRA’s Brussels office. Raphaël provides expert economic evidence and testimony in all competition matters, leading teams of economists at the forefront of merger and antitrust analysis. He has worked on many of the landmark European competition cases of the last two decades, covering hundreds of mergers, abuse of dominance, cartel and damages cases. He also advises clients on high-stakes regulatory matters, including in the context of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Raphaël advises clients on competition cases in front of the European Commission and national authorities, as well as in litigation and in arbitration. In addition to European Commission cases and multi-jurisdictional filings, he has provided expert economic evidence in Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Luxembourg (European Court of Justice), and regularly works on transatlantic cases in close collaboration with US colleagues.

Raphaël’s experience spans a wide range of products and industries, including in the technology sector, pharmaceuticals, consumer products and retail, transport, telecoms, energy, basic industries, financial services, media and entertainment. While at CRA, he has worked for clients such as Apple, Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Novartis, Viatris, Boston Scientific, Baxter, Abbott, GE, Linde, Novelis, INEOS, SLB, Polynt, Energizer, Danone, Heineken, Biscuit International, Henkel, L’Oréal, ABF, Lesaffre, Ahold Delhaize, Virgin Atlantic, Wallenius, DFDS, P&O, World Shipping Council, Cable Europe, Canal+, SFR, United Group, Proximus, bpost, CommScope, Dolby, TomTom, Alliance for Open Media, Universal Music Group, FIFA, Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, CVC, KKR, Francisco Partners, Platinum Equity, Eurazeo, Bain Capital and the European Commission.

Prior to joining CRA, Raphaël was a member of DG Competition’s chief economist team at the European Commission. While at the Commission, he contributed to major competition policy initiatives, including the European Commission’s Best Practices for Economic Submissions and Data Collection in Merger and Antitrust Cases, and the European Commission’s Practical Guide on the Quantification of Antitrust Damages. Raphaël has published numerous articles on the economics of competition, covering in particular horizontal and non-horizontal mergers, the impact of mergers on innovation, market definition, exclusionary conduct, excessive prices, standard essential patents, bargaining power and antitrust damages estimation.

Raphaël holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and degrees in law and in economics from the University of Liège, Belgium. He has been a post-doctoral fellow at New York University and taught at the University of Chicago and the Free University of Brussels (ULB).

Raphaël is recognized as one of Europe’s top competition economists by WWL Global Elite, receiving wide praise from clients and peers: “Raphaël De Coninck is a “superb” economist who is recommended for his “really excellent work” when it comes to delivering expert testimony on competition-related merger and damages cases.”