Vassilis Akritidis is a partner in the International Trade Group in Crowell & Moring’s Brussels office.
Vassilis has been practicing in Brussels since 1991 and helps his clients to achieve and improve market access, maximize trade benefits, and be compliant with the complex web of global trade and EU laws, wherever they operate. He has more than 25 years' experience in the field of EU and WTO law, focusing on EU trade defense investigations (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguards), customs matters, trade barriers/market access issues, trade sanctions/export controls, and EU anti-fraud investigations led by OLAF. He also advises on EU competition law, including State aid, and on EU internal market, regulatory, and public procurement matters.
Vassilis advises European and Asian governments and companies located in the EU, in Asia, and in the U.S. He has worked for clients active in the steel sector, chemicals, high tech, transport, defense and aerospace, and agriculture/food. He represents clients in several jurisdictions, including primarily the EU, but also in trade defense investigations of the Eurasian Economic Union, Brazil, China, and Turkey.
Vassilis' main objective is to ensure that his clients are compliant with trade laws and that they maximize their trade benefits when their goods cross borders, notably through the minimization of customs duty exposure through proper classification, the use of special customs procedures, and customs duty or anti-dumping/countervailing duty refund procedures. He has won many trade defense cases, both on the complainant and on the respondent side. Should things get contentious, he is an experienced litigator, representing parties before the European Union courts in Luxembourg as well as the European Court of Human Rights, the High Court of the Eurasian Economic Union, and national customs and administrative tribunals.
Affiliations
Admitted to practice: in Belgium and before the European Court
Professional Activities and Memberships
- President of the Belgian-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce since 2008
- Served as a non-executive board member in an industrial development bank and manufacturing companies
Speeches & Presentations
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"International Trade in 2021: What’s Ahead," Crowell & Moring Webinar
(February 17, 2021).
Presenters: Vassilis Akritidis, Caroline E. Brown, Michelle J. Linderman, Joshua Pond, Nicole Janigian Simonian, David R. Stepp, Robert Clifton Burns, Carina C. Federico, Jackson C. Pai, Nicole Sayegh Succar, Michael Bowen, Chandler S. Leonard, Brian McGrath, Nimrah Najeeb, and Joshua Boswell.
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"Is Relief from the Trade Wars in Sight?" Sports & Fitness Industry Association Webinar
(January 26, 2021).
Speakers: John B. Brew, Evan Y. Chuck, and Vassilis Akritidis.
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"Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Dueling Tech Regulations and Escalating Tensions on Cross-Border Transactions," Crowell & Moring Webinar
(November 19, 2020).
Presenters: Vassilis Akritidis, Evan Y. Chuck, Robert Holleyman, and Caroline E. Brown.
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