Etsuko Kameoka
Counsel

Overview
Etsuko Kameoka specialises in EU competition law, with a particular emphasis on cartel investigations, distribution agreements, licensing negotiations, merger control proceedings and abuses of dominance involving Japanese clients. Etsuko also creates competition compliance programmes for companies and conducts training sessions.
Prior to joining Van Bael & Bellis in 2001, Etsuko worked as a trainee in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition and also gained experience working in both French and British law firms.
Etsuko also advises governments and public organisations on competition policy.
Languages
Japanese, English, French
Education
- University of Brussels (ULB), PhD in Law (research subject: Legal Professional Privilege in EU Competition Investigations), 2021
- College of Europe, Bruges, Post-Graduate Studies in European Legal Studies, 2001
- New York University School of Law, USA, LL.M. in International Legal Studies, 1997
- University of Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, Post-Graduate Studies in EC Law, 1996
- Keio University, Japan, Bachelor and Master of Laws, Ph.D candidate, 1994
Publications
“The impact of the European Green Deal on EU competition law (in Japanese)”, Fair Trade (Tokyo) No.855, (January 2022), pp. 16-25.
Contributor to Van Bael & Bellis, Competition Law of the European Community (fifth edition, Kluwer, 2010) and its Japanese-language digest “EC Competition Law” (Shoji-homu, 2007).
Contributor to Van Bael & Bellis, Competition Law of the European Union (sixth edition, Kluwer, 2021).
“EU competition law and the European Green Deal (in Japanese)”, Journal of the Japanese Institute of International Business Law (Tokyo) Vol.48, No.3 (March 2020), pp. 303-308.
“The Arbitrability of EU Competition Law (in Japanese)”, Journal of the Japanese Institute of International Business Law (Tokyo), Vol.28 (November 2000), No.11, pp. 1333-1336.
Teaching Positions
Etsuko Kameoka lectures on EU competition law at various universities including the Brussels School of Competition (BSC) and the University of Lille.
She regularly speaks on competition law at legal conferences in Europe and Japan.
Bar Admissions
New York
Brussels
Notable assignments
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Assisting Elpida Memory (at the time Japan’s leading DRAM supplier) throughout the Commission’s lengthy investigation into a cartel in the DRAM sector. This was the first investigation ever to be settled under the Commission’s new settlement procedure.
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Assisting Japan Airlines, Japan’s flag carrier, in the cartel proceedings by the European Commission in the airfreight sector.