Digital competition law in Amsterdam
The Digital Competition Law Group of the Amsterdam Law & Technology Institute works in the Department of Transnational Legal Studies of the VU Faculty of Law. Digital markets cross borders by design, and we study them that way, with legal analysis, network science and code. Our work reaches more than 80 competition agencies, and since June 2026 the European Research Council funds it with a €2 million Consolidator Grant. Our students graduate with an LL.M. with a competition law track.
The LL.M. with a competition law track at VU Amsterdam
Research in digital competition law
- Computational antitrust. Code and network models that help competition agencies detect and assess anticompetitive conduct, and the legal rules that should govern their use. Thirty agencies describe their computational tools in the fifth cross-agency report, edited in our group.
- Competition law in context. How competition law interacts with data protection law, AI regulation, cybersecurity rules, consumer law, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.
- Competition and industrial policy. The Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the new industrial policies of the Union and its Member States, and the industrial organisation of the markets they target.
- Evidence and measurement. What counts as proof in competition enforcement. 8,451 European Commission merger cases since 1990, held in one knowledge graph, serve to audit the draft Merger Guidelines.
The Digital Competition Law Group
The group belongs to the Department of Transnational Legal Studies of the VU Faculty of Law. Thibault Schrepel, Associate Professor of Law, leads it; he is the principal investigator of ATLANTIS and founded Stanford Computational Antitrust. Alba Ribera Martínez, Assistant Professor, is Editor-in-Chief of Stanford Computational Antitrust. Georgiana Mirza, PhD candidate, works on ecosystems in competition law and co-founded the Competition Law Doctoral Forum. Three ATLANTIS PhD researchers join the group on 1 December 2026. Colleagues from other departments of the Faculty also take part in our teaching and events.
We stay on top of things
We follow digital competition law as it happens. Alba Ribera Martínez writes The DMA Agora, a newsletter on the Digital Markets Act. Thibault Schrepel writes The Competition System, a Substack on digital competition.
ATLANTIS, a legal regime for computational antitrust
ATLANTIS is funded by a €2,000,000 ERC Consolidator Grant (grant agreement No 101228709, 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2031), led by Thibault Schrepel at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It studies how computation changes the enforcement of competition law and builds the legal regime to govern it. Its three PhD researchers were chosen from more than 400 applications, and every year ATLANTIS will hold workshops with competition authorities. teamatlantis.eu
Funded by the European Union (ERC, ATLANTIS, 101228709). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
An LL.M. with a competition law track, in Amsterdam
The competition law track of the LL.M. in International Technology Law at VU Amsterdam is a one-year programme taught in English, starting in September and in February. It combines EU competition law with the Digital Markets Act, the AI Act and data protection law, and a monthly seminar with authors such as Herbert Hovenkamp (University of Pennsylvania) and Pablo Ibáñez Colomo (London School of Economics). Students graduate with an LL.M. with a competition law track. Other courses put competition law in context: Technology Law, Data, Privacy and Human Rights, E-Commerce Law, Law and Ethics on Robots and Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain Law. The LL.M. track
Students learn the computational methods that competition agencies now use, and how to deploy them. Professionals already at work can take some of our courses, including those on computational methods, without enrolling in the full programme. Our alumni work at competition authorities, at the European Commission and in law firms. In competition law, our ratio of students to professors is far better than anywhere else in the Netherlands, and no economics background is required.
Events
VU Amsterdam is the only law school in the Netherlands with a monthly seminar and several conferences every year in digital competition law, and the only one to organise, every year, a Competition Law Doctoral Forum and a Best Master’s Thesis Award in competition law. Speakers at our seminars and conferences include Herbert Hovenkamp, Alison Jones, Oliver Hart, Pinar Akman, Bill Kovacic, Mariateresa Maggiolino, Pablo Ibáñez Colomo, Cani Fernández, Dennis Carlton, Melissa Holyoak, Douglas Melamed, Ginger Zhe Jin, Randal Picker, Reiko Aoki, Frédéric Jenny, Anna Tzanaki, Jonathan Barnett, Sofia Ranchordás, Richard Markovits, Catalina Goanta, Pēteris Zilgalvis, Teodora Groza, Geoffrey Manne and Todd Henderson.
PhD candidates and professors who would like to visit the Digital Competition Law Group at ALTI can write to Thibault Schrepel at t.schrepel@vu.nl.
- The Future of Digital Competition Law, 14 December 2026
- Competition Law Doctoral Forum, every year
- Best Master’s Thesis Award in European competition law and competitiveness, every year
- Competition and technology seminar, every month
Questions
Can I study competition law in English in the Netherlands?
Yes. At VU Amsterdam, the competition law track of the LL.M. in International Technology Law is taught entirely in English, over one year, starting in September or in February. It covers EU competition law, merger control and the Digital Markets Act, and teaches the computational methods that competition agencies now use.
Where can I study an LLM in competition law in Europe?
At VU Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. The LL.M. in International Technology Law has a competition law track, taught in English over one year, with EU competition law, merger control, the Digital Markets Act and computational antitrust. It is taught by the Digital Competition Law Group, which holds an ERC Consolidator Grant and works with more than 80 competition agencies.
Is the LL.M. taught in English, and is it open to students from outside the EU?
Yes. The LL.M. is taught entirely in English, and students from the EU and from outside the EU can apply. No Dutch is required, for the programme or for daily life in Amsterdam.
How is it different from a general competition law master?
The track concentrates on digital and data-driven markets. You study EU competition law together with the Digital Markets Act, data protection law and AI regulation, you learn how agencies use network analysis and machine learning, and your thesis is supervised by researchers who publish in digital competition law.
Where can I study the Digital Markets Act?
The Digital Markets Act is examined in detail in the course Foundations: Law, Technology and Economics, and recurs across the technology law courses of the LL.M. Alba Ribera Martínez publishes on DMA compliance and enforcement, and Thibault Schrepel has published on the legality of the DMA under Article 114 TFEU.
Can I write a PhD in digital competition law at VU Amsterdam?
The group supervises doctoral research in digital competition law. The three ATLANTIS positions of 2026, which drew more than 400 applications, are filled. Write to Thibault Schrepel about future openings or about a PhD with your own funding.
What is computational antitrust?
Computational antitrust is the use of computational methods, such as network analysis, machine learning and the automated reading of legal texts, to detect, analyse and remedy anticompetitive practices. Thibault Schrepel founded the Stanford Computational Antitrust project in 2021, and it now works with more than 80 competition agencies.
Can professionals take your courses?
Yes. Lawyers, economists and officials already at work can take some of our courses without enrolling in the full LL.M., including the courses on computational methods, where they learn to deploy these tools in their own practice. Write to Thibault Schrepel and we arrange it with the VU.
Do you train judges and competition officials?
Yes. The Digital Competition Law Group can be contacted to train judges and officials of competition authorities, and has experience doing so. We are happy to discuss a programme built for your needs. Write to Thibault Schrepel.
Where do graduates work?
Our alumni work at competition authorities, at the European Commission and in law firms.