Charles De Jager

Charles De Jager is Counsel in Salans’ Brussels office. Charles has extensive experience in the fields of government affairs and international trade. He advises and represents private companies and governmental entities in regulatory and policy matters resolved through a combination of legal analysis and political argumentation. Charles is a dual national of the United States and Belgium. He has practiced an equal number of years in Washington, DC and Brussels.

Charles' work consists partly of helping foreign interests gain access to the internal market of the European Union. These matters are usually at the intersection of government affairs with other substantive areas, including international trade and regulatory law. They involve the development of comprehensive lobbying strategies and position documents targeting the Commission at working and political levels, Parliament, Council, and/or the EU Member States.

Charles is also an accomplished practitioner, author and lecturer in the area of international trade. His focus is primarily on EU export controls, economic sanctions and trade remedy proceedings (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguards). In trade remedy proceedings, he has represented clients from Canada, China, the European Union, India, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States in various proceedings before the investigating authorities of Brazil, Egypt, the European Union, Mexico, Ukraine and the United States. He is regularly invited to speak outside the European Union on these topics.

Charles is an accredited mediator for civil and commercial disputes.

Recent Experience:

• Helping companies and associations influence sectoral legislation or avert protracted disputes through the development and implementation of government affairs strategies
• Providing export controls and economic sanctions advice to global companies, including the development and implementation of comprehensive compliance programs
• Providing export controls and economic sanctions guidance in specific transactions and assisting in representations before authorities for potential past infractions
• Advising companies on evolving EU climate-change legislation, including Carbon Capture and Storage, the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Renewables Directive
• Representing producers from a variety of industries (especially steel and chemicals) in trade remedy proceedings, and advising governments on the applicable WTO rules
• Assisting leading manufacturers in EU product recalls, managing contacts with the relevant EU and national authorities, as well as contributions to related regulatory efforts
• Advising foreign energy companies on rules governing exports to the EU, including provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty and Partnership and Cooperation Agreements
  

Career:

• Counsel – Salans, Brussels (2010 – to date)
• Admitted to the Bar, Brussels (B List, 2004)
• Admitted to the Bar, District of Columbia (2000)
• Trade Section – European Commission Delegation, Washington DC (2000)
• International Law and Policy Group – General Electric Company (1999)
• Assisted Prof. J.H. Jackson, Georgetown University Law Center (1998)

Education:

• Georgetown University Law Center (LLM, 1999)
• College of Europe, Bruges (MAELS, 1997)
• Fordham University School of Law (JD, 1996)
• Brown University (AB, 1993) 

Professional Activities:

• Pro bono instructor in international trade and public international law - Advocates for International Development (A4ID)
• Accredited Mediator - The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London
• Accredited Mediator for Civil and Commercial Disputes - Francophone and Germanophone Bars of Belgium
• Member - International and American Bar Associations
• Member - College of Europe Alumni Association Board
• Member - Georgetown University European Law Alumni Board

Presentations:

• “Status Update on European Encryption Control Regimes”, C5 Annual Singapore Summit on Export Control Compliance, Singapore, October 2011. 
• “The EU Export Control Regime for Dual-Use Items – Recent Developments in EU Export Controls,” American Conference Institute Annual Global Export Controls Compliance Conference, Washington, DC, May 2011.
• “Recent Developments in International Steel Trade – Changing Patterns Affecting Steel Exporters,” Steel Business Briefing Annual Steel Focus Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, February 2011.
  

Publications:

• “Article 9 of the WTO Antidumping Agreement – Imposition and Collection of Antidumping Duties,” Max Planck Commentaries on World Trade Law – WTO Trade Remedies, (Rüdiger Wolfrum and Peter-Tobias Stoll, eds.), 2008
• “Article 19 of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures – Imposition and Collection of Countervailing Duties,” Max Planck Commentaries on World Trade Law – WTO Trade Remedies, (Rüdiger Wolfrum and Peter-Tobias Stoll, eds.), 2008
• Multiple contributions to the International Law Office Product Liability Newsletter as a Senior Associate at Mayer Brown International, 2007-08
• “Boeing-Airbus Ceasefire – More Peaceful Times Ahead in EU-US Trade Relations?” (co-author) The European Lawyer, 2005
• “The European Union's Automatic Extension of Antidumping Measures to its Ten New Member States – Not Without a Fight This Time?” (co-author) International Trade Law & Regulation, 2004
• “Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism: The New Security Environment,” (co-author) Canadian International Lawyer, 2003
• “Customs Calls a Halt to Use of CF-28s For Collecting Information on Supply Chain Security,” (co-author) DHL Online Trade Newsletter, 2003
• “The European Union’s Position on Agriculture after the WTO Appellate Body’s Decision in Beef Hormones,” in Reconciling Environment and Trade, (E. B. Weiss and J. H. Jackson, eds.), 2001
• “Antibribery Principles in Foreign Government Procurements,” (co-author) Government Contract Audit Report, 2000
• Multiple contributions to the CCH Competition Law Reporter as an associate at a law firm headquartered in Brussels, 1997-98
• “The Development of Regulatory Standards for Gene Therapy in the European Union,” 18 Fordham Int’l  L.J. 1303, 1995
• “Prices, Quality Irk General Counsels:  Report of Survey on Outside Lawyers,” (co-author) 210 N.Y.L.J. 1, 1993

Languages:

• English
• French
• Italian
• Swedish