MAARTEN MEULENBELT focuses his practice on EU regulatory affairs, litigation, and competition law issues affecting the life sciences sector in Europe.
In addition to advising on EU life sciences matters, Maarten also handles competition litigation at the EU and national levels. He has extensive litigation experience before the EU Courts, national courts and competition authorities, the European Commission, and national regulatory authorities in several EU Member States. Maarten has significant competition law experience in a variety of sectors.
Maarten has acted before the EU courts to defend regulatory data protection for combination products, to ensure the compatibility of national pricing laws with EU law, and to ensure the highest science-based standard of review by the European Medicines Agency. He represented one of the intervening parties in Case T-738/16 on the compatibility of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield with EU data privacy laws. Before EU and national courts, and regulatory and competition agencies, Maarten is acting to uphold the EU marketing authorization system, and to ensure that decisions on market access and pricing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices reflect the value and risk of product development.
Maarten writes and speaks widely on legal issues affecting the life sciences industry and is featured prominently in the life sciences and competition rankings of leading bar publications, such as Chambers, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers.
Maarten has received acknowledgement from numerous industry ranking guides:
- Legal 500 EMEA (Belgium) 2023 – Recognized for Competition: EU and global and EU regulatory: pharma, medical devices and biotech where clients describe him as “a great litigator, definitively the best partner to work with on high-profile matters.”
- Chambers Europe 2023 – Ranked Band 2 for Life Sciences where a client praises him for his strengths “in all aspects: knowledge, coordination, leadership and contact with the client.”
- Chambers Europe 2022 – Ranked for Life Sciences where a source reports that he is “smart and creative” and is “particularly good at understanding how competition law applies to life sciences.”
- Chambers Europe 2021 – Ranked for Life Sciences where a clients describe him as “very good” and “a nice man to work with.”
- Chambers Europe 2019 – Ranked for Life Sciences where clients report that he has “a huge knowledge of case law” and “is very knowledgeable about the industry and can help in relation to a number of different areas.”
- Who’s Who Legal 2022 – Recommended as a Global Leader for Life Sciences Regulatory.
- Who’s Who Legal 2018 – Ranked as one of the top five “Thought Leaders” in Europe for Life Sciences. Sources describe Maarten as “outstanding,” “a prominent practitioner in the space,” and their “first choice” thanks to his “extensive experience and expertise.”
- Best Lawyers 2022 - Recommended in Belgium for Competition/Antitrust and Regulatory Law.
Maarten Meulenbelt is registered with the Amsterdam Bar as specialised in administrative (European) law.