Who I am
As a Director at Deloitte Legal, I head the EU & Competition practice together with prof. Wouter Devroe. My focus is on advising and representing clients on the full scope of Belgian, EU, Dutch and UK competition / antitrust law, including merger control, cartel investigations, state aid, restrictive agreements, and abuse of dominance.
By leveraging technical expertise and commercial insights, I also advise and represent clients in the context of foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign subsidy (FSR) clearance, market access opportunities, complex contractual arrangements, and the EU freedoms of movement. I am primarily based at our Zaventem office.
What I do
- Represent clients before competition authorities, including notably the European Commission, the Belgian Competition Authority, and the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets
- Represent clients before various FDI authorities across the EU
- Determine strategy and substance in antitrust investigations, merger clearance proceedings, and in FDI, FSR and state aid filings
- Offer pragmatic, tailored solutions for complex commercial practices, including pricing, rebate strategies, and distribution agreements
- Advise clients on compliance of data collection and dissemination methods
- Represent businesses in the negotiation and drafting of settlement agreements, as well as in (antitrust) court proceedings
- Organize practical workshops for tailored training on critical competition law concepts
Who I work with
- Multinational and domestic corporations, including small, medium and large enterprises, across both regulated and non-regulated sectors
- Supervisory authorities across the globe, including competition, FDI and other authorities
- Foreign (state) companies planning to invest or compete for tenders in Belgium
- Public governments and affiliated undertakings
- Natural persons implicated in competition proceedings
- CEOs, CFOs, General Counsel and in-house legal teams, M&A teams, BU leaders, strategic directors, etc.
- Business associations, sector federations and chambers of commerce
My approach
I combine pragmatic, actionable legal advice with commercial foresight to support businesses in high-stakes proceedings, allowing clients to focus on competitive opportunities in a dynamic European market.
Leadership & credentials
- Lead external advisor to the European Commission in its review of the EU competition law enforcement framework (Regulation 1/2003)
- Representative of Deloitte Legal at AmCham Belgium
- President of the Harvard European Law Association
- Harvard Law School, Master of Laws (LL.M.)
- Harvard Mancini Prize for contribution in the field of EU law
- Fulbright Fellow
- Frank Boas Scholar for Graduate Study at Harvard
- Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (B.A.E.F)
- Fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
Client testimonials
- “Richard Steppe is client-friendly, very approachable, excellent knowledge about competition law.” (Legal500, 2025)
- “Richard Steppe is so bright and so talented that he finds solutions when things seem like there is no way forward.” (Legal500, 2025)
- “Richard Steppe is a very efficient project manager. He is a very good listener who understands complex issues quickly, finds pragmatic solutions and is service oriented.” (Legal500, 2025)
- “We have been especially impressed by how Richard Steppe has advised our organization in negotiations with partners in the USA.” (Legal500, 2025)
- “We are working with Richard Steppe. He has an eye for detail and is very accurate in putting our ideas on paper. We try to keep an open and pragmatic approach on negotiations and contracts and Richard is completely on board with that. His knowledge of legislation allows for creative solutions.” (Legal500, 2025)
Why Deloitte Legal
We provide comprehensive support for all competition proceedings, functioning as a one-stop solution merging top-tier legal advice with embedded strategic and business analyses. By actively integrating Deloitte's extensive resources—from forensic analytics and financial modelling to industry intelligence and specialized tax leadership—we provide effective and cost-efficient coverage of all angles of your antitrust case.